THE YOUNG 



NATUEALIST 



57 



the pleasures of a ramble in the sunny 

 South through the lovely woods and glades 

 of the royal county of Berks. The species 

 enumerated, it is true are many of them 

 common, but at that time " all was fish that 

 came to the net," and while endeavouring 

 to be concise, I have not gone into details 

 where they could be avoided. The object 

 of our long walk to Sulham woods (some 

 fifteen miles there and back; was to find a 

 locality for the Pearl Bordered Fritillary 

 (Argynnis Euphrosyne) , which is rather local 

 about here, and was hitherto absent from 

 my collection. In the Summer of 1869 a 

 juvenile collector of Reading showed me 

 six freshly caught specimens in his box, 

 with the vague information that they were 

 to be taken " over there in the woods a 

 long way off." Determined to have some 

 Euphrosyne of my own taking, the neighbour- 

 hood for miles round was well scoured 

 during the next month, unsuccessfully of 

 course, as they are soon over. The next 

 summer likewise proved a blank, except 

 that in June a single dilapidated specimen 

 was picked up in a dying condition at 

 Sulham, on the outskirts of a large copse. 

 Satisfied now that this was the right locality, 

 though too late for the species to be met 

 with, the ensuing summer was eagerly 

 looked for, and on May 22nd, 1871, we 

 found them flying in the exact spot. 



The following week a little excursion was 

 made up, and accompanied by Mr. Mac- 

 millan of Castle Cary, Somersetshire, a 

 genuine naturalist and lover of plants, the 

 writer sallied forth very early for a day in 

 Sulham woods. After clearing the high 

 road, where a little beating was done, and 

 leaving behind us the good old town of 

 Reading, quiet and peaceful in the balmy 

 sunshine, as it looked, doubtless years ago 

 when the defeated Danes retreated thither 

 after the battle of Ash down, where king 

 Alfred and our Saxon ancestors put them 

 to route, and carved the celebrated white 



horse on the chalky turf of the adjoining 

 hill side, we began our day's work. Taking 

 to our nets and beating the low herbage we 

 secured temerata followed by montanata, a 

 solitary corylata also came from a nut bush. 

 Going across the fields to Tilehurst we saw 

 cardamines, but not so plentiful as they were 

 later on, two females and a few of the 

 " gentlemen" we captured, as they were 

 wanted in our cabinet. A long walk through 

 leafy lanes under the shade of elms and 

 beeches brings us to Tilehurst church, near 

 which we obtained larvae of potatoria, a 

 couple of eggars (quercus), and several 

 gregarious nests of neustria and lanestris 

 larvae, the latter by far the more common. 

 There were very few butterflies visible being 

 a windy day, however, two Argiolus male 

 and female, flitting round the holly bushes, 

 were quickly captured, and on the borders 

 of Kent wood we came to a fine collecting 

 ground. More larvae were transferred to 

 our collecting boxes, auriflua and potatoria, 

 off the wayside banks and hedges, and we 

 looked in vain for quercifolia, which had 

 previously been found at the same spot. 

 Again we turned our attention to cardamines, 

 varying the amusement by beating the 

 young oaks for larvae. It was now nearly 

 mid-day, and getting further on in the lanes 

 we were busy with our nets again, napi, 

 rapce, Alexis and cardamines were everywhere 

 visible, with a stray Megcera ; a female 

 mendica was picked up off the grass, and 

 pollens likewise came to box. 



At length the long expected woods 

 appeared in sight, and after refreshing our- 

 selves with a hurried lunch from our knap- 

 sacks, and a drink from the neighbouring 

 spring, we turned to work in earnest. 

 Euphrosyne was at first very sparingly met 

 with, but we soon found a large coppice, 

 which had been cut some two years 

 previously ; the undergrowth, studded with 

 Primroses and Bluebells, was about up to 

 our knees, here we met with plenty of these 



