THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



105 



A FORTNIGHT'S COLLECTING IN THE 

 NEW FOREST. 



By F. E. PRESCOTT DECIE, B.A. 



Ox June 5th, 1886, we drove over from Bournemouth, by Christchurch 

 and Holmsley, to the village of Lyndhurst, which is situated in the very 

 heart of the New Forest, and is therefore admirably adapted to form the base 

 of operations for an entomological campaign. The drive from Bournemouth 

 is calculated to give a new co ner an excellent idea of the variety of scenery, 

 which forms the most strikirg feature of the Forest. At one time the road 

 runs over heathery moor or ferny upland ; at another it plunges into a thick 

 wood of beech, fir, or oak, only to emerge once more in an open glade, or a 

 stretch of well -wooded park -like fields. The road itself is, unfortunately, by 

 no means a good one, ruts and holes are at times unpleasantly numerous, and 

 the joltings thereby produced are not at all conducive to a proper appreciation 

 of the beauties of the surrounding country. 



We arrived at Lyndhurst on a Saturday afternoon, without having secured 

 lodgings beforehand, and knowing nothing of the place, had, consequently, 

 some little difficulty in finding rooms. In the end, however, we found capital 

 quarters, and a most obliging landlady. 



We did not go out again that day, but in the course of the evening five 

 E. vulgata and B. castigaia came to light. 



The following day being Sunday, our researches were confined to a short 

 walk in the afternoon, taken with a view to gaining some idea of what we 

 might expect to capture during our stay. We started along the Southampton 

 road, and after crossing the upper part of the Beaulieu River, turned to the 

 left across a strip of heather, which lies to the north of the road. Beyond 

 this strip we found numerous pine, beech, and birch trees, and we walked on 

 now under their shade, and now in the sunny glades (where a few G. rhamrii 

 were flying), until we reached a gate leading into Buckets Lawn Enclosure. 



For the benefit of those readers of the Young Naturalist, who are un- 

 acquainted with the New Forest, it may be mentioned that " enclosures" are 

 young plantations, out of which it is thought necessary to keep the cattle and 

 ponies, and which are therefore fenced. This particular enclosure consists of 

 firs some fifteen or twenty feet high, a stream runs through the middle of it, 

 and it is traversed by two or three rides. 



We had expected to find Lepidoptera in greater profusion than we had 

 ever seen them before, but were nevertheless astonished at the numbers, which 

 were flying everywhere, more especially in the centre ride. A* ewphrosyne 



