THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



it rather a strange time for this bird to 

 occur here. There was a fine male got here 

 in February last. — Thomas Hann, Byers 

 Green, Durham. 



Sphinx CoNVOLVULi.--On September nth, 

 we took a specimen of S. convolvuli, in the 

 daytime, while at rest on a window frame. 

 — R. Prescott Decie, Bockleton Court, 

 Tenbury. 



Sphinx Convolvuli at Gateshead. — 

 On September the 2nd I had a female speci- 

 men of Sphinx Convolvuli brought to me, 

 it had been caught about a mile from the 

 town: The last record of this insect about 

 here was one near Swalwell in 1871. — A. 

 Bramwell, Prior Street, Gateshead. 



Sphinx Convolvuli near Birmingham. 

 Yesterday, September i6th, a boy brought a 

 specimen of Sphinx Convolvuli, caught in 

 the old church at Handsworth, near Bir- 

 mingham, to Mr. E. F. Spicer, taxidermist 

 of this town, who has since kindly given it 

 to me. — P. T. Deakin, 46, Princess Street, 

 Birmingham. 



Larvae of Abraxas Ulmata at Ince. — 

 The larvae of this pretty insect are now 

 feeding in countless myriads on the elms 

 bordering the road to Ince Blundell. They 

 have, in many instances, completely stripped 

 whole branches of their foliage, and a blow 

 from a stick will instantaneously dislodge 

 twenty or thirty. They rest in a straight 

 posture on the underside of the leaf but are 

 very troublesome to box, owing to their 

 habit of clinging tightly to a slight web 

 spun to the surface. — C. H. H. Walker, 

 Liverpool. 



PuPiE of S. Ligustri. — It may interest 

 Mr. Davis to know that out of sixteen larvae 

 of this moth, seven entered their quiescent 

 state between the middle and the close of 

 August. Up to the time of writing, eight 

 more have pupated, while the last larva is 

 not yet half fed. — Charles H. H. Walker, 

 Liverpool. 



Note on Ennomos Alniaria (Autumna- 

 ria. — We have been reminded in our maga- 

 zines that this appears to be the great yellow 

 underwing year. (Tryphana pronuba). Well, 

 this insect like "the poor is always with us," 

 and we .may let it pass with this remark, 

 that in one place or another, or in both, it 

 is always in profusion, but does not always 

 come to sugar. What I wish to call the 

 attention of our young friends to is the fact 

 that this year or next is intended by certain 

 people to be the great Alniaria (autumnaria) 

 year. For two years, as I have gone over a 

 number of collections at sundry times, I 

 have noticed (especially in small collections) 

 that A Iniaria was in series in them, and have 

 been curious to know where they were 

 obtained, and have listened to very lame 

 accounts, how a friend took them at gas- 

 lamps and got eggs from them, &c, &c, and 

 had kindly given them for this, that, and 

 the other " gem," it never having struck 

 these dupes that the females of this genus 

 Ennomos, (however common the species), 

 rarely, if ever, come to light, especially after 

 copulation. Her business is then to lay her 

 eggs, not flying about to lamps, &c. And 

 knowing that a considerable number of this 

 species were imported in 1879 and 1880, I 

 am inclined to fight shy of any of those 

 which have been bred this autumn, and 

 which are in such numbers that entire new 

 sets of setting boards have had to be made 

 to set them upon, As it is now about the 

 time to take them off the sets and distribute 

 them, I expect we shall soon hear that this 

 is the great Alniaria year; but I harbour 

 the opinion that our young friends who-wish 

 to make British collections should look twice 

 at their own "gems" before exchanging them 

 for doubtful specimens of only reputed 

 British species, if bred from imported eggs 

 or pupa. Of course, old collectors will not 

 be caught with chaff.— S. C. Gregson, Rose 

 Bank, Fletcher Grove, Liverpool. 



September 3rd, 1881. 



