THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



57 



OLD ENTOMOLOGICAL 

 LOCALITIES, No. 2. 



By S. C. Gregson. 



" The "Brushes," Staley Bridge, nine 

 miles from Manchester. 

 This locality was first brought into noto- 

 riety by old Jethro Tinker of Staley Bridge 

 and his friends, G. Crozier and Eversham 

 of Manchester, when they worked it for 

 plants and insects between 1832 and 1840. 

 Here they discovered Cloantha soUdaginis in 

 plenty at rest on stone walls and on stones, 

 &c. My first journeys up to the Brushes were 

 .in August and September, 1S40, accom- 

 .panied by my old friend and instructor, 

 "Jethro." We took a long series of C. 

 soUdaginis, and from that date the Brushes 

 became the regular hunting-ground of a 

 -number of young Lancashire naturalists. 

 We called regularly upon "old Jethro " to go 

 with us, and thus the locality became 

 developed. Men like R. S. Edleston, S. 

 Carter and T. Hague, all discovered new or 

 kitherto very rare species there in these 

 early days. And still its treasures were not 

 exhausted when J. Sang wrote me to meet 

 him in Manchester for a ramble in the 

 Brushes a few years ago, for he found an- 

 other new species there, Arg. (srariella, 

 amongst the mountain ash. For a list of 

 the riches of this district and how they 

 were found, we must look in our books, 

 and yet they do not give a tithe of 

 ■what is to be still found there by those 

 who will work. At present, Mr. White of 

 Droylsden, and Michael Ward of Ducken- 

 field are the best naturalists I know who 

 work the ground. The present time should, 

 however, be seized upon to exhaust it, as 

 game and its nuisances are, in the near 

 future, sure to close this hitherto open and 

 grand collecting ground— ^/?^ Darenth Wood 

 oj the north. At present, any one working 

 on the top of the hills must creep or lay 

 down ; if once they stand up they will be 



seen and sent away. To reach the ground, 

 go to Staley Bridge, by train from anywhere, 

 and enquire for the Water Co.'s Reservoir. 

 Two miles towards the hills you see, look- 

 ing east, High Ridge — pronounced He 

 Rege. Arrived at the corner of the first 

 reservoir, climb the wall at the corner on 

 the right hand side, and make for the low 

 growing oaks, collecting as you cross the 

 wet moorland. These oaks are "The 

 Brushes." Since I have known them they 

 have not grown much in thickness or height 

 but very many of them have died away, 

 hence it is much easier to work amongst 

 them than it was forty years ago. Having 

 reached the Brushes proper (I need only say 

 that the term Brushes covers the whole of 

 the district in entomological parlance), here 

 we have various sorts of ground to choose 

 from. The Brushes proper are celebrated 

 for C. soUdaginis, discovered by J. Tinker 

 and Co.; Cheimatobia filigrammaria, discoweved 

 by myself ; Plusia hractaa, discovered by the 

 late S. Carter, &c., &c., and on the stones in 

 the brook, R. S. Edleston, following up 

 my discovery of a case feeder upon themi 

 bred out his Solenoiia. Much of the bed of 

 the brook is in the reservoirs now, but search 

 further up. The oak woods on the opposite 

 hill produce two notable species in April, 

 viz., Ceropacha ridens and Heiisemene fimhriana 

 — the latter discovered by T. Hague, The 

 first sits on tree trunks and the last can be 

 beaten out from the branches. Tap the 

 branches gently and look for that little 

 stone which fell straight down — you will 

 find fimbriana. Being on this ground in 

 April or May, go further up the valley, and 

 amongst the whimberry you may find, as I 

 did, Nep myrtelella, another new species, 

 named by my old friend Edleston ; and if 

 you go still higher, amongst the Vacciniim 

 vitis-idea, another of my discoveries will be 

 sure to reward patient search, viz., Coleo- 

 phora vitisella. The cases found under the 

 leaves are disappointing, as they are rarely 



