THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



116 



THE 



ANNUAL GATHERING. 



We may consider ourselves very fortunate 

 that our Liverpool friends advised that this 

 be held at ^Vhitsuntide, rather than Easter. 

 Easter, of course, falls very early this year, 

 being within three days of the earliest 

 possible date ; but the prospects of an early 

 spring, and the wonderfully fine weather 

 we had till four weeks ago, might have en- 

 couraged us to believe that even at Easter 

 we would all be hard at work. Now, how- I 

 ever, while we are penning these lines, in 

 the last week of March, snow is falling 

 heavily, and the earth is frozen hard. The 

 winter that we should have had months 

 ago, has only reached us when spring should 

 have been gladdening our eyes. The early 

 insects that were brought out by the genial 

 weather have all gone back to hybernation, 

 or have perished ; and had our gathering on 

 the Wallasey Sandhills been fixed for j 

 Easter, few would have ventured there, if 

 any, and certainly nothing of note would 

 have been done. But Whitsuntide is still 

 some weeks off, and we shall have another 

 opportunity of referring to the subject 

 befofe the time. In the meantime a com- 

 munication or two from Liverpool friends 

 must be laid before our readers. 



Mr, Gregson says, especially with reference 

 to the chance of a wet day : — 



" I have waited to see what my younger 

 friends had to suggest for an annual gather- 

 ing, in this month's Y.N., before I said any- 

 thing, as I think the young workers should 

 always be allowed to work out such things 

 for themselves, and the older ones only 

 interfere where and when they can make 

 such m.eetings more agreeable or instructive. 

 The suggestions thrown out seem to me 

 admirable, but there remains one little 

 factor, which may or may not interfere with 

 all these suggestions — it may be a wet day, 

 even though it is in the middle of May the j 



meeting takes place. Well, then, if it is a 

 wet day, I shall be pleased to throw my 

 collections open to all comers on that day, 

 and exhibit the variation in species which I 

 possess, both in British and Foreign Lepi- 

 doptera. Birds and their Eggs, Shells, Algae, 

 &c. ; the only condition being that if our 

 visitors are numerous they must not expect 

 us to entertain them, as my people want a 

 holiday like yourselves, and I shall probably 

 be almost alone in the house ! To get to 

 my house take train from Lime Street 

 Station to Edge Lane Station, fare 2^d, 

 return 4d., or Tram Buss, by Fairfield and 

 old Swan buss to Church Road, Stanley, 

 through Church Road on foot to Fletcher 

 Grove, Edge Lane, a few minutes walk. If 

 it is a fine day I may be on the Wallasey 

 Sandhills, and shall then hope to see the 

 interesting species brought for exhibition." 



" C. S. Gregson." 

 Kose Bank Fletcher Grove, Liverpool. 



Though Mr. Gregson's offer to exhibit his 

 collections to visitors is a most tempting 

 one, and one we would be glad to avail our- 

 selves of, we still hope the day will be fine 

 and that we shall see Mr. Gregson on the 

 Sandhills. 



Dr. Ellis says : — 

 " In your article on a field day you speak of 

 meeting on the " opima ground," would it 

 not it not be advisable to give some direc- 

 tions as to finding this for strangers, al- 

 though I hope there will be plenty of 

 brethren of the net about. There used to 

 be a post on the top of the hill, overlooking 

 it, but that has disappeared. Suppose you 

 direct them to cross the Sandhills past 

 Wallasey village, and past the plantations 

 and gardens, until they find the land border- 

 ing the Sandhills separating by a hedge — 

 the " opima ground " is opposite the middle 

 of this hedge, and the first arrivals (I shall 

 be one probably) will stick up a net at the 

 end of a stick as a sort of signal post. I will 

 I try to let you have a list of the lepidoptera 



