THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



151 



gorse, heath, fern, which grow on waste 

 land, that has gone out of cultivation, 

 but is still " breakable," that is, was 

 not preserved by law as forest land. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL 

 LOCALITIES, 

 No. 5. 



By S. C. Gregson. 



CHAT MOSS. 



The term "Chat Moss" is applied still 

 to a most extensive tract of moss land in 

 south-west Lancashire, much reduced now 

 by cultivation to what it was forty or fifty 

 years ago, when it was first brought into 

 notoriety by the Lancashire entomologist 

 and botanist. It is situated between and 

 within a triangular space, having Manches- 

 ter and Bolton-le-Moors as its base line and 

 Warrington as its apex, and is crossed by 

 the Liverpool and Manchester railway, and 

 by the Midland between Manchester and 

 Liverpool, and varies much in its own form, 

 and, in fact, is always being changed by the 

 constant reclamations. Thus Barton Moss, 

 near Manchester, has become agricultural 

 land, and is being also utilized for building 

 purposes ; and much of Resley Moor, near 

 Warrington, after having 1 ^en cleared of the 

 upper surface, which was sold or used for 

 fuel, is now growing oats and potatoes of 

 the best quality. Other parts are also being 

 reclaimed, but I need not name them : it is 

 sufficient for our purpose to understand that 

 the whole of this moss district is generally 

 understood as "Chat Moss" by all botanists 

 and entomologists. Over the whole of this 

 land our naturalists used to wander freely, 

 but now game (not our game) is almost 

 everywhere paramount. " What's taa want 

 here ? " " Oh, I'm only after a few insects." 



"What dost say ? Insects ! dost mean flees ?" 

 " I'st ha' noane o' yo' flee-ketchers here. I'n 

 my birds ta luk efter ! Goo." And he is a 

 clever fellow who can convert a positivist 

 like that unless there is a public house near. 



Botany Bay Wood, near Worsley, used to 

 be the best locality on the Moss, but now — 

 there being no ameliorating conditions near, 

 and no means of getting across the Moss and 

 into the wood without being seen by one or 

 other of the keepers— it is closed, sacred to 

 game. And whilst the owner thinks he is 

 quite justified in so closing it, perhaps 

 against the entomologist who could tell him 

 that he had an enemy feeding on and in his 

 trees which will eventually destroy the very 

 wood he is preserving, we are unable to 

 point out where the evil lays or to enrich 

 our collection as we helped to destroy his 

 entomological enemies. 



This wood consists, as do most others on 

 the moss, of young natural birch, planted firs 

 and alders. It was here Sesia sphegiformis 

 was first discovered in the north of England, 

 and the original specimens are now in the 

 grand collection of J. Sidebotham, Esq., of 

 Bowden, from the late R. S. Edleston's 

 great collection; and around here, Jethro 

 Tinker, George Crozier, Thomas Townley, 

 &c., worked to supply their friends all over 

 England with the various plants and insects 

 affecting our great tracts of moss land. The 

 "Sundews," Drosera rotundi/olia, anglica, in- 

 termedia, and the caulescent form are every- 

 where on the wet parts of the moss. The 

 Lancashire asphodell grows in patches for 

 hundreds of yards together, and the cran- 

 berries are got in every damp spot all over 

 the mosses, whilst the cotton grass, Eriopho- 

 rum vaginatum, augustifolium, and lati folium 

 abounds for miles. It must, however, be 

 noted that though the whole district appears 

 exactly alike, formation, plants, trees, and 

 general appearance, yet in practice we find 

 that though some insects occur, we may say, 

 everywhere on the moss, others are so very 



