MosLEY : On Causes producing Vatiiety in Lepidoptera. 57 



the ordinary form in being, on an average, much smaller ; the orange 

 brown lighter in shade, and the yellow and orange run into each other 

 instesd of being distinct and separate." " Those reared in the yellow 

 light were also smaller, the orange brown replaced by a salmon color, 

 the venation more strongly marked, and the blue dashes at the edge of 

 the wings in the usual form were in these of a dull slaty color." The 

 colours of butterflies which fly in the sunlight are more brilliant than 

 those of the Geometr(S, which fly at dusk, and the Geometr(B are 

 brighter-coloured than the night-flying Noctuce. The sun-loving genus 

 Fliisiais the most brilliant of all the Noctuce, and the hotter the climate 

 the brighter the colour both of insects and birds. Look at the gorgeous 

 beauty of some of the Ornithopterce, and especially the Uranicd, which 

 latter seem to me to be day-flying Geometers, though Newman states 

 they are true butterflies of the " skipper " family. The under side of 

 butterflies, which is as much exposed as the upper side, is often quite 

 as gaily coloured. But there are some cases which seem to be excep- 

 tions to this rule. In the genus Catacola the under wings are brightly 

 coloured, while the upper wings are simply sombre grey. These 

 insects rest by day on the trunks of trees, with the upper wings over- 

 lapping the lower wings, and they fly in the night, so that the under 

 wings do not come in contact with the sunshine at all, yet they are 

 the brightest parts about these insects. A similiar case occurs in 

 the genus Tryphoena, where the under-wings are bright orange, 

 though completely hidden during the day and only exposed during 

 the night. At present I am inclined to the belief that these may be 

 lingering descendants of a day-loving and more brightly coloured 

 race. The genus Catacola is, in fact, only one degree removed from 

 the Geometers, many of which fly during the day. The genera Plusia, 

 Brephos, and Gonoptera — all brightly coloured insects — belong to the 

 same class. 



(To he contimied.) 



I — 



Perching of the Redshank. — In the Naturalist (vol. V., page 10) 

 Mr. Clarke observes in a note on the perching of the redshank on trees, 

 that it is no uncommon sight on the continent to see this species, as well 

 as others of this order, perched on trees. In speaking of the non- 

 observance of this habit in this country he correlates the fact with the 

 absence of trees in their haunts. From observations which I have made 

 in this district I am certainly led to a different conclusion. For many 



