Fowler : Lincolnshire Coast Lepidoptera. 147 



appears to have been very much over-estimated with regard to land 

 shells." The fact is, that though the climate is suitable, the soil is 

 not, as in many districts of the country there is a total absence of 

 limestone in any form. The consequence is, that shells that are at ail 

 conspicuous are found only in small areas, none of which I have yet 

 seen. But I find there is a considerable number of very small species 

 pretty generally diffused. They are thin and delicate, like our 

 Zonites, but many of them are beautifully marked with zebra-like 

 stripes and patches of colour, and, though small, are therefore 

 interesting. Of fresh-water shells I have not yet been able to meet 

 with a single specimen, with the exception of a Unio. 



I understand there is an excellent catalogue of the New Zealand 

 marine shells, to which, however, I have not yet had access, and so 

 have had to omit specific names from my notes. Unfortunately no 

 list of the land shells has yet been produced. 



LINCOLNSHIRE COAST LEPIDOPTERA. 



By Rev. W. Fowler, M.A. 



Hoping that some of our Yorkshire Naturalists will act upon Mr. 

 Porritt's suggestion, and investigate the lepidoptera of the Lincoln- 

 shire coast during the coming season, it may be well for me to point 

 out two or three accessible centres of operation in addition to Skeg- 

 ness. From Cleethorpes to Saltfleet there are mud-flats as well as 

 sand-hills ; from Saltfleet to Gibraltar point, south of Skegness, sand- 

 hills only ; and from Gibraltar point (near Wainfleet) to Boston, and 

 round " The Wash " to Sutton Bridge, sloping turf walls and mud- 

 flats, similar to those between Cleethorpes and Saltfleet, but more 

 extensive. To all the places I have mentioned there are now railways, 

 so that the lepidoptera of the coast could be easily worked (as the 

 birds have been by Mr. Cordeaux), if those who make them their study 

 would by way of a change, visit, say, Humberstone, near Cleethorpes ; 

 Saltfleet ; Mablethorpe ; Gibraltar Point, near Wainfleet and Fos- 

 dyke, near Algarkirk station. They would thus secure both sand-hills 

 and mud-flats, northern and southern species, and, as Mr. Porritt says 

 — " add to our knowledge of the fauna of a district in which so little 

 has as yet been done." 



The wetness of the sand-hills at nights Las been often noticed by 

 me, and attributed to the radiating, and consequent dew-condensing, 

 power of Psamma arenaria — a sea-grass which grows in great luxuri- 

 ance there, and is called by the rustics " sines." On the Lancashire 



