138 



The NA.TURALIST. 



of that month, and lodged at the hut of Miss Cameron, the postman's 

 sister who drove us from Pitlochry railway station to this place, a 

 village named Camachgouran, about three miles from the head of 

 Rannoch. In this hut of two small rooms, a kitchen and parlour and 

 bedroom combined, we were made very comfortable by the tenant, who 

 kept a cow, so that we were supplied with good milk, butter, and eggs, 

 but could get little else, except bread and oatmeal. Nothing better is 

 needed by those who are determined to enjoy the country life such as 

 we went there on purpose for. The worst of it was, the want of light, 

 the only window in the room being but about eighteen inches square. 



We worked chiefly on property belonging to Mrs. Eobertson, now 

 living at Cross Crag, close to the village at the edge of the Loch, but 

 when we were there she lived in a large house at the head of the Loch. 

 She likes to be asked permission to collect insects on her ground, but 

 we did not find this out till afterwards. I asked her permission to fish 

 the Loch one day, and she kindly gave me liberty to do so, and sent 

 her keeper to wait on us with her boat. 



At sugar we got plenty of Reciilinea^ Adusta, Brunnea, Festiva, 

 Duplaris, Ferruginea^ Trilinea, Dentina, with a few Occulta and Tincta, 

 the latter very shy, flying off on our approach. To capture them you 

 must either be quick or make them drunk by adding plenty of rum to 

 the sweets. We got other common species at sugar, and on the low 

 ground took on the wing Blandlaia, common, also Casiata and Ruptaria^ 

 &c. ; on the mountains Salicata, Munitata, Alpinalis, Schulziatia, Ger- 

 ningona, Coniferata &c., also one Glauca was brought to us by sofiie 

 person. On the summits of Cross Crag and Scheialion we took 

 Trepidaria ; it was flying on the latter mountain at an elevation of 

 about 3,500 feet at eight o'clock a.m. ; and on the former we found it 

 at all hours of the day. I found pupa skins of iScoliaeformis sticking 

 out of birch trunks, and some old stumps long since dead were com- 

 pletely riddled by this species. I sent one of my sons to Eannoch on 

 purpose to get this insect the following year, as we were then too late, 

 the weather having been very hot ; but he only obtained three 

 specimens. He, however, obtained a remarkably rich specimen of 

 Hirtaria, some fine Carbonaria^ and on a mountain Melaiiopa, but not 

 many of either. When sugaring, we found each night a considerable 

 number of that beautiful beetle, Cdonia metallica, on the old sugar. 



On the 24:th June, 1866, 1 visited Edinburgh. Mr. Edwin Birchall, 

 who had intended to join me, could not leave home as he had hoped, 

 but sent his son Howard, who afterwards joined me at Fort William ; 

 and I found on Arthur's Seat fresh specimens of Artaxerxes flying. 

 An old man kindly showed me the spot most frequented by this 



