NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 
205 
some of the boys, and, on an old heap of rubbish all among some 
nettles, I came across a lot of Tinea imella and took about thirty. I 
think this moth must be rather rare, as my friend, Mr. Hodgkinson, who 
named them for me, said he had never taken it himself, and he had 
collected for fifty years. — T. Baxter, St. Anne’s-on-Sea. 
Lake District. — On July 6th I arrived at Keswick for a few weeks’ 
collecting. The weather during my stay was on the whole fine, but 
seemed to affect insects in a way that made them sluggish, and absence 
of sunny days made the Diurni scarce, so that I had to work hard for 
what I did get. The best insect I took was Erebia cassiope. Newman’s 
British Butterflies was my guide as to localities for this, but I only took 
it just below Styehead Tarn, at the head of Borrowdale. It occurs 
here in a little valley, I think about i,ooo feet above the sea level, down 
which runs a brook, the river Derwent being the outlet of the Tarn. 
It did not, however, appear to be common here, probably because I 
was too late for it, as most of the specimens I took were worn, some 
badly so. I visited the spot twice. The first day (July loth) was sunny, 
but a fresh breeze swept down from the Tarn. I arrived about midday, 
and stayed for rather more than an hour, during which I captured eight 
specimens, which were almost all I saw. It is by far the easiest butterfly 
to catch of any I know, as it never makes the slightest attempt to dodge 
the net. Soon after one o’clock it disappeared altogether, although the 
sun was still shining. To-day, on my way home, I had the misfortune 
to drop my collecting box, containing the eight specimens of E. cassiope^ 
amongst some heather and bracken. A two hours’ systematic search 
over half an acre was fruitless ; the box and specimens must be there 
now ! On July 8th, I carefully searched the greater part of the southern 
and western slopes of Helvellyn for the same insect, but failed to find it 
although the day was favourable for its flight. On the nth, an expedi- 
tion for it to the Red Skrees, near Ambleside, met with no better 
success ; but although the western slope near the top seemed very 
likely ground for it, and the day was oppressively hot and still, with an 
entire absence of sun, I had not a fair chance. On the 13th, I made 
an early start for Styehead Tarn again, though it was the dullest of 
mornings, with a cold wind blowing. I arrived at about 10.30, but saw 
nothing of cassiope for an hour, owing to the dull weather ; when fortune 
favoured me, for the only glimpses of sunlight, it seemed, in the whole 
district came down my valley. These glimpses were of very short 
duration, and few and far between, nevertheless most precious, for 
immediately on the appearance of the sun, cassiope appeared, although 
when the sun was not shining I could not find a single specimen even 
by most careful searching. Once I caught three specimens in hardly 
more than thirty seconds of sunshine, and altogether I took nine in 
about two hours. The rule seems to be, no sunshine, no cassiope. I 
brought home a living 2 , but although I fed her she died in a week 
without having laid. Of other Diurni, I took Argynnis selene (much 
worn), A. aglaia (fine) and Coenonympa davus. Of the latter, five 
specimens on Helvington Moss, near Kendal (2 <?’s and 3 $ ’s ; i $ 
fine, the rest very poor). Beating was not of much use, but produced 
Asthena luteata (2), Metrocampa margaritaria^ Abraxas ulmata (always 
sluggish), Cidaria popidata (i), Melanthia ocellata (i), Nudaria mundana 
(i), Aplecta herbida (i), Platypteryx falcula (i), Larentia pectinitaria 
