away leisurely across the field, catching another on its way. A quarter 
of an hour later there were still two gulls moth-catching, and, to judge 
by their movements, they enjoyed a good meal. These black-headed 
gulls appear to be most ardent and successful entomologists. Their 
methods of capturing H. hamuli, which I watched at Rannoch last 
year, and its ally H. velleda, were most cleverly adapted to the different 
flights of the males of these two insects. For the swift and erratic 
velleda they stood still, and only made a sudden flying dash as one 
went past; while for the hovering ghost moth they few steadily back¬ 
wards and forwards, catching them as they went. In both cases they 
seemed to know exactly what time the insects were beginning their 
evening flight. 
Two of the next three days we spent in Tongue Woods, and took 
a fine series of Fidonia piniaria, which was very abundant. Amongst 
the males I looked out carefully for cream-coloured forms, but only 
succeeded in catching four, all smaller, of a paler, dingier colour, and 
with more black on the wings, than those from the south of England. 
The females vary in ground colour from white or cream colour, 
through various shades of yellowish-brown to drab: some of the last 
are almost unicolorous. In one of the pale ones, the usually dark 
costal and apical areas are pale yellowish-brown, giving it a faded 
appearance. In the forewings, some have the basal stripe along the 
nervures well marked, some the transverse bar, while in others both 
are almost obsolete. In several there is a very distinct approach to 
male colouration. 
Above the wood we took two Coenonympha davus, which was 
unexpectedly scarce, a male Chelonia plantaginis, Ay rot is porphyrea, 
and Fidonia atomaria. 
In the wood itself we came across E. lariciata, V. cambrica, Macaria 
liturata (new: Inverness and Ross), Rumia crataeyata (a pale specimen 
with red markings almost obsolete), Coremia ferrugata (the last two 
new : Moray) and E. nanata. 
On July 3rd, I took several very bright males of Polyommatus 
alexis and two females, neither so blue as some Rannoch ones, and a 
large battered female of Vanessa cardui. I also found a female Arctia 
fuliginosa var. borealis with a complete black abdominal stripe, a 
marking I have previously only seen in males. 
During the next few days V. camhrica was at its best—I saw 
thirteen on two trees on the 4th—and contrary to expectation I found 
it very unwilling to fly. They are all paler than my Yorkshire ones. 
The next day was bright and sunny, and we saw Xylophasia rurea 
flying at saxifrage, and Apamea basilinea at raspberry blossom. Near 
the village there were several colonies of Vanessa urticae larvre. 
In the evening I went to some marshy ground where 1 had seen 
great numbers of flower spikes of the butterfly orchis, with a few 
Habenaria albida, marsh and spotted orchids, hoping they would be 
visited by one of the Plusias. 
Very few moths visited them, and I only took five faded Plusia 
gamma, only one of which had pollinia of this orchid attached to its 
eye. Plusia bractea undoubtedly visits this flower, as I have one with 
a disc firmly attached to each eye, but I suppose it was too early for 
this insect. Two of the gamma had pollinia of one of the other orchids 
on their tongues, and I noticed some on a Hadena dentina found on a 
