CORRESPONDENCE. 
57 
Insect-hunting at Weymouth. 
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday—October ioth, 12th and 
13th—being the finest of the six and a half days of my stay at 
Weymouth, my entomological aspirations led me through the 
various lanes and fields in quest of insects. October 9th being 
very windy, my hands were more employed in securing my hat 
than in taking insects, but I managed to secure a Colopterous 
individual of the Brachelytra group, the “ devil’s coach-horse ” 
{Ocytius 0lens). On the 12th, I disturbed one specimen of the 
tortoiseshell ( V. urticce ) on my sudden appearance in a clover 
field. It settled on the grass with wings outspread, exhibiting 
the pearly white spot which distinguishes urticce from polychloros 
(the large tortoiseshell). “ Crane-flies,” or “ daddy-long-legs,” 
were of course in plenty—ascending on my approach and 
settling again within a foot or two from where they were 
disturbed. Those lively little insects the small coppers ( Poly- 
ommatus phlceas ) were plentiful enough. Whilst in the act of 
securing a specimen, Colias edusa met my gaze. Possessing but 
one damaged specimen (given me by a non-entomological friend 
who had visited the same locality in August), I made a dash at 
it, when lo ! away went edusa over the topmost hedges. The 
same morning, on returning to my lodgings, I met with another 
specimen and caught it in my hat ; but like many captives the 
clouded yellow escaped. On the following day I found wasps 
(Vespa vulgaris ) plentiful. Dragonflies, also, were inumerable. 
The sight was a pleasant one : their darting movements and 
instantaneous turnings, together with the imperceptible velocity 
of their wings, gave them quite a striking appearance. I 
managed to secure two specimens during the intervals of sun¬ 
shine, but my knowledge of these insects is so limited that I 
shall not venture to name them here. J. F. Cordon. 
The Collecting oe Birds Eggs: Clutches or Singles? 
Will any of your readers inform me of the advantages, if any, 
of collecting eggs in clutches, beyond the very slight one of 
seeing at a glance the number of eggs laid by each bird in a 
clutch, although this can be seen just as well by referring to 
one’s note book, in fact better, as a supposed full clutch might 
be taken, when if left it may have had one or two eggs added 
to it before the bird would have really started incubation in 
earnest. I contend that clutch collecting is not only cruel, but 
unnecessary, and I am sorry to see so many oologists collecting 
in that manner. W. N. Rushen. 
The bison or American buffalo is now said to be practically 
extinct, and yet in 1865 there were over 9,500,000 on the plains 
between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains. 
