RARiE AYES. 
63 
kite we had alive in the aviary gardens, Cheltenham. We bought 
it with the other live stock from Mr. Davis, late of the Queen’s 
Hotel, Cheltenham, who took to the gardens, which had 
been in the possession of Mr. Jessopp. The bird, Mr. 
Jessopp bought from a farmer who lived near Cleeve Hill, 
and whose man found the bird caught in a trap by 
the thick of the foot. His attention was called to it by his dog 
which kept barking and was afraid to tackle it, and the man had 
to throw his coat over it before he could take it from the trap.” 
This bird also appears to have escaped notice, for, to quote Mr. 
Howard Saunders again, he only mentions the Yorkshire occur¬ 
ence (in 1805) and says that “there is no other authentic record 
of the occurrence of this species in Great Britain, or in any part 
of Europe ” Man. Brit. Birds, p. (328). Perhaps this bird also 
can be traced ?—H. K. Swann. 
HINTS FOR THE MONTH. 
PUPA HUNTING. 
Searching for Chrysalides forms the principal occupation of 
the lepidopterist in November, and, as bred specimens are far 
better than captured ones, we recommend pupa-hunting to those 
whose breeding cages are not already well stocked with pupated 
larvae. If the weather should happen not to be too moist the 
present time will be found the best of any for finding pupae. 
Later on, underground chrysalides will be getting scarce, for moles 
are very destructive to them ; not to mention other foes. 
The out-fit required is an ordinary garden trowel, a blunt 
strong-bladed knife and a small square sieve, which any tinman 
will make for a few pence, and which will be found very useful 
for finding small pupae in loose dry earth or sand. 
Seek on the trunks of willows forthe hard woody cocoon of Cerura 
vinula, and dig round the roots for Tcenioccimpci instabilis. You 
will find them in the sods of grass, not only beneath willows but 
also at the roots of oak. Pull the sod very carefully to pieces 
and when you have thoroughly searched the sod itself, look just 
beneath it for the chrysalis of Ptilodontis palpina. Deeper down 
in the ground, you may perhaps find the large red-brown pupa of 
Snierinthus ocellatus. 
Under oak trees, before you begin digging, search among the 
fallen leaves forthe cocoon of Stauropus fagi enclosed in three or 
four leaves joined together. If there be an interlacing growth of 
brambles about the roots, search carefully for the pupae of Cyma- 
tophora ridens among the dead leaves and bits of wood, and you 
