NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 99
warmer, and on May 11th not one was to be seen, but on May 12th I saw a
straggler feeding in a meadow with some starlings.—Reginald W. Christy,
Little Boyton Hall, Roxwell.
Abundance of Cynthia cardui.—This spring there is an unusual abundance
of the "Silver Y." moth (Plusia gamma). They swarm everywhere, especially in
bean fields, where they fly like butterflies in the brightest sunshine.
The "Painted Lady" butterfly (Cynthia cardui) is also very common here
now; in fact, with the exception of Euchloe cardamines, it is the commonest butter-
fly on my farm.
If the abundance of its plant food has anything to do with its numbers, this
species is not likely to become extinct just yet.—REGINALD W. CHRISTY, Little
Boyton Hall, Chelmsford, May 30th, 1892.
Abundance of Spring Insects.—I can confirm Mr. R. W. Christy's obser-
vations as to the abundance of some species of Lepidoptera in Essex this spring.
During the last fortnight I have traversed a considerable portion of the county,
and have observed very large numbers of Cynthia cardui and Vanessa atalanta,
with Plusia gamma in countless thousands. My brothers and I have also seen
with pleasure three specimens of Colias edusa (one at Buckhurst Hill, one at
East Mersea, and one at West Mersea). The young larvae of Vanessa urticae
are excessively common ; in some places every patch of nettles has one or more
colonies. The caterpillars of the "Magpie Moth," Abraxas grossulariata, and of
the "Figure-of-8-Moth," Diloba caeruleocephala are also present in astonishing
numbers. We may reasonably hope that the abundance of the foregoing species
will prove to be the harbinger of a glorious butterfly season, such as the
memorable one of 1877, fondly looked back upon as the great "edusa-year."
Of the true spring butterflies the lovely "Orange-tip" Euchloe cardamines
and Satyrus megaera have been exceedingly common in all parts of the county I
have visited. The spring larvae, such as "Drinkers" (Odonestis potatoria),
Arctia caja, Bombyx neustria, have also been observed by hundreds, with
Bombyx quercus not so commonly. At East Mersea the beautiful larvae of the
"Pale Oak-egger moth" (Trichiura crataegi) have been in very considerable
numbers on the black-thorn and "May" bushes. In Epping Forest the ravages
of Tortrix viridana are only too evident, very many of the oaks being absolutely
defoliated. Ichneumon flies are very numerous, so that vast numbers of these
"wasteful things," as a Mersea farmer called the caterpillars we showed him, may
never come to the winged state, but nevertheless the entomologist may be
pardoned in looking forward to the coming summer and autumn of 1892 as
likely to rival some of the historic years of times past. [Since writing the
above, my brother, B. G. C, has seen two more C. edusa near the "Red Hill,"
on Bower Hill Farm, West Mersea, and I am informed that several have been
seen on the South Coast and elsewhere].—WILLIAM Cole, East Mersea, June
9th, 1892.
Funeral Garlands.—With reference to the interesting bygone folk-custom
alluded to in the report of the Club's visit to Theydon Mount Church, on May
28th (see page 105), Mr. Chalkley Gould has kindly sent us the following illustra-
tive extracts : —The "Antiquarian Repertory," 1784 (vol. iv., p. 239), says:
" . . . these garlands at the funerals of the deceased was carried solemnly
before the corpse by two maids, and afterwards hung up in some conspicuous
place within the church, and was made in the following manner, viz., the lower
rim or circlet, was a broad hoop of wood, whereunto was fixed at the sides thereof