NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 181
Kerry reports from Harwich that C. edusa and C. hyale have been fairly plentiful
there during the latter half of August, this being the first time he had seen C.
hyale in the neighbourhood. The males of edusa were much in excess of the
females, the average being ten males to one female. The variety helice was not
seen. Mr. C. Spiller records C. edusa in plenty and one C. hyale, at Southend ;
and the Rev. F. A. Walker writes that edusa was not uncommon at Walton-on-
the-Naze in August, and that one hyale was taken. At Brentwood, Mr. E. Baxter
reports that edusa commonly occurred during August and September, not only all
over his district, but also on the railway banks further down the line. He also
took one var. helice and seven C. hyale. Lord Waldegrave saw edusa on the rifle
range at Rainham in August. Mr. Buckell says that C. edusa has been plentiful
in and about the Lea Valley. We shall be glad to publish any further Essex
records, more especially of C. hyale, and from the W., N.W., and N. parts of the
county.—Ed.
Lepidoptera of the Essex Marshes.—Mr. F. G. Whittle writes as follows
to the "Entomologists' Record" for September :—"I found Dichrorhampha
plumbagana D. plumbana, and Psyche radiella, on the 6th of May, at Benfleet ;
Stenopteryx noctuella (common), Heliodes arbuti, Eupoecilia affinitana, Argyrolepia
aencana (one only), Spilosoma mendica, and larvae of Eriogaster lanestris, on the
29th of May, near Benfleet; Sericoris littorana, Agaistis bennetii, Fumea reticella,
at Shoeburyness, on the 6th of June, but not a single larva of Bombyx castrensis
was seen on this occasion, although many well advanced larvae were found a fort-
night later. Coleophora salinella and C. artemisicolella were taken on the 10th
June, at Benfleet, and a pair of Eupethecia subumbrata netted in the middle of
June, at Shoeburyness. Tortrix costana occurred on the 24th of June, in the
same locality, whilst Lucania phragmitidis, Dichrorhampha politana, Ephippiphora
trigeminana, Catoptria hypericana, Homoeosoma binaevella, and Crambus selasellus
were taken on the 15th July, at Benfleet. On the 18th July, Catoptria scopoliana
and Euchelia jacobaeaa were on the wing, the latter in fair condition, whilst
larvae of the same species—adult and young—were on the food-plant. S. noctuella,
Cynthia cardui, and Plusia gamma were common on the Essex Marshes in May. I
was particularly pleased to take Eumea reticella. It occurred so freely that, in a
short visit, I was able to take thirty-one specimens."
A Brilliant November Meteor seen in Essex.—A Braintree corre-
spondent of the "Essex County Chronicle" states that at 1.33 a.m. on Monday,
November 17th, "a very large and beautiful meteor appeared to start from the
centre of the heavens, somewhat east of the planet Jupiter, and descend to the
earth about one point to the west of the North Star. The nebula appeared like
an immense star, intensely bright and glittering, and the tail, which reached high
up in the sky, was a most beautiful mixture of coloured fire, of pale yellow,
mauve, blue, etc. It only disappeared when it seemed close to the earth." The
meteor was also observed by several persons in the neighbourhood of Braintree,
Superintendent Elsey and P.S. Barnard were driving up Panfield Lane, Bocking,
at 1.33 a.m., when they observed the aerial visitant Superintendent Elsey has
seen many similar phenomena in various climes, but he says he had never before
seen one so beautiful. The "tail" of the meteor, he says, stretched far into the
heavens, and was resplendent with bright blue, pale yellow, mauve, and other
hues. As the meteor apparently came close to the earth it seemed to disappear
as if it bad dropped in some fields close by. At Chelmsford the meteor was seen
by P.C. Everett, who says that the meteor's flight was followed by a loud