NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 205
BIRDS.
Occurrence of the Osprey in Essex.—Mr. H. C. Tower
writes from Weald Hall, Brentwood, to Mr. Miller Christy, as
follows :—
An Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) appeared last year and stopped
in this Park from Sunday, Oct. 11, till Saturday, the 24th of the
same month. It was last seen at 10 a.m. on that day.
When it first came it was very tame, coming and taking
some gold-fish out of a pond in the garden where some gardeners
were working. Afterwards, it generally took up a position on
the dead bough of a tree on an island in the Big Lake, where it
was occasionally mobbed by rooks, for whom, however, it
appeared to have a supreme contempt.
There is absolutely no doubt about its identity, as both my
father and brother saw it frequently with the naked eye and also'
through a telescope.
It was, of course, protected, and notice was given round
about, so that it should not be shot.
INSECTS.
The "Painted Lady Butterfly."—Continuing the notes on
the remarkable apparition of Cynthia cardui on our coasts last
autumn (ante pp. 129-131) it will be interesting to quote a few
paragraphs from an excellent paper by the well-known natural
history artist, Mr. F. W. Frohawk, F.E.S., in the Field for
November 14th:—
" Until recent years, the sudden appearance of this beautiful butterfly in
extraordinary abundance in certain seasons puzzled the best of observers. The
older writers on entomology were quite at a loss to account for the erratic habits
of the Painted Lady (Cynthia cardui) and some other migratory species, such as
the Clouded Yellow (Colias edusa), the Pale Clouded Yellow (C. hyale), the
Queen of Spain Fritillary (Argynnis lathonia), the Chequered White (Pieris
daplidice), and the Camberwell Beauty (Vanessa antiopa). The occurrence of
all these butterflies in this country is due to immigration; although they are
common continental species occurring on the opposite coasts of France, yet the
English winter climate is apparently wholly unsuitable for their existence."
After sketching the life-history of the insect Mr. Frohawk
continues:—
" Frequently years pass without hardly a specimen being seen, but then may
come a year, such as the present season, when a sudden and vast invasion takes
place, arriving in hundreds of thousands along our shores, and dispersing
themselves throughout the country, and great numbers find their way to Ireland,