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NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
where in such years they are met with all over the island. At the present time
this great migratory flight has, according to the reports already received,
extended from the Shetlands to the southern-most part of England ; swarms have
appeared along the whole of the eastern seaboard, from Dinham to Kent, and
large numbers have been recorded from the Scotch coast ; it is therefore probable
that they extended in an almost unbroken line along the entire eastern coast of
the British Isles. Apparently this great swarm of butterflies reached our islands
from the Continent about September 20. On that date at mid-day large numbers
suddenly made their appearance at Hockley, Essex, a few miles inland, where I
found them over two patches of Devils-bit Scabious (Scabiosa Succisa) busy
feeding on the blossoms in company with its near ally the Red Admiral (Vanessa
atalanta), the Peacock (V. io), the Brimstone (Gonopteryx rhamni), numbers of
Meadow-Browns (Epinephele ianira), Small-Heaths (Coenonympha pamphilus),
Small Coppers (Chrysophanus phlaeas), Common-Blues (Lycaena icarus), the
three Common-Whites (Pieris napi, P. rapa, P. brassicae), and innumerable
Silver-Y moths (Plusia gamma), which is usually exceedingly abundant in a
cardui year, it being a migratory species. Altogether this great gathering of
insects formed a charming scene, but on September 24 and 25 the same patches
of scabious were literally swarming with cardui. They were in such profusion
that it was an easy matter to capture as many as five or six with one sweep of the
net. It was a wonderful sight to see so many of these beautiful butterflies
floating over and settled on the purple flowers of the scabious ; the colouring of
both flowers and insects formed a rich and delicate harmony. I captured several
dozen of the finest specimens, and upon comparing them with a bred series, I find
many are almost equal to the latter, having every appearance of being but freshly
emerged, and bear no trace of having undergone a journey over the sea.
Obviously, they are the progeny of early summer immigrants. I noticed a few
in June and in the early part of July which were faded and worn. The majority
of the swarm showed in a more or less degree evidence of having been some time
on the wing, and were undoubtedly immigrants.''
* * * * *
" It is a remark-able fact that the last great "Cardui year" was hitherto the
wettest season on record, that of 1879. In that year vast swarms occurred all
over Europe, and were the topic of the various newspapers. According to the
reports gathered and published in the entomological journals, it appears that the
first migratory swarm was observed in North Africa about the middle of April ;
at Barcelona and Valencia enormous numbers appeared during the last four days
of April, and reached the island of Minorca on the first three days of May. Vast
swarms passed over Sèvres on June 15, flying all day long in a N.N.W. direction.
From June 3 to 9 similar flights were seen at Strasburg passing in innumerable
numbers towards the north. On June 10 at Angers an immense swarm passed
over part of the city, flying so low that pedestrians were inconvenienced by them,
and it was estimated that between 40,000 and 50,000 passed along a single street
in one hour. The same phenomenon was observed at Bisheim on June 8, and
their enormous numbers darkened the day. So great was the vastness of a flight
on June 11 which passed over Steyer in Austria, that between one and two
o'clock p.m., ninety to 100 per minute were counted in a breadth of 100 paces,
the swarm being estimated above 1,000,000 ; at other places similar swarms were
seen, and so dense at times that the sun was obscured. On June 14 Wetzikon,