306
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
Birds silent during moulting season. It is interesting to note how silent and
inconspicuous many common birds become during the moulting season. As a
consequence the following meagre list is all that could be recorded during the
recent Club Ramble on 1st September, 1945, between Theydon Bois and Abridge,
a district which abounds in birds of many kinds. In addition to a mixed flock
containing several hundred Rooks and Jackdaws, the only species actually seen
were Kestrel. Swallow, House-Martin and House-Sparrow. The only songs
heard were those of the Robin and the Wood-Pigeon, while warning notes were
heard from Wren, Whitethroat and Moorhen hidden in cover.
C. B. Pratt.
Some Butterflies of Epping Forest in 1945. After a period of comparative
scarcity the Holly Blue (Lycaenopsis argiolus) was common both this year and
last throughout the district. The Peacock (Nymphalis io) was frequent in the
forest glades in March and April, and during July several specimens of the
Comma (Polygonia c-album) and the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) were seen.
The month of July also produced good broods of the charming White Admiral
(Limenitis camilla). It was seen in Epping Forest, Wintry Wood and Ongar
Park Wood. In September Michaelmas Daisies in our gardens were resplendent
with numbers of the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), and the Humming Bird
Hawk Moth (Macroglossa stellatarum) was seen in large numbers at Honeysuckle
in Leyton and in Wanstead.
C. B. Pratt.
BOOK NOTICE.
Epping Forest: its literary and historical associations. By William Addison,
1945. Dent, 12/6 net.
This book treats of the Forest from an entirely different angle from any of its
predecessors, and throws a flood of new light upon the many literary and historic
personages who in their day were associated with the district, in its wider acceptance.
The author tells us of many often unexpected links between it and famous
characters of past times, citing, among others, Ben Jonson, William Byrd, John
Foxe, John Donne, George Herbert, Thomas Fuller, Isaac Walton, John Strype,
Daniel Defoe, John Locke, John Clare, Tennyson, Morris and Dickens : nor
are the moderns overlooked.
No lover of our Forest and its history should be without his or her copy of
this fascinating work.
P. T.
END OF VOLUME XXVII.