Migrant Butterflies The value secured by careful daily observation of
facts on even a small piece of land, or water, is wonderfully illus- trated by the records of Skokholm. Most of us associate the island chiefly with the marvellous records of birds, especially drearwaters, made by Mr. R. M. Lockley (though in pure science they are famous for the exceptional form of a par- ticular rodent). Lately , Mr. Lockley has noticed as strange things among insects as among birds or mammals. He began to accumulate invaluable evidence on these little-known migrations. Here is one record just printed by Captain Dannreuther for the records of the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, though the reference is to June last :
" On the 3rd and 6th a thin stream of butterflies was going west from Pembrokeshire crossing .Jack Sound. . . On the 4th, three from this stream were seen at•Grassholme, a small islet ten miles west and half-way to the Smalls Lighthouse, where about this time a number of white .butterfles were noticed flying and alighting. • .. On Skokholm Island, two miles south of Skomer they were unusu- ally abundant and their larvae devoured cabbages grown on Skok-
holm though heavily ichneumoned." -
At the same place a number of rarer butterflies, all probably migrant, were also Seen.
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