BUTTERFLIES OF THE CENTRAL PROVINCES. 285 



patch on the forewing, the underside is as exact an imitation of a 

 dead leaf as could be made. The mid-rib, the veins, the stem formed 

 by the lobe of the hindwing, and the point of the leaf, formed by the 

 apex of the forewing being produced, are all there. It is mottled all 

 over with blotches and little splashes just as if the leaf was covered 

 with lichen or decay. In the forewing there are two clear spots, 

 in each wing, which coincide when the wings are closed, as is invari- 

 ably the case when the insect is at rest, and actually represent holes 

 in the leaf ! Each butterfly is differently coloured on the underside, 

 and in a good collection you come across every variety of russets, 

 browns, greys, and faded yellows showing, as Mr. de Niceville remarks, 

 "a wonderful series of autumnal tints." When the insect is seated 

 on the ground or on a tree, it is very difficult to suppose that it can 

 be anything than a leaf, and it is not until it is disturbed that one 

 realises that it is endowed with active life and powers of motion. I 

 have never tried it with Mhowa, but fancy it would come to it 

 readily enough. I came across it in Pachmarhi, and found it 

 fairly common down in the khuds and ravines about that charming 

 little sanitarium. 



49. Charaxes athamas, Drury (568). The fastest flying butterfly 

 I have come across. Its colours are black and yellow or pale green, 

 the pale colour disposed in a band extending from the point of 

 the forewing to the hinder angle of the hindwing. The colours 

 underneath are exquisite, with a sort of silvery sheen about them. It 

 is, in common with C.fabius and C. imna, a very foul feeder. 



50. Charaxes fabius, Fabricius (570). The colour of this insect 

 is a blackish-brown with yellow spots placed in a band across both 

 wings. It is a bold creature with a strong flight, but sometimes 

 falls a prey to curiosity. One settled on my boot once, and another 

 time another wanted to see what my tonga was and flitted round it, 

 as it went along, until it was caught. 



51. Charaxes imna, Butler (577). This is truly a beautiful crea- 

 ture. The colours are a deep rich chestnut with a velvetty black 

 border in the male, relieved in the female by a broad white band 

 across the forewing. It has the most powerful flight of any butterfly 

 I know, (while C. athamas has the fastest) and looks like a bird while 

 on the wing. The female is larger than the male and much more 



