CORRESPONDENCE. 483 



use of it in any way you please. If not of sufficient import, I beseech you not 

 to occupy its excellent pages with what possibly my vanity, as well as my ardent 

 love for Natural History, has prompted me to send. Were a motive wanting in 

 me to endeavour as far as lies in my power to increase the circulation of The 

 Naturalist, your prompt and flattering attention to my poor contribution would 

 have supplied one. But no such lack is in me : its well-chosen subjects form 

 its chief recommendation to every lover of Natural History. No greater zest is 

 requisite to render it a monthly treat to all who " through Nature's works look up 

 to Nature's God," than its well-seasoned pages afford. 



With you I exceedingly regret the paucity of "hedge-side strollers" and 

 *' Butterfly-hunters," as the many term the few who 



" Wander through the forest walks, 

 Beneath th' umbrageous multitude of leaves." 



" Few and far between" are the dwellings of the sober-minded naturalist; and 

 yet what spot is there in this our sea-girt island that does not present to the 

 inquiring mind plentiful sources of real pleasure ? What season fails to usher in 

 glorious changes in Nature's varied scenes ? The months, as they onward glide, 

 offer to our gaze a panoramic view of the Creator's Universe. The rolling year 

 is full of Him who has spread out Nature's ample lap with blossoms bright 

 and fair. 



For my own part, I consider the pleasures of rural life to consist less in the 

 boasted freedom from the noise and bustle of crowded cities, than in the quiet 

 enjoyment of the country. The constant watching, as it were, of Nature's 

 varied stores, as they rise from " the death of winter" to the life of loveliness in 

 the opening spring — the vegetable kingdom, from the humble " Daisy pied" to the 

 stern monarch of the forest, especially present a world of delights to him who- 

 meditates in the " Book of Nature," ever open — who " sees good in every thing ;" 

 and calms his spirit as he contemplates the work of an Almighty hand, displayed 

 not more fully in the perfect development of the giant trees, than in the gentle 

 up-rearing of the fragrant Violet and the tender Grass. 



Capture of a Butterfly by a Dragonfly. 



While strolling along the margin of the river* the other day, I noticed a singular 

 capture of a Tortoiseshell Butterfly ( Vanessa urticce) by one of the very brilliant 

 Dragonflies (Libellula depressa). The fierce creature soon overtook and pounced 

 upon its prey, and quickly tore it to pieces on the spot, close to where I was 

 standing. I have often kept the larvae of the Dragonfly in a glass vase, feeding 

 them on aquatic insects, fresh-water Leeches, &c. 



* The river Stoke, we presume.— E». 



