1922. 'M.OFFAT.— Habits of BuUerJlies. 63 



hill called Boley, or Corrigrua, which culminates in three 

 rocky summits, at heights of about 700 feet. On one of 

 these peaks (the southernmost of the three) I saw, not far 

 from each other, a Painted Lady and a Red Admiral 

 Butterfly, each seated on a stone. They were the first I 

 had seen that summer, and it struck me as singular that 

 they should both have turned up at so exposed a spot. 

 But presently another Red Admiral appeared, swooping 

 towards the same spot ; on which the Red Admiral in 

 possession flew up and attacked the new comer, chased him 

 away, and then returned victoriously to re-seat himseL on 

 his stone. 



On that afternoon I saw only the one encounter ; but 

 two days afterwards I went up the hill again and saw a 

 long series, all on the same little peak, and found that the 

 top of this hill was a regular tilting-ground, both for Red 

 Admirals and for Painted Ladies. I can't say how many 

 there were. There were seldom more than two of each 

 species in sight at the same time ; but the procedure was 

 for one of each kind to sit on its basking-stone till another 

 of the same kind (and this happened very often) came 

 plunging towards it, whereat the butterfly in possession 

 at once flew up and seemed to give battle, driving the 

 new comer some distance away. The battle always ended 

 in the return of one of the combatants to the coveted 

 vantage-ground. 



Two days later still (on June 15th) I found that the peak 

 was still being used as a tilting-ground, and this time 

 certainly by considerable numbers both of Red Admirals 

 and of Painted Ladies — the battles going on in such rapid 

 succession that a second sometimes began before the first- 

 engaged pair were out of sight — though neither of the two 

 other very similar peaks on the same hill attracted any of 

 the butterflies. I went up again on the i6th and 20th, and 

 found the tournament still in progress. It was a very showy 

 tournament, the blazonry on the butterflies' wings making 

 a beautiful display as they circled round each other in the 

 air. Meanwhile in all the rest of the country surrounding 

 the hill one might walk for miles and not see a butterfly 

 of either species, 



A 2 



