THE BUTTERFLY HUNTERS. 89 



inches, but they are so very pretty that they well repay 

 the trouble of a chase. 



" Here are some more specimens of another butterfly be- 

 longing to this genus.' It is the Cynthia Cardui, commonly 

 called Thistle butterfly, because its caterpillar lives upon 

 the leaves of that plant. You will find it all through 

 the months of July and August hovering about by the 

 roadside. It loves the blossoms of the Thistle, but sucks 

 honey from many other flowers as well. You see it is not 

 quite so large as the Hunter's butterfly, and not so beauti- 

 fully colored. The body is thick and clumsy. The wings 

 are tawny orange spotted with black and white, and if you 

 look very closely you will see they have a faint rose-tint 

 The under side of the hind wings is very much like that 

 of the Hunter's butterfly. It is marbled in the same 

 manner, but the marking varies a little. On the Thistle 

 butterfly there is an irregular-shaped white spot near the 

 centre of the wing, and a row of dots on the border. 



"Gilbert has brought in one other variety of the genus 

 Cynthia. It is called Cynthia Atalanta. You see it is a 

 little larger than the two I have just described. It ex- 

 pands about three inches. The wings of the Atalanta 

 butterfly are black. At the tip of the fore wings are a 

 few little white spots. There is a band of orange across 

 the centre of the fore wing, which extends round on to 

 the hind wing forming its margin. When the wings of 



