74 



EEV. C. M. PERKINS — BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



and I find Buckingliamsliire and Bedfordshire both produce it, and 

 as it is a lover of a chalk soil, it is not unlikely tliat those who 

 search for it in the end of July on high broken ground may be 

 successful in finding it here. Puhjommatus Corydun, a pretty 

 silvery blue, I have found very common at the end of July and 

 beginning of August on chalk hills. It was flying last year in 

 such profusion upon the hills in Gloucestershire that it would not 

 have required the least exertion to catch a hundred in a few 

 minutes. 



FohjommafAis Adonis, the Clifden blue, is the brightest of all the 

 blues, with a slight silvery sheen over the deep colour. It is 

 not uncommon on the Southern Coast upon the chalk hills, and 

 I have taken it now and again upon the Cotswold Hills, but never 

 in any quantity. About midsummer it flies, and may be dis- 

 tinguished at a glance through its brilliant colour even while 

 flying. Pohjommatus Alexis, the common blue, is known to all, 

 being bright enough to attract attention. It may be observed on 

 almost every lawn, and requires no looking after. Pohjommatus 

 ^(jon, the silver studded blue, has also a very wide range, and may 

 be taken in almost every English county in July. Being very like 

 the common blue in habit and appearance, no doubt it is often 

 passed over, yet a glance at the underside will show those pretty 

 silvery blue spots which give it its English name. Pohjommatus 

 Agestis, though classed with the blues, is a brown insect above, 

 with a band of orange spots along the margin of its wings, and may 

 be taken early and late in the season on almost every heath. You 

 may obtain it flying over the green common near Bricket Wood 

 station, should you require it. Pohjommatus Artaxerxes, the 

 Scotch argus, brings this family to a conclusion. It is very like 

 the last in size and colour, but has a distinct white spot in the 

 centre of each fore-wing. This we must not expect to find here, as 

 I believe it has never been met with south of Yorkshire. 



So now I turn to the last family, the Hesperida?. These are 

 easily recognised by the appearance of the head, which is larger, in 

 proportion to the insect than in the other families, and the antennae 

 in consequence appear set miich wider apart. As I said some moths 

 are often mistaken for butterflies, so also have I known people mistake 

 some of this last family for moths. Their motion through the air 

 rather conduces to this, for they do not fly with the steady flight 

 of the rest, but dart rapidly about from flower to flower, and hover 

 over the blossoms as they extract the nectar, something like the 

 hawkmoths. From this motion no doubt they receive the English 

 name of skipper. Thymele Aheohis, the grizzled skipper, is a 

 little dark brown butterfly with a quantity of white spots on all 

 its wings. I have taken it on the common near Bricket Wood, 

 but not abundantly. Stainton says it frequents moist places near 

 woods, but I have found it far more abundantly on dry hill-sides, 

 where the grass only thinly covers the loose stones. May, June, 

 and August it is on the wing, and as it is easy to capture and of 

 wide range, it soon falls into the hands of the collector. Thanaos 



