OF BUTTERFLIES 183 



But we are sending our friends to bed before 

 ever they have busied themselves with the day ! 

 Their first thought appears to be of honey, and 

 off they go, probing every flower they meet, and 

 spending the greater pait of the time in this 

 employment. 



Some butterflies are less greedy than others, and 

 spend long hours in sunning themselves, resting 

 upon the leaves of herbs or trees, or perhaps upon 

 the ground, gently half opening and shutting their 

 wings ; many kinds are of a lively and even pug- 

 nacious disposition, and perch themselves ujDon the 

 tip of a twig or on a stone or some such outlook, 

 and dash at the first butterfly that passes, especially 

 if it be one of their own species ; then the two 

 advance and retreat, forward and backward, time 

 and again, circle around each other with amazing 

 celerity, all the while perchance mounting skyward, 

 until suddenly they part, dash to the ground, and 

 the now quiet pursuer again stations himself on 

 the very spot he quitted for the fray. But they 

 are not always particular to choose one of their own 

 kind for this combat. Toss your hat in the air, 

 and almost any of our Angle-wings will dash at it 

 and circle around it as it rises and falls ; and the 

 little American Cop2>er, one of our smallest butter- 



