214 LEPWOPTERA. 



on either side of a picturesque burn, which was shut in by 

 rocky banks, we found Erchia Casswpe, at first sparingly, but 

 as we advanced a little higher it increased in numbers, and at 

 two thousand feet was abundant. It was in greatest numbers 

 in the ravines formed by those small mountain rills, where 

 turfy grass grew, but was to be seen also flying over, alighting 

 on, and at rest (when out of the sun) on the heather. During 

 the afternoon and while the sun was bright, they were very 

 active on the wing, and sometimes took pretty long flights, 

 but always flew low, seldom rising more than four feet above 

 the ground, and when a slight passing cloud overcast the sun 

 for a few minutes they dropped in among the grass, and lay 

 with folded wings, close to the roots, looking like old withered 

 leaves. There was one sheltered place, beside a small waterfall, 

 where mountain thyme, and a little yellow star-like flower, 

 grew in abundance, and it was charming to see them resting 

 on the flowers with expanded wings, the dark red spots 

 looking brighter in the sunshine than they do in the cabinet. 

 A little above this altitude, the dense cloud which had over- 

 shadowed us in the morning, still shrouded the hill top, and 

 rendered the air too chill and damp for butterflies. Getting 

 over a shoulder of the mountain, we began to descend the 

 southern slope, keeping in the gorge of a water course. A 

 little below two thousand feet, Urehia Cassiope again appeared, 

 in some sheltered spots literally swarming, and altogether in 

 fresher condition than those on the north side of the moun- 

 tain. It was early when we started in the morning, but I 

 was so charmed with the sight of this pretty Alpine butterfly, 

 that I lingered among them until the sun went down behind 

 a higher mountain, and then the butterflies betook themselves 

 to their nightly quarters. A very few simply closed their 

 wings, and hung like little withered leaves from grasses, but 

 the majority dropped in among the heather and clung to the 

 stems a little above the ground, with their wings drooping 

 downwards." 



Richard Weaver, who first captured the species in the 



