EARLY SUMMER. 261 



one : in a few hours the corolla has fulfilled its 

 function. Opening to the morning and to the noon, 

 the petals soon fall to the ground, and long before 

 the setting of the sun there is nowhere to be seen, 

 over all the hill-side, a vestige of the great blossoms 

 of white and purple which had but an hour before 

 spread such a glory over the landscape. And day 

 after day does the young corolla open its petals to 

 the morning and cast them to the ground before 

 the evening in uninterrupted sequence, until the 

 advancing Summer brings the period of flowering 

 to an end. 



The Locust (Fig. 94) rises with a whirr, and flies 

 a few yards heavily : then, overweighted by his clumsy 

 body, lie plunges headlong into the first green thing 

 he meets. 



Cleopatra flashes past with orange wing, startling 

 and delighting every eye. Its pale green mate escapes 

 the notice of all but the experienced collector, as she 

 flutters over the Buckthorn (Rhamnus) bushes. I 

 have twice seen this butterfly before the end of March, 

 and once even as early as January. The Quince 

 hedges (Cydonia) flower in the first week of April ; 

 and there is no more lovely sight. My latest date is 

 April 15th, the earliest the day before the equinox. 

 The wild Gladiolus flowers as early as the 6th, but 

 sometimes not until the 28th. The fig leaves begin to 

 show at the end of each curving branch, and the Judas 

 Tree (Cercis) is lined out with red. In the suburbs 

 of the town you hear " Chapeaux de Faille ! " for the 

 sun is strong, and the trees as yet give little shade. 



Springtide is over, and with May the perfect 

 Summer days set in. On the 10th or 12th, sometimes 



