COPSE GRASSES 



a little distance, the tuft of bent grass is as a little 

 mist of grey and brown. Now, too, the hard mosaic 

 buds of the knapweeds are opening, and the bees are 

 dusted red- brown with the pollen of the field scabious. 

 Thus the flowers of summer are already in large part 

 flowers of memory. 



A Cabbage-white Seance 



The stance of the cabbage-white butterflies is 

 held in the burning hours of a July or August day. 

 A common and pretty sight is half a dozen whites 

 sporting or battling on the wing for a few minutes, 

 so engrossed in their play or fight that they will 

 mount to a height of twenty or thirty feet before 

 they separate and go their respective ways. It may 

 be that one of the group is a lodestar, which draws 

 the others, but, if so, the human eye certainly cannot 

 single her out. No particular butterfly in this 

 bobbing, dancing group stands out as the clear 

 object of attraction or pursuit ; it is as if all were 

 pursued, all pursuing ; and apparently none of these 

 chases comes to anything definite. One cabbage- 

 white retires, then a second, and all at once the affair 

 is done. 



But the cabbage-white stance is quite distinct 

 from the gathering in the air, with features so 

 regular and precise that it is impossible to imagine 

 it for a moment an aimless gathering. One may 

 be tempted to regard the fitful, light-headed looking 



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