

THE FAERY YEAR 



In such a field I have lately found the small 

 copper in plenty. It is among the smartest and 

 most finely finished of our little butterflies. The 

 upper the show side of its wings shines like 

 burnished red copper, and the spots and edgings of 

 black are bold and distinct. These metallic and 

 iridescent colour effects on scale or plume are a 

 striking fashion in the world of animal dress. 

 Colour without shine or glow often lacks something 

 to the human eye, and it may be the same with 

 many wild creatures. Even Maud in the garden 

 at dawn had her beauty enhanced by " gloss of satin 

 and shimmer of pearl." Hence we have the " inter- 

 ference colour," that shot and shimmer on the wing 

 of bird or insect which is laid on so lavishly by 

 Nature. The elements out of which is built the 

 tissue of these creatures are so placed as to scatter 

 the light-wave. Light, after all, is the chief dress- 

 maker of the butterfly. The cut of the wing counts 

 most in flight, if in a few cases, such as those of the 

 white admiral and the swallow-tail, it also adds much 

 to the comeliness of the wearer. 



The whole expanse of the great waste field, 

 barren in all but beauty, is starred by the flat or 

 slightly concave disks of the stumpy wild carrot ; 

 and patches among the rough, seeding grasses are 

 thickly spread with lowly wild thyme, full of pungent 

 aroma. What bugle flower in May coppices is to 

 pearl-bordered fritillary, or wild basil to brimstone, 

 thyme is to the copper. It makes haste from blossom 

 to blossom, gathering Nature's largess of sweet meat. 

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