The British Butterflies Described 



THE COMMON BLUE (Lyc*na Icarus}, Plate XII , 

 Fig. 12. Known to everyone who sees anything at all 

 of the country. It is the blue butterfly, noticed even 

 by those who hardly know a butterfly from a bull- 

 frog. 



An intelligent little chap he is, too, with an eye for 

 his own safety, as I once found when I had the oppor- 

 tunity of observing quite a number of them on a piece 

 of waste ground near the sea. The weather was dull 

 and threatening rain, and not a butterfly was on the 

 wing ; but I could see plenty of our common blue 

 friend hanging on, with closed wings, to the ends of 

 rushes, grass-stalks, and on thistle-tops ; but always 

 when I came within a step or two they adroitly changed 

 their position, putting whatever they were resting or 

 hanging on between us, just edging round the corner 

 as it were, so as to be out of sight. Apparently the 

 idea of flying away from an enemy was here considered 

 as too risky under the conditions which prevailed ; the 

 safest plan was to hide, so hide they did. It was the 

 funniest game of hide-and-seek I ever played. I have 

 since seen the small blue dragon-flies adopt the same 

 tactics on the rushes by the side of a pond. No wonder 

 this little fellow is so common. In the struggle for 

 existence he has shown himself able and well-fitted to 

 survive ; nevertheless I had a good time amongst them 

 that afternoon and boxed some fine varieties. The 

 male bears a warm shade of blue, and the female is 

 from nearly black to brown, with a blue blush spreading 

 from the body outwards, both wings being bordered 



