in ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS 273 



but they are also very plentiful in old settlements in which 

 fruit-trees and shrubbery offer suitable haunts. In the vicinity 

 of such old towns as Malacca and Amboyna in the East, and 

 of Para and Rio de Janeiro in the West, they are especially 

 abundant, and comprise some of the handsomest and most 

 remarkable species in the whole group. Their aspect is 

 altogether different from that presented by the butterflies of 

 Europe and of most temperate countries. A considerable 

 proportion of the species are very large, six to eight inches 

 across the wings being not uncommon among the Papilionidse 

 and Morphidse, while several species are even larger. This 

 great expanse of wings is accompanied by a slow flight ; and, 

 as they usually keep near the ground and often rest, some- 

 times with closed and sometimes with expanded wings, these 

 noble insects really look larger and are much more con- 

 spicuous objects than the majority of our native birds. The 

 first sight of the great blue Morphos flapping slowly along in 

 the forest roads near Para, of the large white-and-black semi- 

 transparent Ideas floating airily about in the woods near 

 Malacca, and of the golden -green Ornithopteras sailing on 

 bird -like wing over the flowering shrubs which adorn the 

 beach of the K6 and Aru islands, can never be forgotten by 

 any one with a feeling of admiration for the new and beautiful 

 in nature. Next to the size, the infinitely varied and dazzling 

 hues of these insects most attract the observer. Instead of 

 the sober browns, the plain yellows, and the occasional patches 

 of red, or blue, or orange that adorn our European species, 

 we meet with the most intense metallic blues, the purest 

 satiny greens, the most gorgeous crimsons, not in small spots 

 but in large masses, relieved by a black border or background. 

 In others we have contrasted bands of blue and orange, or of 

 crimson and green, or of silky yellow relieved by velvety 

 black. In not a few the wings are powdered over with scales 

 and spangles of metallic green, deepening occasionally into 

 blue or golden or deep red spots. Others again have spots 

 and markings as of molten silver or gold, while several have 

 changeable hues, like shot^silk or richly-coloured opal. The 

 form of the wings, again, often attracts attention. Tailed 

 hind-wings occur in almost all the families, but vary much in 

 character. In some the tails are broadly spoon- shaped, in 

 T 



