AMONG THE HEATHER. 107 



allure the friendly bee, their gaudy petals to 

 advertise the honey, and their divers shapes 

 to ensure the proper fertilisation by the cor- 

 rect type of insect. But everybody does not 

 know how specifically certain blossoms have 

 laid themselves out for a particular species 

 of fly, beetle, or tiny moth. Here on the 

 higher downs, for instance, most flowers are 

 exceptionally large and brilliant ; while all 

 Alpine climbers must have noticed that the 

 most gorgeous masses of bloom in Switzer- 

 land occur just below the snow-line. The 

 reason is, that such blossoms must be fer- 

 tilised by butterflies alone. Bees, their great 

 rivals in honey-sucking, frequent only the 

 lower meadows and slopes, where flowers 

 are many and small : they seldom venture 

 far from the hive or the nest among the high 

 peaks and chilly nooks where we find those 

 great patches of blue gentian or purple ane- 

 mone, which hang like monstrous breadths 

 of tapestry upon the mountain sides. This 

 heather here, now fully opening in the warmer 



