BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 97 



that his heart was in his work. Besides the full 

 account of the insects themselves, the caterpillar, 

 chrysalis, localities where found, dates of appear- 

 ance, with other useful information, there are to 

 be found interspersed through the volume, as was 

 the case also with the " Birds," many passages, not 

 strictly technical, which tell of incidents and scenes, 

 small perhaps in themselves, but bringing back by- 

 gone days on which the author loved to dwell, and 

 on which now and again may we not say pardon- 

 ably ? he was tempted to moralise. 



In no other of his works do we seem to see so 

 much of the author himself as in this one. Not 

 only were the figures of the butterflies almost entirely 

 drawn from specimens in his own cabinet, but he 

 also carries us off with him to the woods, commons, 

 glades, and sunny banks, or even, it may be, to chalky 

 seaside cliffs and mountain-tops, favoured spots 

 " localities," as he calls them where the various flies 

 of many hues had been captured. Here in his 

 schooldays the "Wood- White" flitted airily across 

 his path ; there the " Red Admiral " flaunted his gay 

 uniform, or the " Purple Emperor" sailed majestically 

 high over his head. If he had occasion to remember 

 a particular summer, it more probably than not fixed 

 itself in his memory by reason of a superabundance, 

 or otherwise, of some particular butterfly or moth, 

 as was the case in 1826, when the " Large Meadow- 

 Brown," always a common insect, appeared in such ex- 

 traordinary profusion everywhere. If some sheltered 

 inland nook or rugged cove clung to his recollection, 



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