1 86 THE WOODLANDS. 



with little " Blues," and is not uncommon in open 

 places in woods. Probably this modest little insect 

 obtained its scientific name from a celebrated Mace- 

 donian painter named Pamphilus, who originated a 

 law that only the children of noble parents should be 

 permitted to learn painting. The relationship between 

 an ancient Greek artist and a modest little brown but- 

 terfly is rather obscure. 



When we were boys, and insect-hunters, the cap- 

 ture of a Hairstreak was considered an achievement 

 worthy of note. The Hairstreaks 1 are rather plain- 

 coloured little butterflies, lovers of trees, true nymphs 

 of the forest, distinguished by a small tail-like pro- 

 jection on the lower edge of the hind wings, which is 

 sometimes reduced to a small tooth. The caterpillar 

 is short and thick, shaped something like a woodlouse. 

 That of the Green Hairstreak feeds on the bramble, 

 that of the Purple Hairstreak on the oak, of the 

 Black Hairstreak on the elm, and of the Dark Hair- 

 streak and the Brown Hairstreak on the blackthorn. 

 The whole of them are rather solitary in their habits, 

 and local. One entomologist states that he saw on 

 one occasion thousands of one species in a wood, but 

 that he visited the same spot annually for thirteen 

 years, and never saw a single specimen. It is un- 

 usual, nevertheless,, to see many together, and in 

 some seasons they are rarely seen at all. 



The pretty little butterflies called the " Blues " are 

 not all blue, sometimes only one sex is blue, and 

 -occasionally neither. They are jerky little insects, 



1 Thecla. 



