176 SUMMER 



gorgeous pacing fritillaries on the blackberry blossom in the 

 woodland clearings. 



Early July is the heyday of the largest members of this 

 beautiful tribe. They appear not long before the end of 

 June, and are seldom seen in the southern woods in August, 

 although the dark green fritillary still flits in some of its more 

 northern moorland haunts. Dark green and high brown 

 and silver-washed fritillaries are all characteristic butterflies 

 of the woods and heaths, and do not frequent gardens, where 

 the Vanessse are so thoroughly at home. The dark green 

 is the representative of the tribe in the north and on the 

 moors, while the high brown and the silver-washed dwell in 

 glades of the southern woods ; but their territories overlap in 

 some parts of the country, especially where the same district 

 gives the high brown its woodlands and the dark green its 

 open heaths. These two fritillaries are very much alike 

 when seen upon the wing. Both are large butterflies, with 

 wings of the bright amber-brown which seems distilled 

 from clear summer sunshine, and the characteristic darker 

 chequerings like those on the fritillary or snake's-head flower. 

 But when we see the dark green alight and fan its wings on 

 some thistle-head beside a mountain sheepfold, we see that 

 it is both greener and darker than the high brown of the 

 woods. The wash of green is conspicuous among the silver 

 spots on the under side of the lower wings ; and the green 

 and silver insect makes an exquisite contrast with the purple 

 thistle, or the heather on which it often settles on the moors. 

 The high brown and the silver-washed make a more delicate 

 display on the blackberry blossom in the woodland clearings ; 

 their lighter and brighter brown harmonises with the pink 

 and white flowers. The silver-washed fritillary is the largest 

 of the tribe, with longer wings that almost deserve to be 

 called pinions, as it floats down through the sunshine over 



