BUTTERFLIES 89 



other, and by the extreme delicacy and chasteness 

 of both colour and design. We are reluctant to 

 take the life of a single one of the thousands we see, 

 but yet we are itching, too, to lay hold of one after 

 another as it sails into sight displaying some fresh 

 beauty. We want to handle it as we would a 

 flower, turn it about and examine it from every 

 point of view till not a shade or aspect of its beauty 

 has escaped us. In the presence of these brilliant 

 butterflies we are children once more. We want 

 to have them in our hands and feel that they are in 

 our possession. It is tantalising merely to view 

 them from a distance. We want to enjoy their 

 beauty to the full. 



These butterflies of Sikkim are such complete 

 strangers to us we do not even know their names. 

 From the " Gazetteer," however, we learn that the 

 most beautiful of them are the papilios, of which 

 alone there are no less than forty-two species. And 

 three of these — namely, the Teinophalus imperialis 

 (which occurs on Tiger Hill above Darjiling) and 

 two ornithopteras, or bird-butterflies — are among 

 the most splendid of all butterflies. The former is 

 green on the upper side with yellow spots on the 

 hind-wing, and the long tails are tipped with yellow. 

 The two bird-butterflies are common in the low 

 valleys from May to October. They are truly 

 magnificent insects, measuring from 6 to 8 inches 

 across. Their fore-wings are wholly of a velvety 

 black and the hind-wing golden yellow scolloped 

 with black. 



Of the well-known green species of papilio, with 

 longish tails and blue or green spots on the hind- 



