WHITE BUTTE11FLIES. 185 



bashaw ; but then, in the place of four, he can only boast 

 himself of a pair of tails, of a peculiar fashion, appended to 

 his hinder wings, which are scalloped, and adorned each with 

 a red, eye-like spot, their prevailing colours being, like the 

 anterior ones, black and yellow a fitting case for the enfold- 

 ing, while latent, of so much beauty. The caterpillar of the 

 Swallow Tail Butterfly is one of the handsomest of its race. It 

 has a smooth skin, beautifully variegated with black and green, 

 and carries, at the back of its head, a badge of distinction, not 

 however, always visible, in the shape of a flexible horn, forked 

 like the letter T, which, contrary to the usage of the snail, it is 

 said to put forth on occasions of alarm. It is a feeder on um- 

 belliferous plants, chiefly the carrot, wild and cultivated, from 

 whence it has acquired, in France, the name of " Le grand 

 Carottier." Of another genus, with hinder wings, rounded 

 instead of angular, or tailed, is the pretty butterfly known as the 

 " Clouded Yellow/' 1 In England, however, it is known but 

 partially, appearing only in certain seasons, and then chiefly on 

 the coasts of Kent, Sussex, and Suffolk. As its name imports, 

 the prevailing hue of its wings is yellow, clouded towards their 

 outer edge with black. The caterpillar, green with white lines, 

 is said to feed upon leguminous plants, though the perfect insect 

 delights chiefly in the flowers of the thistle. 



Coming out with the flowers of May, and almost as abun- 

 dant, are the pale-winged Butterflies, which, like bevies of 

 white-robed damsels, usher in the summer. From whence 

 have they issued forth ? 'Tis almost a pity that, as insect 

 genealogists, we must trace their origin, and confess the most 

 of them to have been 



" Born in a 'cabbage/ in a 'cabbage ' bred " 



and that they have come, therefore, from purlieus the walls 

 most likely of the kitchen garden. But what matters it whence 



1 Colias edusa. 



