BRITISH BUTTERFLIES 



solitudes which sets it apart on a regal pinnacle of dis- 

 tinction ; only the Swallowtail can equal it in its con- 

 scious supremacy, its indifferent joy in spacious flight, 

 and even the Swallowtail does not aspire to haunt for 

 hours and days together only the loftiest, sky-fronting 

 pinnacles of the oaks. As for the common reproach 

 that the high-soaring Purple Emperor can be lured to 

 earth by any carrion bait, provided it be corrupt and 

 filthy enough, the accusation gains most of its force from 

 the very unworthiness of its defamation. So far as it is 

 true, it only deserves to be overlooked and unrecorded ; 

 and in point of fact, as little heed will commonly be 

 paid by a court of Purple Emperors to any earth-born 

 carrion that may defile the low shore of the wood be- 

 neath them as by the white clouds of heaven, afloat 

 a little above. 



As July passes into August, the whole fashion of 

 nature takes a deeper and statelier range. The charac- 

 teristic butterflies of latest summer and early autumn 

 are those species of large size and rich depth of colour, 

 of which the residue outsleep the dark interval of win- 

 ter, to appear in the sunshine of the reviving year. 

 Through August and September the deep red wings of 

 the Peacocks, Tortoiseshells and their kin assemble 

 in regal troops on the large flowers of later summer in 

 the gardens, or on a few well-loved blossoms of the 

 field or streamside, such as the tall hemp agrimony of 



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