98 THE BOOK OF THE OPEN AIR 



she flies her wings appear half open, ish ground, and his wings on the under- 

 half closed. It is the same exactly side are ash grey with a thought of 

 with several of the skipper butterflies, blue about them. But they are cut 

 and with the much larger grayling to a dainty shape, and fringed with 

 butterfly. white or grey I cannot make up my 

 But to my eyes the butterfly gem of mind which, watching him sunning 

 the railway slope in early June is the himself on a grass blade, 

 tiniest of them all. This is the Bedford Nimble on the wing, alert, so spruce 

 blue, which is to butterflies what the in his whole turnout, this blue is a 

 golden crowned wren is to birds, fascinating little thing to see. I have 

 Last year I saw him out in May ; this not yet found him on his bed, but I 

 year, early in June. Though so min- suspect he sleeps, like the common 

 ute, he is a butterfly every line of him blue, head downward and upper wings 

 you must measure him by lines not laid back so that only the tips show 

 inches far more so than the skippers, above the under wings. Probably he 

 which only pass muster as butter- assimilates with environment then 

 flies because they have, for hall-mark, more closely than the common blue, 

 the club at the tip of the antennae or Alexis, or is less noticeable not only 

 horn, which no moth can show. The through his smaller figure, but through 

 Bedford blue is not brightly coloured the spots held in tiny rings on 

 like several of his larger relatives the under-side being less striking than 

 has just a little dust of blue on a brown- those of his big cousin. 



