126 SUMMER BIRDS 



foliage, more sumptuous than many a costly exotic 

 grown for table decoration. It was on this plant that 

 the caterpillar of the Large Copper butterfly (Polyom- 

 matus dispar) used to feed, a species almost certainly 

 extinct in Britain, the last recorded specimen having 

 been obtained in Huntingdonshire in 1847. However, 

 butterflies have a mysterious way of reappearing after 

 a prolonged absence; the food of this insect is still 

 plentiful in the country, and some watchful, lucky 

 entomologist may strike the short cut to fame by 

 discovering it afresh. 



Ruskin insisted hi one of his earlier works that the 

 beauty of natural forms never depends on violent 

 curves, the most intricate and ornate arrangements 

 consisting of lines barely deflected from straightness. 

 From no foliage can the draughtsman learn this lesson 

 more clearly than from that of the water-dock ; analysis 

 of the complicated group will show that all its curves 

 are gentle, sometimes barely perceptible. 



XLIX 



If the movement of life does not seem so headlong in 



June as it was in May, there is no real relaxation of 



Summer energy, either among birds or plants. The 



Birds reed and sedge warblers are not so vociferous 



as they were a month ago, but they are not the less 



intent on household cares. Of all water-side birds, 



there is none that makes such a brave display with 



such modest material as the reed bunting (Emberiza 



schwniculus). The plumage of the male bird is not 



