A BUTTERFLY HUNT 211 



secure it. Then return to the field, where we 

 skirt along the border and note the tracks of 

 rabbit-runs through the dew-wet clover to and 

 from the burrows in the bank. Plenty of 

 Common Blues are to be seen, and we make a 

 few careful incursions, treading delicately, into 

 the deep clover to inspect them as they settle ; 

 always worth while, because you never can be 

 quite sure of the species of a blue butterfly 

 when on the wing. By the time that we reach 

 the top of the field we have the luck to get two 

 of the tiny brownish Bedford s. 



Then, in a hot corner of the field, facing south 

 and sheltered by high hedges from the cool 

 breeze, we wait awhile, and we are rewarded 

 by seeing three Peacocks, five Red Admirals 

 and a small Tortoiseshell passing in about ten 

 minutes, perfect specimens, freshly hatched and 

 gorgeous in colouring. Here we have a spell 

 of bad luck or want of skill. They are all very 

 wary and strong on the wing ; only one per- 

 mits approach to within reach of a stroke of 

 the net, and that one is so surrounded by thorny 

 brambles that the net catches, and it flashes 

 over the fence to join those that have passed 

 before it and gone on their way rejoicing. We 

 return to the gate and go round by the lane 

 to investigate the unknown ground beyond the 



