148 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



grass stems. I can still remember the pecu- 

 liar feeling of their wings, something like that 

 of a surface coated with French chalk. 



The manner of flight of the white butter- 

 flies is very marked. They sail gracefully 

 through the air, rising and falling, but ever 

 going onwards, if they are not absolutely 

 turned by some cause of alarm. In this 

 matter they are unlike the more brilliant 

 sorts, which dart in an irregular way hither 

 and thither, backwards and forwards. Just 

 as the experienced eye, from an inspection 

 of the outline, curves, and general fades of 

 a tree, can tell at a long distance what it is, 

 so an observer, who is familiar with the 

 mode of flight of the various species, can 

 recognize certain butterflies long before he 

 is near enough to note their markings. 



I propose to consider five different butter- 

 flies under the general title of ' Whites,' 

 although none of them is truly white, but 

 cream-coloured or orange-tinged. Neverthe- 

 less, British collectors have become accus- 

 tomed to speak of the Pierid butterflies as 

 ' Whites/ and so long as it is understood 

 that the term is not meant to be descriptive, 



