44 Woodside. 



wonderful keenness of the sense of smell in insects ? Watch 

 yon white butterfly! It is flitting along the hedge, but 

 suddenly leaves it, as a piece of white paper is gently blown 

 by the passing breeze along the road. The butterfly flies to 

 the paper, toys with it, leaving it only to return again and 

 again. Catch it carefully ! Do not injure it ! It is the 

 Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae). Whatever did it 

 mean by fluttering so lovingly around a moving piece of 

 white paper ? Ah ! there are two other butterflies of the 

 same species really love-making. The male butterfly flut- 

 ters about and postures himself, evidently to make himself 



FIG. 13. THE SMALL WHITE BUTTERFLY (Pieris rapae) MALE. 



agreeable to his lady-love, but the piece of white paper is 

 gently blown along the road again, and he leaves the lady 

 to toy around the piece of paper as his predecessor had done. 

 He flutters and postures around the piece of paper as he did 

 about the lady, and appears to detect no difference between 

 the shadow and the reality. Once or twice he approaches 

 the paper with his antennse, and then in a very short time 

 he satisfies himself that the paper is a fraud and delusion, 

 and flies off. The female butterfly still lingers on the hedge- 

 side yonder, and soon the recreant and fickle knight spies 

 her, and love-making recommences. Strange, you say, that 



