154 Hillside. 



when not in use, are adroitly and skilfully packed away 

 under the elytra by means of the forceps which the earwig 

 carries behind, and which children appear to think were 

 formed for their special benefit. 



A narrow footpath crosses the direction of our ascent at 

 right angles, and the chalk is quite exposed here. We direct 

 our steps along the path which we see leads into the larch 

 wood, and observe that there is a railway cutting only a few 

 feet to our left. A Grayling butterfly gets up quite under 

 our feet. A large conspicuous brown butterfly whilst on the 

 wing, it disappears as if by magic as it drops on the chalk 

 path a few yards ahead of us. But we keep our eye fixed 

 on the spot where it disappeared, and walk towards it, taking 

 great care that our shadow does not fall across the spot so as 

 to disturb it. That is certainly the exact spot where it 

 alighted, but we cannot see it. There is nothing on the 

 white chalk except a prettily marbled pebble. The butterfly 

 certainly did not get up again, so we look more carefully than 

 before, but cannot see it. It must have flown off then, after 

 all, in spite of our keen outlook. Wait a moment ! Draw 

 your stick over the spot a few inches above the ground. 

 The shadow of the stick falls on the pebble, when lo ! that 

 apparent pebble becomes immediately transformed into a 

 Grayling butterfly. Another gets up, followed by many others, 

 and after a little practice we are able to distinguish them 

 more readily. Many, though, elude our most careful search, 

 their greyish marbled under-sides enabling them to defy 

 detection until the shadow of our sticks or bodies fall across 

 them. Not infrequently we mistake a real pebble for a 

 butterfly. 



Leaving the pathway we plunge into the wood itself, our 



