312 MY COUNTRY WANDERINGS 



rains, balmy air, and blue skies changed the 

 scene, and at last all was as well as if nothing 

 untoward had happened. 



There seemed to have been a large number 

 of Orange-tip Butterflies during the aforesaid 

 season, and I noticed particularly the preponder- 

 ance of females as they danced coquettishly over 

 the flowers in my garden and along the country- 

 side. Having settled, how difficult it is to locate 

 the little wanderers again, the undersides of their 

 wings when folded harmonising very wonderfully 

 with the surroundings. The Orange-tip — at least 

 the male butterfly — is well-named, and the beauti- 

 ful tips of orange which the wings of the male bear 

 are strikingly thrown off against the otherwise 

 white colouration. 



Back in the Spring I also noticed the great 

 number of Small Tortoiseshells upon the wing, 

 and several specimens of the Woolly Bear, the 

 larvae of the Tiger Moth, came under my notice. 

 These hairy larvae appear to be despised by most 

 of our British birds, and doubtless the hairs 

 serve the larvae well in warding off enemies. 

 There is one British bird, however, which is 

 especially partial to hairy larvae, and that is the 

 Cuckoo. Doubtless the hairs on the larvae of the 

 Tiger Moth and other insects tickle the throat of a 

 bird in the same manner as the human throat is 

 tickled and irritated when a fish bone is acciden- 



