URANIA. 201 



it spins an oval cocoon of yellow silk, the meshes 

 of which are so lax as to allow the inmate to 

 be easily seen. The pupa is not at all angular. 

 " The perfect butterfly," he adds, " is perfectly 

 diurnal, and very swift in its flight. It is not found 

 in the interior of the island, but it may be seen in 

 plenty as far as two or even three leagues from the 

 coast, sporting in the sun, and sucking the flowers of 

 Cestrum diurnum, Ehretia tinifolia, and other odori- 

 ferous trees of small stature. In hot weather and 

 about mid-day it flies particularly high, and may 

 be even observed surmounting the tops of the highest 

 members of the forest. In the afternoon I have 

 often seen it sport about some capriciously chosen 

 spot, such as a particular branch of Mango, where it 

 would always return to alight on almost the same leaf, 

 in a manner that has sometimes reminded me of a 

 well known habit of the Musicapce. Thus does our 

 insect spend whole hours until sunset, when the bats 

 usually terminate its diversion and its life. On the 

 approach of winter it may be seen at times alighting 

 on hedges, when specimens are more easily cap- 

 tured. The flight, however, of U. Fernandince is 

 always strong, and it starts like the Fringillidw. 

 When it alights on a leaf, all the four wings are 

 expanded horizontally; and rarely, if ever, take a 

 vertical position, like those of the species of the 

 Linnaean genus Papilio, when at rest *." 



* Trans, of Zool. Society of London, i. p. 187. 



