250 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



alights upon a flower. It has, therefore, four broad 

 wings, wide-spread and always ready for flight. 



' ' And what wings ! Words are lacking to describe 

 them fitly. Some are white as if coated with flour, 

 others sky-blue, and still others sulphur-yellow. 

 Again you find them of a flame-like red or dark 

 crimson. Some have round spots like eyes, which 



Butterfly 



look at you with their large pupils encircled by azure, 

 mother-of-pearl, or gold; and you will see others 

 speckled with black, adorned with silver lace, or 

 fringed with carmine. If you touch them they leave 

 on your fingers a brilliant powder beside which the 

 filings of the precious metals would look dull. 



' ' This dust might be called the butterfly's plumage. 

 It consists of scales of extreme delicacy, placed reg- 

 ularly side by side like the tiles on a roof, and at- 

 tached by one end to the membrane of the wing just 

 as a bird's feathers have their quills implanted in 

 its skin. Grasped roughly between the fingers, the 

 wing parts with its delicate covering ; it loses its or- 



