154 A TOTJR ROUND MT GAEDEN. 



insects, which he brings to her upon the nest. I will not go 

 near it : the linnet has not so much confidence in man as the 

 wren has; it would abandon its nest and its eggs, if it saw 

 me many times prowling about near the hoUy. 



Here and there flit butterflies, shaded with fawn-colour, 

 and a yellow like withered leaves; these are sylphs a^-oA. fawns, 

 which seldom leave the shade. 



In the hollows of oaks, the great stag-beetle, the rhinoceros, 

 and other beetles, await the hour of evening to leave their 

 solitude, and buzz about the world. 



A large black butterfly, with a border of a beautiful yellow 

 at the outward edge of its wings, rises to the very tops of the 

 trees. That is the mono. 



Here is another, which attracts attention by its size, and 

 by its magnificent colour of carmine, striped with black. In 

 order to see it nearer, you pursue it, and attempt to catch it ; 

 but it escapes, and you lose sight of it. You believe it has 

 flown to a distance, as the splendour of its costume would 

 betray it if it were near ; but you are deceived — there it is, 

 close to you, on the trunk of a birch. It is only its under 

 wings that are so splendid; when it is pursued, it conceals 

 them under the upper ones, which are grey, and are easily 

 confounded with the bark of the trees upon which it loves to 

 settle. 



In the grass, and under the thickest shade, primroses, some 

 pale violets, and the lily of the valley, blossom. The flower of 

 the last has the shape and beauty of a pearl, but of a per- 

 fumed pearl. 



Many women prefer lilies of the valley to pearls, but all 

 would prefer having pearls given to them ; very few of them 

 are influenced by avarice in this preference. Women are, 

 I repeat, like the gods, who were most flattered when fat 

 heifers were sacrificed to them, or when offerings were made 

 to them of massive gold : they did not eat the heifers — they 

 had no need of the gold ; but these more valuable presents 

 manifested, on the part of those who ofiered them, a greater 

 and proportionate veneration. 



The cuckoo-fruit blossoms likewise in the shade, with its 

 green horn, followed by a spike of scarlet fruit ; and the wood 

 anemone is a pretty white flower, tinged with violet. This is 



