feat ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS 278 
but they are also very plentiful in old settlements in which 
fruit-trees and shrubbery offer suitable haunts. In the vicinity 
of such old towns as Malacca and Amboyna in the East, and 
of Para and Rio de Janeiro in the West, they are especially 
abundant, and comprise some of the handsomest and most 
remarkable species in the whole group. ‘Their aspect is 
altogether different from that presented by the butterflies of 
Europe and of most temperate countries. A considerable 
proportion of the species are very large, six to eight inches 
across the wings being not uncommon among the Papilionide 
and Morphid, while several species are even larger. This 
great expanse of wings is accompanied by a slow flight ; and, 
as they usually keep near the ground and often rest, some- 
times with closed and sometimes with expanded wings, these 
noble insects really look larger and are much more con- 
spicuous objects than the majority of our native birds. The 
first sight of the great blue Morphos flapping slowly along in 
the forest roads near Para, of the large white-and-black semi- 
transparent Ideas floating airily about in the woods near 
Malacca, and of the golden-green Ornithopteras sailing on 
bird-like wing over the flowering shrubs which adorn the 
beach of the Ké and Aru islands, can never be forgotten by 
any one with a feeling of admiration for the new and beautiful 
in nature. Next to the size, the infinitely varied and dazzling 
hues of these insects most attract the observer. Instead of 
the sober browns, the plain yellows, and the occasional patches 
of red, or blue, or orange that adorn our European species, 
we meet with the most intense metallic blues, the purest 
satiny greens, the most gorgeous crimsons, not in small spots 
but in large masses, relieved by a black border or background. 
In others we have contrasted bands of blue and orange, or of 
crimson and green, or of silky yellow relieved by velvety 
black. In not a few the wings are powdered over with scales 
and spangles of metallic green, deepening occasionally into 
blue or golden or deep red spots. Others again have spots 
and markings as of molten silver or gold, while several have 
changeable hues, like shot-silk or richly-coloured opal. The 
form of the wings, again, often attracts attention. Tailed 
hind-wings occur in almost all the families, but vary much in 
character. In some the tails are broadly spoon-shaped, in 
T 
