286 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



forewings drawn back well into the hindwings, and the antennae 

 well out in front and away from each other. A large J flew 

 on a flower of Epilobium, and, as usual, was soon resting head 

 downwards ; but another $ , observed almost at the same 

 time on the flower-head of a large Umbellifer, faced the sun, 

 head upwards, for some time ; another $ was busily feeding at a 

 labiate plant with red flowers, and was also resting head upwards ; one 

 suspected that the nature of the flower necessitated this, but the next 

 day a $ was observed settled on a flower of eyebright, the head held 

 downwards, but sitting so that the sun shone full on it, when it opened 

 its wings at about right angles to sun itself ; it then worked its way 

 to the various florets all round the flower, probing every floret for 

 nectar. Even in full sun the insect did not appear to be very swift on 

 the wing, nor to fly any great distance ; indeed, it seemed much less 

 active than we have seen our large race of the Kentish chalkhills. The 

 same day a $ was sitting on a stone near a spring in the sun, and 

 busily moved its wings up and down in the usual manner ; as we sat 

 watching it, it flew on our hand, and, although disturbed, came back 

 again, staying there, turning round, exposing its wings to the sun, 

 and moving the hindwings up and down for at least two minutes ; it 

 certainly does not seem at all a shy insect. At the same time there 

 were many other $ s drinking at the water with Agriades coridon, 

 Hirsutina damon, etc. The ? s on the banks are much more difficult 

 to see than the $ s when on flight, and appear not unlike small 

 examples of Aricia astrarche. At rest it seems to be almost absolute, that 

 the species prefers to sit head downwards. When the^ is, however, in 

 attendance, upon the ? s, amongst the short herbage, its flight appears 

 to consist of a continued series of short flutterings almost in a straight 

 line, the wings drawn well up over the back, and falling very little at 

 each forward movement. As already noted, the $ s love, in 

 the Alps, to sit and swill at the puddles in the hot sun, and it 

 often happens that they must come some little distance for 

 their drink. At Clelles, in 1906, a large number of $ s were taken at 

 a very wet and muddy spot, the overflow of a supply of water to a 

 house, in the village itself, but not a single specimen was observed 

 elsewhere in the district ; at Brugnasco, in August, 1907, they were 

 not uncommon at the tricklings across the path, which were crowded 

 with an abundance of Plebeius argyrognom on, Agriades coridon, Hesperia 

 alveus, Adopaea lineola, etc. The early $ s always seem to be on 

 the wing a few days before the ? s, at least this is so on the 

 downs at Cuxton, and Doubleday observes {Knt., iii., p. 86) that the 

 insect swarms in certain spots by the side of Epping Forest, but one 

 cannot find a $ till the $ s have been out at least a week, but when 

 they do emerge from the pup*e, they are readily seen, as they sit on 

 the stems of grass, etc., expanding their wings. Similarly, Crabtree 

 notes that, on the mosses at Witherslack, the $ s emerge a full week 

 later than the $ s, with, of course, odd exceptions, an early $ being 

 occasionally seen. Lowe states (in litt.) that, at La Granja, the species 

 was out on June 15th, in fair numbers, and continued to appear in 

 increasing abundance to July 15th, at first chiefly, if not entirely, $ s, 

 but, at last, the 2 s seemed to predominate. Powell says that, in 

 Corsica, where the species is locally very abundant, the ? flies but 

 little, and her flight is very heavy, but that, in spite of the numbers, it 



