290 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



Their usual flight is brisk and zigzaggy, but somewhat short ; they are 

 more difficult to follow with the eye than Hesperia malvae, especially when 

 passing over clumps of dead bracken . Flowers do not appear to be a very 

 great attraction, although they will sip from the blossoms of Veronica 

 chamaedrys, Viola canina and daisies, whilst the first example seen this 

 year (1906), flew repeatedly to the blossom of Nepeta glechoma, although 

 this had wandered into an orchard from its ordinary habitat. Usually, 

 when the imagines settle it is to rest, or to bask in the sun's rays ; they 

 then love to sit close to the ground, on dry bracken fronds, or other dead 

 vegetation, and often on patches of bare earth ; although they occasion- 

 ally rest on grass and low-growing plants, where the herbage is 

 growing sparingly. They have a curious trick of hovering about 

 objects, such as an old thistle-stem, or the end of a dead bramble-shoot,, 

 frequently looking as if about to alight, but usually flying off and 

 choosing a less prominent object on which to settle, only rarely poising 

 themselves on anything so conspicuous. Like Hesperia malvae they 

 rest tail to the sun, and generally spread out their wings flatly or even 

 slightly deflected, especially when a cloud passes over the sun, but, in hot 

 sunshine, they occasionally raise their wings slightly, and slowly move 

 them, keeping the upper wings apart from the lower, more often they 

 raise their wings well up, sometimes so far that they almost meet. The 

 manner in which they disappear during a long cloudy period is rather 

 remarkable, nor can they be at all easily disturbed, neither are they 

 immediately in evidence when the sun reappears, preferring, no doubt, 

 to enjoy the warmth before starting to fly again. They appear not to 

 pass gloomy days and bad weather in the same position as when they 

 sleep ; at least, we cannot discover them. Nisoniades tages does not 

 seem to be a very pugnacious insect ; it will certainly fly up at any 

 small butterfly that is passing, but it soon settles again, and the 

 habit appears principally due to a desire to investigate the character 

 and sex of the intruder." It prefers to rest on the ground in the 

 more arid areas of the forest district of Pont de l'Arche (Dupont). 

 Baynor notes that during copulation the 2 hangs downwards. 



Habitat. — In Britain, tbe species is rarely found in woods, unless 

 they are very open, or on chalky or limestone hillsides. The open 

 chalk downs of Kent and Surrey, the flowery openings by the edges 

 of the woods capping the chalkhills, and meadows near, are its 

 favourite haunts in the southeastern counties, but it also occurs in the 

 open ridings of Chattenden and otber woods, far removed from the 

 chalk. In Monmouthshire, one of its favourite haunts is a rough hill- 

 side pasturage, with masses of bracken (represented at this time chiefly 

 by last year's withered fronds) growing therein. Woods almost 

 surround this place, and near by are thickets, and clumps of alder, 

 birch, hazel, bramble, etc. (J. F. Bird). At Cuxton, in Kent, it prefers 

 the dry, chalky slopes on the outskirts of the woods, choosing the rough 

 •grassy parts, where bare patches are frequent, and sheltered corners are 

 formed by the shaws that run up from the fields below to join the woods 

 that cap the hills. It is common on the railway -banks and in the 

 meadows at Market Drayton (Woodforde); on the sandhills at Llandudno 

 (Harding) ; also in the marl-quarries at the same place (Court) ; on 

 the heaths at Witherslack (Forsythe) ; on wayside ground and on 

 the banks bordering a large fir- wood at Hexham (Nicholson) ; on the 

 hillsides at Dovedale (Brown) ; on railway-banks and in cuttings, on 

 hillsides and in woods, in Herefordshire (Bowell) ; on railway-banks near 



