Beautiful Butterflies. 69 



RED ADMIRAL. 



PLATE II. — FIG. III. 



\APILIO, or Vanessa Atalanta. This large 

 and magnificent Butterfly is by no means un- 

 common. It comes out of the chrysalis in 

 August, and may frequently be seen flitting from flower 

 to flower in the garden, seeming to prefer the large 

 globe-like dahlia and the little green blossoms of the 

 ivy, two very different objects of regard ; doubtless, 

 however, the nectar of the one is as sweet as that of 

 the other, and little need the gaily-dressed insect care 

 about richness of colour, for he has that himself; look 

 at him now, as he sails proudly in the autumn sunshine, 

 which seems to sink into the soft velvety down of his 

 rich brown wings, and give them a golden gloss. 



The colour is deep, approaching to a black, and 

 across the middle of each upper wing a painter seems 

 to have drawn his brush filled with the brightest ver- 

 milion ; along the bottom edge of the lower pair, there 

 is also a band of the same colour dotted with dark 

 brown or black ; there are several irregular white specks 

 on the upper ones towards the angles of their widest 



