122 THE PEACOCK BUTTERFLY. 
chrysalid form. In the performance of this change, 
they suspend themselves vertically, with the head 
downwards ; and the pupa, thus pendent, continues 
for about twenty days, at the end of which time 
the insect becomes perfected, bursts from its shell, 
expands its wings, and flies away. 
The Peacock Butterfly is to be found all over 
Europe, especially in the more temperate parts of it. 
It is not uncommon in the south of England, but it 
is extremely rare in the north. During the winter it 
conceals itself, and does not die until it has deposited 
its eggs in the ensuing spring. 
This Papilio, also the P. wrtice, atalanta, tie 
chloros, and several allied species, soon after emer- 
ging from the chrysalis form, when they take their 
first flight, discharge a few drops of a reddish coloured 
fluid, which is sometimes of the intensity of blood. 
In situations where these insects are numerous, it 
has had the appearance of a shower of blood, and, by 
early writers, was considered the precursor of some 
extraordinary event. Ovid commemorated an occur- 
rence of this kind among the prodigies which took 
place after the death of the great dictator, in the 
following passage :— 
Sepe faces vise mediis ardere sub astris: 
Swpe inter nimbos guttw cecidere cruents. 
Which has been thus translated,— 
With threat*ning signs the lowering skies were fill‘d, 
And sanguine drops from murky clouds distill’d. 
