X 



CHAPTER XVII. 

 Insecta (Insects). 



Continued.' J <} /Q. I 7 ^ 



How delightful is the season, when the Butterflies begin 

 to spangle the fields and woodlands ! Welcome visitants 

 they always are, in their airy grace and beauty ; not less 

 welcome than the flowers on which they alight, and whose 

 brilliant hues and delicate petals are rivalled by their 

 painted and filmy wings. 



" The Butterflies are come !" Yes, it sends a thrill of 

 pleasure through the heart, after the long dreary winter, 

 to see the first Butterfly of the season sailing on its broad 

 sylphic pinions in the warm beams of a calm April morn- 

 ing. Perhaps it is the pretty little Orange-tip (Manci- 

 pium cardamines), that attendant on early spring, coursing 

 along some rural lane ; or the Brimstone (Gonepteryx 

 rliamni), hovering over a perfumed cluster of primroses, 

 itself scarcely to be distinguished from one of them. 

 Perhaps it is the Admiral (Vanessa Atalantd), whose fine 

 scarlet bands afford so rich a contrast to its black velvet 

 wings ; or the Peacock ( V. Io), with its gorgeous violet 

 eyes ; or the Tortoise-shell ( V. urticce), clouded with yel- 



