INSECTS. 



159 



low and orange and black, — busy among the lowly nettles, 

 attentive to the grand occupation that forms " The Whole 

 Duty of Butterflies,"— the providing for the continuance 

 of the race, by depositing here an egg and there an egg, 

 on the stems or beneath the leaves of those grim and for- 

 midable weeds. But even if it is one of much humbler 

 pretensions, the White (Pontia brassicce) of our kitchen- 

 garden, still it is a Butterfly, and we look upon it with a 

 hearty welcome, forgiving, and for the moment forgetting, 

 all the robbery it committed upon our cabbage before it 

 was born. 



And these frail creatures are worthy of our kindly re- 

 gard, not only for their association (true children of the 

 sun, as they are) with all that is most lovely in scenery, 

 and most delightful in season, but because of their own 

 personal claims to our admiration. If we capture that 

 Red Admiral or Peacock that is so intent upon the nettles, 

 what a glorious creature should we think we had obtained 

 if we had never seen anything like it before ! How light 

 and papery, yet how strong and effective, are these broad 

 wings ! with what an elegant pencil has this pattern of 

 beautiful colours been traced ! But stay ! let us look 

 closer at this painting, aiding our sight with a pocket- 

 lens. It is a most exquisite mosaic, fashioned out of 

 innumerable coloured pieces, of regular shape and ar- 

 rangement. 



If we look at our fingers' ends with which we have 

 touched, though ever so lightly, these pencilled surfaces, 

 we see that some of the colouring is transferred to them ; 

 and if we have pressed the wing, as in seizing it for the 

 purpose of capture, we find that the finger presents the 



