LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
203 
The latest novelties in the butterfly hmu monde 
are the following': the Blue-eyed Ringlet {Hippar- 
chia Alope),^ a large and fine species^ having the 
upper surface of a soft^ sober, brown hue, with a 
great patch on the fore wings of a yellowish white, 
in which are two large black eyelets with azure 
pupils, and an obscure eyelet near the angle of the 
hind pair. Beneath, the colours are much the 
same, but the eyelets are brighter, and there are 
four ill the, hind wing, and the brown ground is 
beautifully marked with transverse dashes of black. 
The Pale-clouded Ringlet HipparcMa an 
undescribed species, I believe, is much like it, 
but, smaller, having the brown upper surface 
darker, the patch smaller and yellower, and only 
the front eyelet present in either surface, much 
reduced in size. On the hind wings the four 
eyelets of the under surface are reduced to two 
(with, however, a slight indication of the other 
two), and the one on the upper side is hardly 
visible. It may possibly be the male of the pre- 
ceding. They bear a resemblance, particularly 
thedatter, to our English Meadow Brown [8. Jut- 
tina)^ but are handsomer. They are wary, and fly 
■ swiftly, chiefly affecting lanes in the forests, but 
occasionally coming into the gardens early in the 
morning. The third which I notice is one which, 
in the enthusiasm of my first acquaintance with it, 
when after a hard chase in the burning sun I cap- 
tured it, appeared the most splendid butterfly 
had ever seen, and amply repaid me, by the 
triumph of possession, for' my fatiguing pursuit. 
It is the Vanilla Fritillary {Argynnis vanillm). 
Though it has appeared but a few days, it has 
^ See EngraYing on page 55. 
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