350 
HESPERIIDAE 
having found, on the evening of May 30th, 1899, fourteen 
E. iages which had just settled down for the night upon dead 
flower-heads of Knapweed ( Centaurea nigra ) bloom of the 
previous year, on a bank extending for about 150 yards. 
On one dead plant were three individuals. All fourteen speci¬ 
mens were sitting in exactly the same position, with their 
backs to the sun, which was shining brightly between 5.45 
and 6 p.m. They sat with their heads uppermost and their 
wings folded down, wrapped over the dead, checkered, brown, 
weather-worn flower-heads, which formed a very remarkable 
similarity to the butterflies, a fact of which the latter appear 
to be fully aware. When I touched them in an attempt to 
dislodge them, they merely settled down all the closer. Al¬ 
though I carefully 
searched for others on 
different kinds of plants 
growing in that particu¬ 
lar spot, none could 
be found. They appar¬ 
ently selected Knap¬ 
weed only to sleep upon. 
Wherever E. tages com¬ 
monly occurs, it may 
always be found at rest 
in dull weather or at 
evening as described 
above. 
1 
The Dingy Skipper at rest. Sketched 
from life. 
On June 3rd, 1910, I found thirty E. Iages at rest on gras? 
heads ; this number consisted of twenty-four males and six 
females. On another occasion, June 10th, 1908, I found this 
species in such abundance in the corner of a rough field, that 
in some instances as many as five were resting together on the 
same grass head. On this particular evening, the sexes were 
about equal in proportion. They appear to prefer the larger- 
flowered species of grasses, such as rough Cock's Foot Grass 
(Dactylis glonierata) and Meadow 1 *ox-tail Grass (Alopecitrus 
pratensis), also Knapweed and Thistles. 
Haunts and Distribution. The haunts of this little butterfly 
are very varied. I have found it excessively abundant in very 
rough grass fields, on deep, heavy clay soils, as well as on dry 
