Dick soon found something after his own heart, and this was a large bed of nettles. Every stem was covered with large, black, hairy caterpillars. These were the caterpillars of the peacock butterfly,—that splendid insect, which with its crimson and black, and the gorgeous peacock eyes which adorn its wings, is so conspicuous an object in the country in the summer. It is a great pleasure to me to see it as it sits on its favourite perch, the top of a nettle or a bramble, and opens and shuts its wings with the fanning motion peculiar to its tribe. Dick marked this spot, and in a short time he came to gather the gilded chrysalides which on every plant shone brightly in the sunshine. These he gathered and put in a safe place, and during the summer it was a great pleasure to him to watch the outcoming of these resplendent insects. Just before they were ready to emerge, the colours of their wings could be seen through the thin case which covered them, and with this warning he was often able to catch the insect at the instant of their appearance. Not long afterwards he found a colony of the caterpillars of the red admiral butterfly, a large black insect with crimson bands round its wings, and the under surface marbled with the most delicate tracery of brown and grey. As far as size and beauty go, these two butterflies may be said to be the gems of the entomologist's cabinet. They are common enough in the south, and the young entomologist may look forward to catching or breeding them his first year.
Red Admiral Butterfly.
The afternoon was exceedingly hot, and the sun blazed from a cloudless sky, and birds'-nesting and butterfly-hunting was tiring work. The scent of the hay made the air fragrant, and the sharp whisk of the scythes of the mowers in those meadows which were not yet cut, was the only sound which disturbed the evening stillness.
Crossing one of the commons which are to be met with everywhere in the enclosed districts of Norfolk, they saw a little brown bird fly out of a hole in a low hedge bank. Very cleverly hidden there, in a hole covered with a clump of primrose flowers, was a winchat's nest. It contained five blue eggs spotted with rusty red at the large end. Taking two of these they went on their way, and presently entered a thick and tangled wood, where the underwood was so close that they could with difficulty make their way through it. The brambles and briars were breast high, and the ground was ankle deep in half rotten leaves of the previous year. In a bush through which Jimmy was trying to force his way he saw a nest, which he took to be a thrush's or blackbird's. He put in his hand just to see if there were any eggs in, and to his surprise he felt something cold and slimy. Before he could withdraw his hand he felt a sharp blow and a prick on his finger, and he drew back with a cry of dismay as he saw a viper uncoiling itself from the nest and wriggle down to the ground, where it was soon lost in the thick vegetation. Frank and Dick hurried up to him, and he held out his finger, in which were two small blue punctures.
Winchat and Egg.
"An adder has bitten me," he said, with blanched cheeks.