LITTLE BROWN BUTTERFLY

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 15 June 1935, Page 10

LITTLE BROWN BUTTERFLY

SMALL AND PLAIN-LOOKING. A number of butterfles hovered over the sunlit heather-covered cliffs above the sea one hot summer day. Pretty tortoise shells and fritiliaries, orangetips and blues, while a great peacock butterfly displayed her many-coloured wings, with their laigo “eyes,” as she perched on a nettle beside a red admiral, who was very smart indeed in his black, scarlet, blue and white uniform.

Before very long she was joined by a painted lady, and the three large handsome insects looked round disdainfully at the many little brown, yellow and blue butterflies that were flttlng about among the heath and grasses. “What a homely little creature that is!” said the peacock butterfly, as she looked at a small yellowish-brown heath butterfly that flew by. “I think it is a shame that such dingy, shabby creatures should come near us. Beautiful and superior butterflies, such as we are, should have a place to themselves, and all those ugly little things, should be sent off somewhere else.”

‘‘ Do you mean us to be banished too?” asked a saucy little blue butter-

fly, perching on a neighbouring gorse bush.

“Oli! you might pass—you are quite a pretty colour and you don’t interfere with us,” said the .painted lady, looking at her in a condescending sort of way; but the peacock said sharply: “Yes, you should be turned out too, and as for all these heaths, and hairstreaks and skippers, they ought to be banished at once!”

“Oh, why shouldn’t they have a chance?” asked the red admiral, who was rather a kind fellow, and thought the peacock and painted lady were going too far. “They can have a chance elsewhere,” said the painted lady; and the red admiral, who was tired of the subject, rose and flew off, and a handsome large tortoiseshell took his place, and he, too, looked 1 scornfully at the little brown butterfly, who felt very hurt, and began to think he had better seek fresh quarters, away from these proud people. “It’s a dingy creature,” said the tortoiseshell, “but it doesn’t do us much harm—it doesn’t eat the same things!” “No, but all these horrid little insects are so ugly and common!” said the peacock butterfly. “Just suppose a purple emperor, or a Camberwell beauty, eaine to see us some day—what would they think of such company ?” The poor little brown heath flew off, keeping meekly close to the ground, as the painted ladj' and peacock fluttered off in the sunshine, just as a couple of boys appeared, carrying butterfly nets, and one of them cried, “Oh, what luck! a beautiful painted lady, and a fine peacock, too. ’ You try for one, and I’ll take the other, if I can, and running swiftly after the insects, in a. trice they were both caught, and transferred to the collectors’ bottles, while the tor-

toiseshell, much frightened, flew' rff too, but was spied and gobbled up at once by a swallow that was circling over the cliffs.

“There are a lot of those little brown heath butterflies about—do you want any?” asked one of the boys of his companion, who replied, “Oh, no .Tack. I have specimens, they are very common and they aren’t much to look at.”

“No, I don’t want them either,” said the other lad, as they went off, and the little brown butterfly said to liimself, as he flitted low above the grass: “Well, there is a great advantage in being small and plain-looking after all! One doesn't attract, boys or birds like theb ig, beautiful butterflies! I don’t want to change with them!”