A LITTLE FRIENDSHIP OF A DAY-THE RED ADMIRAL.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Samuel Butler, in his Alps and Sanctuaries, mentions the curious attraction which human companionship has for the Red Admiral butterfly. I am writing from Tivoli, where, since our arrival on November 2nd, we have been enjoying the warmth and beauty of midsummer. Sitting in our garden (which 2,000 years ago was Horace's) facing across the evergreen valley, the great waterfall, still happily saved from the destroyer, with the crimson and gold of the Khakis tree above and around me, and the thick, dark-green foliage of a nespolo tree close by to give shade when the sun proves too hot, I have made a new friend. Day after day, morning and afternoon, I have been visited by a butterfly, a little Red Admiral, which would often light twenty or thirty times on the table beside me, and almost—but not quite—venture to perch on my hand, while at other times he would fly round me and flap his wings almost in my face. Alas ! poor little friend ! To-day the Khakis is shedding his leaves, and the colder days are coming, and I must lose you soon if I have
Previous page
