You can easily see why this butterfly is called the Ringlet, for on the lower surface of its wings it has a number of eye-like spots which are generally so close together that they form a sort of chain, made up of several rings. But the odd thing is that these spots vary very much indeed both in size and number. Generally there are eight quite large ones on each side, three on the front wings and five on the hind ones. But sometimes there are nine, and sometimes there are seven; and just now and then there are only three or four very tiny ones, while you may sometimes catch a Ringlet butterfly which has no spots at all. The upper surface of the wings is always dark smoky brown all over, with only a few very faint spots of a lighter colour. The best place in which to look for Ringlet butterflies is in grassy paths through woods, where it is sometimes very common indeed. The caterpillars, which feed upon different kinds of grass, are very much like those of the “large heath.” But they only come out to feed during the night, so that if you want to find them you will have to look for them with a lantern. They are fully fed about the beginning of June, and the butterfly makes its appearance in July. [Illustration: PLATE VII 1. Large Heath 2. Small Heath] PLATE VII THE LARGE HEATH (1) This butterfly is very nearly as plentiful as the “meadow-brown,” and you can hardly walk along a lane or through a meadow without seeing it. The male is rather different from the female, for he is a good deal smaller, and has a band of dark brown running down from just above the middle of the front wings to the centre of the hind margin. The caterpillar of this butterfly feeds upon couch-grass. It is greenish-grey in colour, with a reddish head, and has two pale lines running along each of its sides, and a dark one along its back. When it has reached its full size it spins a kind of little silken pad upon a blade of grass, from which it hangs itself up with its head downwards. Two days later it throws off its skin and turns into a fat little greenish-white chrysalis, marked with a number of dark streaks and blotches. Look for the caterpillar in May and the early part of June, for the chrysalis at the end of June, and for the butterfly in July and August. PLATE VII THE SMALL HEATH (2) Of course you know this butterfly very well indeed by sight, for it is extremely common everywhere on heaths and downs and in grassy fields and in lanes from the beginning of June until the end of September. You may often see it gambolling about in company with “meadow-browns” and the pretty little blue butterflies, which are generally so common at the same time of the year. It is quite a small insect, for it only measures about an inch and a quarter across the wings; but in Scotland, strange to say, it is generally a good deal larger than it is in England.