Of all the flowers in our garden,
Celeus prefers the hollyhocks. At least it comes to them oftenest
and remains at them longest. But it moves continually and flies so
late that a picture of it has been a task. After years of fruitless
effort, I made one passable snapshot early in July, while the light
was sufficiently strong that a printable picture could be had by
intensifying the plate, and one good time exposure as a Celeus, with
half-folded wings, clambered over a hollyhock, possibly hunting a
spot on which to deposit an egg or two. The hollyhock painting of
this chapter is from this study. The flowers were easy but it required
a second trial to do justice to the complicated markings of the moth.
This evening lover and strong flyer, with its swallow-like sweep of
wing, comes into the colour schemes of nature with the otter, that
at rare times thrusts a sleek grey head from the river, with the
grey-brown cotton-tails that bound across the stubble, and the
coots that herald dawn in the marshes.
Pages:
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155