The Descent of Man

genera, growing in the same garden; and I have
received other accounts to the same effect. As I
hear from Mr. Doubleday, the common white
butterfly often flies down to a bit of paper on
the ground, no doubt mistaking it for one of its
own species. Mr. Collingwood (22. 'Rambles of
a Naturalist in the Chinese Seas,' 1868, p. 182.)
in speaking of the difficulty in collecting certain
butterflies in the Malay Archipelago, states that
"a dead specimen pinned upon a conspicuous
twig will often arrest an insect of the same species
in its headlong flight, and bring it down
within easy reach of the net, especially if it be of
the opposite sex."
The courtship of butterflies is, as before remarked,
a prolonged affair. The males sometimes
fight together in rivalry; and many may be seen
pursuing or crowding round the same female.
Unless, then, the females prefer one male to
another, the pairing must be left to mere chance,
and this does not appear probable. If, on the