82 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



places where there are not enough peo- 

 ple similarly inclined to form a Chap- 

 ter, who would enjoy and be benefitted 

 by such a plan. Also Chapters might 

 employ a corresponding secretary 

 whose duty it would be to look up such 

 matters. Collections can thus be made 

 very cheaply, because specimens rare 

 in one country or state are abundant 

 in others. 



Very sincerely, 

 Ernest E. Stanford. 



An Enthusiastic Student of Lepidop- 

 tera. 



Mission San Jose, California. 

 Report of Corresponding Member 2144, 

 AA. 



As I am still awaiting the arrival of 

 my check list and boxes, I have not 

 completed the arranging of my collec- 

 tion of butterflies and moths. 



About the middle of February I 

 saw the first butterflies of the season, 

 and for a time was in doubt whether 

 they were Vanessa californica or Grapta 

 satyrus, as they were very shy. When 

 I had captured a few, I found that both 

 genera were represented. All the spe- 

 cimens secured were rather battered, so 

 I concluded that these early flies had 

 only recently come out of their hiberna- 

 tion. 



A little later I saw a Papilio rntnlus, 

 but as I have not seen another, I be- 

 lieve that he must have been rather 

 crowding the season. On March six- 

 teenth, however, when I saw the first 

 of the Lycaenidac, (Lycaena piasus,) I 

 felt that spring was not far off, and 

 that the season's collecting would soon 

 begin. 



Dull weather followed, but in spite 

 of this, on March twenty-first, I found 

 in warm spots along the road myriads 

 of Mclitaea chalcedon larvae on the 

 California bee plant. I secured a 

 colony of them, as I am much inter- 

 ested in the peculiar aberrations which 

 so often appear among these common 

 butterflies. I have one of these odd 

 forms in my collection, but it is much 

 rubbed and battered, and I wish to get 

 some unspoiled specimens if possible. 



A week later when the sun again 

 began to struggle through the fog, 



Buchloe sara appeared, followed closely 

 by the ubiquitous cabbage butterfly, 

 and a few monarchs arrived from the 

 south. These flies had all been report- 

 ed earlier by friends on the south 

 slope of the hills and also in the Santa 

 Clara Valley — but they had just 

 reached us on the shadier north slope. 



At last, on March twenty-ninth, af- 

 ter a few bright, hot days, I decided to 

 go on my first collecting trip of the 

 season and look for Lycaenidac . I se- 

 cured only three flies, but was much 

 elated, nevertheless, as one of them, 

 Lycaena saepioius, was new to me. The 

 others were a pair of Lycaena piasus. 

 Since then the fog has closed in again, 

 putting an end to my collecting for a 

 time. 



On March thirty-first, a little Mela- 

 lopha moth emerged from a cocoon 

 which I had kept through the winter, 

 and much to my surprise, the ground 

 color of his wings is almost black in- 

 stead of the soft gray of my other 

 specimens of this moth. I am won- 

 dering whether this is the regular win- 

 ter form or is due to my having kept 

 the cocoon in a shadowy corner out 

 of the direct sunlight. 



Phoebe Lowrie. 



A Rapidly Growing Chapter. 



REPORT OF THE JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYL- 

 VANIA, CHAPTER. 



The past year has seen our society 

 advance wonderfully. The members 

 have shown great enthusiasm and our 

 work has been carried forward in try- 

 ing to get young people to become in- 

 terested in nature. Towards this end 

 we have occupied the months since the 

 beginning of school in studying the 

 trees and birds of this vicinity. Dur- 

 ing September and October excur- 

 sions were taken once a week, when 

 the weather permitted ; and, as soon 

 as the weather becomes milder, the 

 walks will be resumed. 



Perhaps our greatest achievement 

 during the year was the securing of 

 Mr. J. S. Briggs, Horticultural Inspec- 

 tor and Demonstrator for the Division 

 of Zoology, Department of Agriculture, 

 to lecture in the High School audi- 

 torium on "Birds and Their Relation 



