THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 69 



White Mountain region, long after the main glacial sheet had left these 

 mountains far in its rear, and until connection with the main body was 

 finally cut off." And quoting Mr. Grote on this species and its ancient 

 history : " They advanced behind the deceiving local glaciers, step by 

 step, up the mountain side, pushed up from below by the warm climate, 

 which to them was uncongenial, until they reached the mountain peak. 

 Here, blown sidewise by the winds, they patiently cling to the rocks ; or 

 in clear weather, on weak and careful wing, they fly from stemless 

 mountain-pink to blue-berry. Drawn into the currents of air that sweep 

 down the mountain -side, they are forced downwards to be parched in the 

 hot valleys below," Mr. Scudder continues : " It will be asked how it is 

 possible that such delicate organisms as butterflies can maintain them- 

 selves 171 such a bleak and inhospitable region as the summit of the White 

 Mountains, where a Greenlander would find it impossible to live in com- 

 fort, inasmuch as he would be exposed not merely to the cold, to which 

 he is no stranger, but to the fiercest and most biting winds, with an 

 amount of humidity accompanying them which would seem to be almost 

 fatal to existence." The author then speaks of the long larval period, 

 during which the species is protected among the rocks and snow. Then 

 continuing with the imago, it " invariably closes its wings back to back, 

 and settles upon one side as if reclining, the point of the wings away 

 from the wind, where it clings to the roughnesses of the rocks, and is 

 seldom blown from its foot-hold. * * * jn the imago state, // cannot 

 bear transportation so much as J,ooo feet vertically to the base of the 

 steeper slopes, at least if this transportation is effected in a rapid manner. 

 Indeed their efforts at flight under such circinnstances are so pitiable that 

 it would seem very doubtful if the butterfly hurled deep down into the 

 ravines by the fierce blasts which may at times catch it unawares could 

 possibly remount the steep slopes. That such cases of destruction may 

 occur with so feebled-winged a butterfly seems by no means impossible," 

 etc. — the author relating how he had seen these insects swept over the 

 cliff, etc. On page 145, we read also : " They can offer no resistance to 

 the winds, and whenever they ascend more than their accustomed two or 

 three feet above the surface of the ground * * * tl-iey ^j-e whirled 

 headlong to immense distances," etc. He then relates how this butterfly 

 escapes capture, " by edging its way afoot to the brink of a crevice," and 

 dropping into same. And that he took three healthy females down the 

 mountain on the railway train, and before half the descent was made they 



