64 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



BOOK NOTICE. 



The Butterflies of the Wes]- Coast of the United States, — By 

 vVilliam Greenwood Wright. Price, postpaid, $4 35. l^ublished by 

 the author, 445 F. St., San Bernardino, California. 



For a score of years Mr. Wright has been known to North American 

 Lepidopterists as a keen and enthuiastic collector of butterflies, and now 

 he has given to the world the results of liis labours in the form of this 

 large and handsome volume. It is profusely illustrated with 32 plates in 

 colour photography, containing over 900 examples, and depicting all the 

 species of butterflies, except the very commonest, that are found on the 

 Pacific Coast. There is also a portrait of the author as a frontispiece, 

 which forms a welcome addition to the book. One is struck at the first 

 glance with the wealth of species that are unknown to us here, as for 

 example in Parnassius, Anthocharis, S'ynchloe and Chionobas, and the 

 abundance and variety in Pieris, Colias, iMelitasa, Chrysophanus and 

 other genera. For these plates and descriptions alone the book is well 

 worth having, and anyone who exchanges with western collectors will find 

 it most useful as well as delightful ; to our friends in British Columbia it 

 is surely indisj)ensable. 



The first part of the volume, some thirty pages, is takeu up with 

 " General features of Butterfly life," and contains tlie author's views on 

 many points of interest, respecting some of which there is much diversity 

 of opinion. There are also some good hints on collecting and ])reserving 

 specimens. 'I'his is followed by a complete list of the butterflies of the 

 United States, with localities, which will be found of much value. The 

 body of the work consists of notes upon each species and variety taken in 

 the "West Coast" region, giving the points of difference between varieties 

 and disputed species, and descriptions of a number of new species. As a 

 rule the figures on the plates are considered to be sufficient for identifica- 

 tion without description, especially as the upper and under surfaces of 

 both sexes are generally depicted. There are no doubt some instances 

 where the author's conclusions will not be accepted by others, but we are 

 not competent to off'er any opinion upon them. A satisfactory decision 

 can only be arrived at by those who have studied these butterflies in their 

 native haunts and who have reared the varieties for more than one 

 generation. We hope that the book will be in demand all over the 

 Continent, and that the author may not suficT ])ecuniarily in his enter- 

 prise ; certainly anyone who procures it cannot fail to be pleased, and it 

 will form an admirable complement to Dr. Holland's "Butterfly Book." 



Mailed I'Vbruary ,5th, igo6. 



