252 



BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 





Thistle Butterflu 



favorite occupation of our little comrades, besides fly- 

 ing, was hopping about on the snow and picking up 

 dainties that were evidently palatable. Afterwards we 

 examined the snow, and found several kinds of small 

 beetles and other insects creeping up through it or 

 about on its surface. Without doubt these were leu- 

 costicte's choice morsels. Thus Nature spreads her 

 table everywhere with loving care for her feathered 

 children. The general habits of the rosy finches are 

 elsewhere depicted in this volume. It only remains 

 to be said that they were much more abundant and 

 familiar on Gray's Peak than on Pike's Peak, — that is, 

 at the time of my respective visits to those summits. 

 To omit all mention of the butterflies seen on this 

 trip would be proof of avian monomania with a 

 *^ vengeance. The lad who was with me found 

 a number of individuals of two species zig- 

 zagging over the summit, and occasionally settling upon 

 the rocks riffht by the fields of snow. AVhat kind of 



