92 BULLETIN 15 7, U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The Camberwell beaut}'' is most numerous in the higher and more 

 open woods in Rock Creek Park, especially where pines are plentiful, 

 and in the woods between Cabin John and Great Falls, Md. I have 

 noticed it about willows in the moist portions of the fields between 

 Conduit Road and the canal, and in similar localities at Silver 

 Spring. It is occasionally seen about poplars and elms in the city of 

 Washington, and I have found the caterpillar on elms in the Smith- 

 sonian Institution grounds. 



There is a specimen from Washington in the National Museum 

 collected by F. Burgess. 



Habits. — This is the hardiest of our local butterflies, and a few 

 warm days at any time during the winter will suffice to bring it out 

 of hibernation. 



Very early in spring it is the most conspicuous of the woodland 

 species, and may be seen flying rather rapidly through the trees 5 or 

 6 feet above the ground in a more or less straight line, flapping a 

 few times, then sailing, flapping again and sailing. 



The females never fly very high unless engaged in laying their eggs, 

 when they will rise to the tree tops, but the males may frequently be 

 seen flying slowly along a road or path from 6 to 10 feet in the air, 

 for the most part sailing, but occasionally flapping their wings. 



In spring this butterfly is seldom seen except when it is traveling 

 from one place to another through the woods in a very businesslike 

 fashion. It is belligerent, but not especially aggressive, and by no 

 means so given to play as it is in summer and early in autumn. Its 

 main preoccupation is the preparation for the next brood. 



In summer or on a warm day in autumn, it is very active and 

 especially delights in playing about open spaces in the woods and 

 along wood roads. It will perch on a log or on the road, or head 

 down on a tree trunk, with its wings widely spread, dart off, circle 

 rapidly and irregularly about, and return to the place from which it 

 started. It is bold, pugnacious, and aggressive, and two on meeting 

 will often rise battling to a height of 20 feet or more. In the open it 

 will dart viciously at the larger dragonflies that venture too near 

 the willows on which it rests, and it will also dart at the smaller birds, 

 sending them to cover. The only other butterfly in our fauna that 

 habitually attacks birds is the milkweed butterfly {Danaus flexip- 

 pus), which cherishes violent animosity toward the hummingbird. 



In crossing open fields this butterfly flies at a height of 6 to 10 

 feet above the ground and proceeds in a direct line with the wings 

 continually in motion. 



Like the milkweed butterfly {Danaus pleoeippus, pi. 6, fig. 4), this 

 species is an expert at feigning death. On being removed from the 

 net it will often lie for some minutes quietly on its side on one's 

 hand with the wings closed above the back. 



