570 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



short cut was direct and in tlie sua. AVhy did they talce the roundabout way? The next 

 day I solved it, for on coming in sight of the place, I saw three or four small boys 

 approaching the thistle patch, straw hats in hand, from the end of the barn, and after 

 their onslaught, not a butterfly was to be seen. The boys were communicative, and I 

 found had made many attempts to catch them. They had invariably come up the 

 same way. . . . The butterflies had availed themselves of their 'organized experience' 

 to dodge the boys. 



On following them into their retreat, I found tlicm motionless. . . . But right here 

 their stupidity began, for I caught two of them with my Angers, and could have taken 

 the whole with a little care, had I wanted them. Then I made a grand swing with my 

 net into the sumac bushes, and a more bewildered set of beings it would be diflicult 

 to And. They went helter-skelter, — on the barn, on the wall, anywhere and everywhere, 

 without sense or method. On going back again, not a butterfly v;as to be found. 

 Whether the boys frightened them away, or whether my inroad upon their harbor of 

 refuge disheartened them I never ascertained." (Trans. Vassar Bros, inst., ii : 131-2.) 



Postures and flight- The flight of this species and the h^st do not dif- 

 fer in style. Dr. C. S. Minot has noted that both during the motion of 

 the wings and while sailing, the antennae are kept in constant motion. 

 When at rest on a horizontal surface, according to the same observer, 

 the wino-s are generally held a little below the horizontal, though when in 

 the sun they are sometimes raised to the perpendicular ; wliile the atten- 

 nae are raised about 20° from the horizontal and divaricate about 35°. In 

 walkino- (from observation of half a dozen specimens) he found that 

 the left middle leg and right hind leg moved together and always first ; 

 while walking or resting on a perpendicular support the abdomen is 

 raised and concealed within the gutter of the hind wings ; but on a horizon- 

 tal surface it rests, or almost rests, upon the ground. 



Enemies- According to Gentry lie has identified this butterfly among 

 the mangled remains of insects in the crops of the common night hawk 

 (Chordeiles virginianus) and the chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) ; 

 and he further says that he has also found the caterpillar in the stomachs 

 of the black-throated bunting (Spiza americana), the towhee (Pipilo 

 erythrophthalmus), and the swamp blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), but 

 the last assertion, at least, may be taken as doubtful, as the caterpillar was 

 not known at the time of his writing. 



Desiderata. Our knowledge of the larva and chrysalis of this species 

 lacks completeness, and the statements concerning the seasons of the insect 

 need the most careful revision. We should especially observe whether 

 there be any accession to the number of butterflies in August, and, if so, 

 whether eggs are laid by the old or fresh females, or by both. The char- 

 acteristics of the flight of the butterfly as compared with that of its 

 conoeners are still undescribed. 



