1410 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND . 



is in about this latitude (New York City) that the second brood begins to 

 make its appearance, for in the same connection, writing on August 17, 

 Mr. Angus says : "the second brood are now flying around ; I noticed 

 the first of this brood about eight or ten days ago." So, too, Mr. F. H. 

 Sprague has taken good specimens about Boston at the end of July and 

 during the first three weeks of August, which may indicate the occasional 

 appearance here of the second brood of the south. 



Habits, flight and postures. Were it not for the propensity of the 

 butterfly for flowers it would be difficult to capture, for it is the most vig- 

 orous of our buttei-flies. It has a dashing, impetuous flight, starting with 

 a plunge and stopping as abruptly ; it startles the collector by its sudden 

 advent, bewilders him by its unexpected dashes, and then vanishes like a 

 swift arrow. When two meet they circle around each other with amazing 

 rapidity, soaring higher and higher with apparently increasing celerity, 

 keeping always one or two feet from each other ; suddenly one darts oflF 

 in a straight line and the other whisks away in an opposite direction. 

 Gosse bears similar testimony, saying (Lett. Alab., 61) : "it is very sus- 

 ceptible of alarm, flies swiftly, violently and in a headlong manner, and has 

 many of the motions of the hawk-moths." It is also a pugnacious creature, 

 attacking with rude vigor any insect, especially of a large size, which may 

 seek to share with it the flowers it delights in. Gosse, on a later page, 

 adds : — 



I have bred very many butterflies and have universally found them, on first opening 

 the dark box in which they had been evolved, perfectly still, and making no attempt to 

 escape when touched with the fingers ; but these skippers formed a singular exception. 

 Before the lid was half raised, all was scuffle and flutter within, the first intimation I 

 had of their birth; though as I had examined them every day, I knew by the discolor- 

 ation of the pupa that the change was near. Before I could catch a glimpse of any- 

 thiug within, one dashed out like lightning, aud if I had not shut the box, the other 

 would have followed as quickly. 



On account of this liveliness of disposition and strength of wing it is 

 diflBcult to capture a specimen without danger of its being greatly defaced 

 in its struggles to escape. 



Upon alighting after flight, the wings are held upright, each in a per- 

 pendicular position, and therefore, since the body is stout, not tightly 

 closed ; the folded inner margin of the hind wings is continuous with the 

 upper edge of the abdomen, and the costal edge of the same pair reaches 

 the middle of the lowest median interspace of the front wings. When at 

 complete rest, the wings are also held erect but are compressed, and the 

 legs, widely spread, bring the body to the surface. The antennae are on a 

 plane with the whole body (the head being elevated), nearly straight when 

 viewed laterally, the club drooping; viewed from above, they curve out- 

 ward a very little near the base, and diverge at a right angle. They are 

 held in a similar manner just after alighting, but the club scarcely droops 



