AS A HOME FOR BUTTERFLIES 75 



project forward toward the road, — such spots in- 

 deed as the butterflies select to alight upon, — the 

 patient search will be rewarded. Another Polygo- 

 nia, far rarer, the Hoary Comma (P. gracilis), I 

 had until 1887 taken only here and on the oppo- 

 site side of Mt. Washington, perhaps a couple of 

 dozen in all in as many years ; and it is almost its 

 only known locality in New England, though it 

 doubtless occurs in many other elevated regions 

 favorable for P. f annus. In 1887 it was tolera- 

 bly common, and was found to occupy a distinctly 

 lower zone, below 2500 feet. The Gray Comma 

 (P. progne) is also common, belongs properly to 

 the same zone, and I have taken its larva here 

 on the wild gooseberry. The Compton Tortoise 

 (Eugonia j. -album) is another butterfly common 

 in certain seasons at least, and I should consider 

 this its favorite New England ground, were it not 

 that one night it flew by hundreds into Sankaty 

 lighthouse on Nantucket, where in several sum- 

 mers' residence on the island I never saw it at any 

 other time. The Mourning Cloak (Euvanessa 

 antiopa) is also common enough at the White 

 Mountains, but not much more so than elsewhere. 

 One may generally see a dozen on a good day 

 in early June, — seedy-looking individuals which 



