AS A HOME FOR BUTTERFLIES 79 



of the net at moist places by the roadside, or if 

 cautious enough pick up with the fingers one speci- 

 men after another till he wearies of the task. It 

 never fails to be abundant, and its great size and 

 social habits make it appear the commonest butter- 

 fly of the region. The males appear to vastly out- 

 number the females. 



The skippers may be dismissed with a few words, 

 as most of them may be found equally abundant 

 elsewhere ; but this is certainly the best place I 

 know for obtaining the Dreamy Dusky-wing (Tha- 

 naos icelus), and is probably the best for securing 

 those rarer forms, the Arctic Skij)per (Pampliila 

 mandan) and Pepper and Salt (Amblyscirtes 

 samoset), though they are never very abundant, 

 while the Roadside Skipper (A. vialis) is always to 

 be met with early in June. 



These are the more interesting of the valley 

 butterflies of the White Mountains, found in much 

 greater abundance than elsewhere ; but they form 

 a small part of those which abound here, and the 

 real interest centres in noting to what height any 

 of them may be found. For this the open heads 

 of the great ravines which seem to gnaw at the very 

 vitals of the great mountain masses, mth the wagon 

 road up Mt. Washington on one side and the 



