VIII. 



BUTTERFLY SOUNDS 



It has long been known that some South 

 American butterflies during their flight give 

 utterance to peculiar clicking sounds, but it is 

 far less known that such noises are made by our 

 own butterflies ; we shall hope to show that it is 

 not improbably a common feature in tlie life of 

 butterflies. The first account of the noises made 

 by butterflies (belonging to the genus Ageronia) 

 appears to be that given by Darwin in his cele- 

 brated " Journal," who states that " several times 

 when a pair, probably male and female, were 

 chasing each other in an irregular course, they 

 passed within a few yards of me ; and I distinctly 

 heard a clicking noise, similar to that produced 

 by a toothed wheel passing under a spring catch. 

 The noise was continued at short intervals, and 

 could be distinguished at about twenty yards' 

 distance." But the most interesting account we 

 have seen of these sounds is that given by Mr. 



