2£0 BUTTERFLIES 



possess, perhaps to a greater degree than any other of our 

 native butterflies, the ability to give off a pecuHar, pleas- 

 ant aroma which is noticeable whenever the insects are 

 collected and which at least one careful observer has been 

 able to detect in the open air as the butterfly flew near. 



For many years Mr. W. F. Fiske made a special study 

 of the butterflies prevailing in the region of Webster, 

 New Hampshire. His word picture of the haunts of the 

 Pearly Eye is more adequate than any other which has 

 been pubHshed and seems well worth quoting in this 

 connection : 



"I have found them in several localities, always in some 

 numbers, but nowhere more abundant than in a little 

 wooded glen in Webster. Here a scattering group of tall 

 pines, a few thick hemlocks, and a young growth of mis- 

 cellaneous deciduous trees fill up the space between two 

 rather steep banks. A small trout brook follows close by 

 one of these banks, and near the lower end of the glen, in a 

 space kept clear of underbrush by the overshadowing in- 

 fluence of the pines and hemlocks, is a Httle spring, the 

 overflow from which keeps the ground moist for some 

 space on each side of the channel which it follows to the 

 brook. This is the great meeting place of these butter- 

 flies; here they may be seen at almost any time in the day 

 except in the early morning — when they seek the out- 

 skirts of the woods — ^until the shades of evening render 

 their flitting forms indistinguishable. HaK-way up the 

 bank on one side, half shrouded in the dense growth of 

 underbrush which is springing up around it, is an old 

 apple tree upon which the sapsuckers work yearly. The 

 wounded limbs, dripping with sap, are frequented by 

 many forms of insect life, most noticeable among them 



\ 



