THE THAW BUTTERFLIES 



271 



Then there are the "Comma," the "Semicolon," and 

 the Atlanta, or the Red Admiral, so familiar to all our 

 young butterfly collectors all members of the same 

 sturdy group known as the " angle-wings." As late as 

 the middle of October, when most caterpillars, like the 

 Cecropia and Prometheus, have tucked themselves away 

 in their snug silken winter- quarters, you may still find 

 the last caterpillar broods of these butterflies either 

 transformed to chrysalids, or feeding upon their various 

 food plants. But their gilded chrysalids are rarely con- 

 tent so to remain for more than two weeks, the severe 

 frosts of late October only seeming to hasten their ea- 

 gerness to be on the wing. It is true there is little f 

 invitation in the way of blossoms for honey-sippers 

 now; but the cider-presses are running, and the whole 

 family of angle-wings, it must be confessed, would 

 disdain acres of bloom for one good sip of apple- 

 jack. Go to the pomace heap at the 

 cider-press, and you may pick them up 

 in your fingers perfectly passive in con- 

 tentment. In the orchard, the brown, 

 frozen apples offer a similar bait ; and in 

 the wood-pile the fermented juice of the ex- 

 uding sap from the freshly-cut logs tempts 

 the same appetite a "nightcap," possibly 

 the necessity for which is foreseen by the 

 butterfly in view of that long, cold sleep 

 which it has chosen to take in its winged 

 state rather than in the chrysalis, which is 

 the choice of most of its kind. 



When the biting chill of November ush- 

 ers in the winter, you will look in vain for 

 your angle-wings ; that is, unless you look 



