146 A MIGRATING BUTTERFLY 



the passing steamer no more than the passing of time* 

 In his giddy flopping there is no apparent progress, 

 and one wonders how he traverses the length of the 

 continent to spend the season among tropical flowers, 

 howhe crosses the Gulf of Mexico to a still more attrac- 

 tive climate, and how, a few years ago, he crossed from 

 the southern extremity of this continent and invaded 

 our sister colony Australia. Around Toronto these 

 Butterflies generally move westward, and, although 

 they are sometimes encountered over the lake, it is 

 thought that the flock or swarm from this part of the 

 country crosses at Niagara. It is only three or four 

 days after their departure that they are tasting the 

 nectar of the flowers in Florida and other States 

 around the gulf. 



With their migrating habits there is a resourceful- 

 ness that other insects do not possess. The greater 

 part of their life is spent not in the inert chrysalis 

 state, like so many of their class, but in the highest 

 activity of perfect development. Their wings must 

 be protected for the long flight. When their delicate 

 scales are threatened by a storm of rain they hide 

 under the little twigs of the Willow, where they hang 

 back downward, their wings closed flatly together 

 below them in the position they often assume when 

 resting on the flowers. Sometimes they seem to 

 forget their usual caution in a shower and fly excitedly 

 about, hither and thither, rising higher and higher 



