114 HABITS. 



life. Most of the meadow browns or satyrs 

 hatch from the egg late in the season, and hiber- 

 nate before feeding upon anything more than their 

 own egg-shells ; one of them, 

 however, the White Mountain 

 butterfly, probably hibernates 

 laof Thana7s C En e nmt f ull grown, crawling f or that pur- 



nat. size. . . . , 



pose into crevices between the 

 stones and rigid moss of the alpine heights where 

 it lives. So, too, the caterpillars of our dusky 

 wings, Thanaos [Figs. 100, 101] hibernate full 

 fed, and only change to chrysalis as 

 winter' s icy bonds begin to break ; 

 but the winter histories of too many 

 even of our commoner butterflies 

 are unknown ; though probably the ****** nat 

 larger number of hibernating caterpillars pass 

 the winter in a half -grown condition. 



The only point of interest in the lives of chrys- 

 alids is their different mode of suspension ; but 

 as this will need to be fully mentioned in discuss- 

 ing the classification of butterflies, we will pass 

 it by for the present, and consider the full-fledged 

 butterfly. 



Awaking from its long sleep, the creature finds 

 itself arrayed in new beauty ; ordinarily it has 

 escaped from its prison- walls soon after sunrise, 

 and for an hour or two it rests quietly until its 

 moist wings are fully dried and expanded. Our 



