THE MAGPIE. 



{Pica pica hudsotiica. 



THIS is a rare winter visitor and 

 not much known. Its nest is a 

 very bulky and somewhat re- 

 markable structure, composed 

 exteriorly of sticks of various sizes, 

 forming a spherical mass, the upper por- 

 tion of which forms a canopy to the nest 

 proper, the entrance being through one 



side. The eggs are usually six in num- 

 ber, but often as many as nine, and are 

 of a pale olive or grayish white color, 

 thickly speckled with olive-brown. 



The magpie can be taught to talk, is 

 intelligent and inquisitive, and has 

 many of the characteristics of the 

 raven. 



A BUTTERFLY'S HISTORY. 



( The Troilus.) 



ELLA F. MOSBY, 



THE 7n7//«5 belongs to the knights 

 or chevaliers, and is a beautiful 

 creature. His front wings are 

 velvety black, spotted with yel- 

 low; his hind wings blue, elegantly 

 scalloped, with a long streamer at the 

 end, and when he lifts his wings, the 

 under side is also lovely in marking 

 and color. His double tongue forms a 

 tube for sucking honey from deep 

 flower cups, and may also be coiled up 

 like a lasso when not used. His 

 knobbed antennae are supposed to be 

 organs of scent by which he detects 

 the perfume of blossoms or of other 

 butterflies. For butterflies have dis- 

 tinct odors; the mountain silver spot 

 smells like sandlewood, and other but- 

 terflies have the delicate fragrance of 

 jasmine, thyme, balsam or violets. 

 The anosia butterfly has a faint smell 

 of honey. The sight of the butterfly, 

 in spite of his single and compound 

 eyes, the latter made up of many shin- 

 ing facets like cut gems, is not be- 

 lieved to be very keen. It is thought 

 that while he perceives color in mass, 

 he has little perception of form, and is 

 easily deceived. The white butterflies, 

 for instance, alight on the white-veined 

 and spotted leaves in a garden, while 

 seeking white blossoms. No organs of 

 hearing have ever been discovered, 

 and, for the most part, the movements 

 of the butterfly are noiseless as drifting 

 snow-flakes, the only exception being 



a slight click from a sudden closing of 

 the wings, or in rapid flight. 



The whole structure of the creature 

 is for movement. He has no brain, 

 only a cluster of nerves somewhat like 

 one; no heart, only a segmented tube, 

 in which a white blood circulates; no 

 distinct lungs, but air-chambers 

 throughout the whole body, so that it 

 is easily poised amid the aerial waves, 

 as he glides, or flutters securely 

 above the earth. There are many 

 muscles, two or three pairs of legs, and 

 aboutfive pairsof hooked arrangements 

 called pro-legs;' and his glory lies in 

 his four broad wings of radiant colors, 

 covered with silvery and shining 

 plumes of softest texture. These 

 wings are to him as the knight's steed, 

 bearing him proudly in his circling 

 combats with his rivals, or in his sport- 

 ive ascents with his mate, or on his 

 gay journeys with a crowd of winged 

 comrades along the aerial highroads. 

 He need not seek adventures, for when 

 he is a butterfly he has already passed 

 through wonderful experiences. 



His life begins with a tiny tgg, the 

 size of a pin-head, laid singly on the 

 under side of a leaf for protection. 

 Every species of butterfly has its own 

 special food-plants, and will feed from 

 no others; but do not imagine that the 

 pastures of our Troilus diVe limited. He 

 feeds upon two of the largest and most 

 beautiful tree families — the RosacecB 



