The Nuptial Flight 101 
native males (19 new ones, 2 which had made two successful test 
flights and 1 which had made one test flight), 30 feet west of 
the windows where the females’ cages were, and on the ground 
about 25 feet below them, with the wind blowing from the 
females toward them. Males of this species have the ability to 
fly long distances when the wind is favorable ; can they make a 
successful flight for a short distance, or is proximate orientation 
more difficult than distant orientation? In the bright moonlight 
between 11 and 11:10, three males came in; at 12:05 a fourth 
one; and between 3:05 and 4, six more, all of which had been 
taken out for their first test, and the one which had made one 
successful previous test. Here we see that 11 out of 23 males 
can find the females at a short distance when the wind is right, 
even if the females are aged and decrepit and only three in 
number. Some of these males came in before the usual hour 
of dawn; these were undoubtedly influenced by the bright moon- 
light, but if four were so influenced, why were not all? In an 
experiment with females on the ground and also on the roof, 
I had found approximately an equal number of males coming 
to both places, showing that odor trail can be followed by the 
males regardless of such an elevation. 
Exp. 25. May 24. During the day, two females emerged, 
and these with the three old ones were placed in the windows. 
Two males appeared at 3:05 and 3 :10, a little earlier than usual, 
and between 3:25 and 4:30 71 came in and were captured, and 
about ten evaded capture, making a total of 83 which re- 
sponded to the attraction of these females. A census of these 
73 revealed 48 wild ones, of which 25 were young and 23 old 
and worn, and 25 bearing our marks, proving previous flights. 
This is a larger proportion of old ones than had been seen on 
other mornings, and the fact that old ones came in also shows 
that they must have been in existence and probably would have 
responded when they were young if the female attraction had 
been sufficiently strong. This circumstance also shows beau- 
tifully why so few old males came to the roof. The reason is 
that they all respond while they are young. It also shows that 
when the female attraction is too weak to lure them, they can 
still respond when they are old when they meet it later in life. 
ing the influx the moths could be seen coming from the west 
and southwest ; the wind was from the northeast. 
