The Nuptial Flight 135 
we must be cautions about accepting these figures on their face 
value, because, we must admit, this latter per cent is made up 
largely by those which returned after a few hours from the 
dooryard. 
When we consider the per cent of returns in relation to the 
distance traveled, these figures throw little light on the subject. 
Of course it is to be expected that the number of returns would 
decrease as the distance increases; these figures give only a poor 
indication of this, because of the complication of other factors. 
Since I do not wish again to beg the question, I shall leave to 
the reader the problem of explaining the results of the series of 
experiments conducted on June 15, when there was no wind 
that I could feel, hear or detect. In this group of tests, 84 moths 
were liberated north, east and south of the house, of which 7 
(8 per cent) returned; of 59 liberated west of the house, 21 
(36 per cent) returned. Those on the west, moreover, were 
handicapped by an additional half-mile distance. There was 
obviously a marked difference in favor of the west on this 
occasion. 
The ability, or rather the inclination, of the males that had 
already mated, was tested to see if they would again respond to 
the attraction of their mates. They appeared fully as eager and 
Successful as the young moths. Of 56 liberated for this special 
Purpose, 26 (46 per cent) returned. This is fully as good a 
showing as we could expect from any group. : 
There are some indications in the data that those moths which 
have made one or more previous flights to the roof stand slightly 
better chances of making another trip, or of making it in less 
time, than the inexperienced fliers. From the table it will be 
Seen that of the 683 males liberated, 581 were taken out for the 
first time, and 102 had made one or two previous flights. Of 
the former, 176, or 30 per cent, returned, while of the 102 
experienced fliers, 38, or 37 per cent, came back. However, here 
again, we must be cautious in the interpretation of these totals, 
because a closer examination of the data reveals that the greater 
number of experienced fliers chanced to be liberated in ve ca 
winds; this advantageous factor might easily account for the 
slight difference in their favor in these totals. Some of the 
individual experiments gave stronger evidence for the superior 
