NOVEMBER 



231 



is due largely to the fact that she is one of ^^C^'" 



the most jerky fliers imaginable. All the 

 butterflies take a more or less zig-zag; course. 

 Many birds like to eat them, and this mo- 

 tion helps the butterflies to dodge their ene- 

 mies. The mourning cloak and her rela- 

 tives are the best dodgers, and it helps them 

 to a long life. While other butterflies die 

 off in the fall, this one hunts out a sheltered 

 spot in which to pass the winter. Thus she 

 has an early start in the spring, and her 

 children can be well on in life before the 

 first generation of other butterflies are much 

 more than under way. 



There is another feature about this but- 

 terfly that helps to prolong her life. When 

 she settles down she folds the upper sides 

 of her wings together, and the under surface 

 is so dull, and harmonizes so thoroughly 

 with the background against which she rests, 

 that she is exceedingly hard to detect. So 

 it is that she eludes the beak of the preda- 

 tory bird, that might otherwise bring her to 

 an untimely end. But to have only dull 

 hues on her delicate wings would be alto- 



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