THE NYMPHS 



means so easily observed when the butterfly is flit- 

 ting about in the open. In western New York, 

 on a hill from whose crest a glimpse of Canada is 

 possible on a clear day, we once saw a comma 

 darting about a mass of ferns at the side of a road 

 threading a dense beech woods. We were very 

 sure that we detected on this butterfly the olive- 

 green color of the green comma. Breathlessly 

 we waited for the nervous creature to alight, 

 which it did on some not very attractive refuse in 

 the road. Yes, it was surely green ! A profes- 

 sorial hat was brought into use as an instrument 

 for capture. Stealthily the approach was made, 

 but at the last moment the butterfly, eluding the 

 headgear, made a wild flight far above the profes- 

 sorial head and we saw it no more. There is 

 something strange about the madness which pos- 

 sesses one hunting for species. What difference 

 did it make to us what that butterfly was or was 

 not ? None at all ! And yet the butterfly hunter 

 will understand that ever afterward when we 

 passed that spot we always grew pensive and 

 murmured, "Was it really a green comma?" 



The caterpillar of this species is caparisoned in 

 a white saddle-cloth and looks quite different 

 from other caterpillars of the genus. The green 

 comma is a Northern species, not occurring south 



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