Song Birds and Water Fowl 



a higher group will often antedate a higher spe- 

 cies of a lower group. Thus the intricate 

 "composite" class, that finds a recognition of 

 its structural elaboration in its marked ascend- 

 ency in fall, and standing at the very opposite 

 end of the scale from the supremely simple algae 

 — this highest group is, notwithstanding, early 

 in the field, in the form of the ubiquitous dan- 

 delion ; which, on the first spring days sounds 

 the miniature trumpet - note that heralds the 

 coming of that vast kindred host in the latter 

 part of summer and through autumn. 



How quickly, too, insect-life becomes reani- 

 mate. Even in winter a very sun-exposed and 

 wind-protected spot is populous with some of 

 the lower orders of this class, enjoying the un- 

 timely warmth, only to find themselves dead or 

 dormant after a few genial hours; while, al-. 

 most at the very summit of this same class, the 

 sportive butterfly is dancing about before spring 

 has fairly opened. I found one large and beau- 

 tiful specimen — the vanessa antiopa, or mourn- 

 ing-cloak butterfly, to be precise — ^seeming to 

 gather buoyancy from the most cheerless sur- 

 roundings in the latter part of March. At this 

 colorless season it was very conspicuous and at- 

 tractive, being almost three inches across, of a 

 268 



