130 INTELLIGENCE IN BUTTERFLIES. 



stone near them, and witnessed every evidence of alarm. 

 When once disturbed, they become more restless and 

 wary. Some, as the Turnus and Troilus, when rudely 

 disturbed by a stroke of the net, rise high in the air, 

 and immediately seek another resting place, even when 

 on their choicest feeding grounds. Others, as Papilio 

 asterias, will make a detour, alighting briefly on some 

 other flower or leaf, and then almost invariably return 

 to the one from which they were frightened. 



The Argynnidce are also likely to return again, as is 

 Nymphalis ephestion. But the most perverse disre- 

 gard of all measures of safety is exhibited by the lit- 

 tle Grapta comma. This little butterfly usually takes 

 his pastime towards sunset, when only now and then a 

 patch of sunlight remains among the shadows of trees, 

 especially upon some gate post, or the trunk of a tree, 

 or a sidewalk. When disturbed very roughly they will 

 take a zigzag trip over a tree, or a house-top, or a fence, 

 and often without lighting anywhere, return to the old 

 spot within six inches. Many times I have put my 

 hands on the coveted spot, and had the little Grapta 

 light upon them. Sometimes they will light upon my 

 hat, or the net I hold in my hand, evidently entirely un- 

 conscious of danger. But motion, even of a straw, will 

 frighten them away. This peculiarity in their sense of 

 danger is easily explicable. The enemies most deadly 

 to them are the birds. These attack mostly from above, 

 and always on the wing. They use no caution in securing 

 their prey, but swoop down upon them at great velocity. 

 In all my watching, I have never seen a bird take a but- 

 terfly from beneath. The pewee will either drop like 

 lightning from its branch upon the prey, or if the prey 

 is above it, will rise to an altitude above the prey and 

 drop down upon it. Hence its knowledge of danger, or 

 if you prefer it, its organized experience of danger, is 

 all from above, and from something in rapid motion. 



