GENERAL FEATURES 27 



§ 23. At Night. 



It is curious to note that when butterflies go to rest at night 

 they seem to have "a thought for the morrow," for, instead of 

 choosing a place in the warm sunshine of the afternoon, as would 

 seem to be the natural way, they select a place — by instinct, it 

 must be — where the warm sunshine of the morning will first 

 come; they seem to know that while the warmth of the sun at 

 evening may be agreeable to go to sleep by, the morning will be 

 cold, and the sunshine still more necessary to them than it is at 

 evening. I have noticed also that they often choose a dry bush 

 rather than a green one, for their sleeping place ; probably they 

 instinctively know that the dry one will be less damp and conse- 

 quently warmer than the green one, through the hours of dark- 

 ness. 



§ 24. Taming Butterflies. 



Butterflies are easily tamed, and like birds, appear to enjoy the 

 pleasures of captivity, and yet, again, like birds, they are always 

 listening for the call of the wild, and the invitation of the open 

 door is never in vain. 



A day or two will suffice to tame a butterfly so that when it 

 sees you coming it will walk towards you, waving its wings in 

 pleasure at your appearance, and gently unrolling its tongue as it 

 walks along, in anticipation of a sip of sweetened water ; then it 

 will climb upon your finger, all the time waving its great wings 

 as if it knew they were very handsome indeed, and feeling with 

 its tongue for the expected dainty. 



The dominating taming influence with butterflies, as also with 

 bird, and beast, and man, is — hunger. You must always approach 

 the butterfly with gentle motions, with an absence of anything 

 new or strange or unexpected or unpleasant, when it is hungry, 

 and with food on your finger tips, and when you call it you must 

 each time do so with the same motions and the same tone of 

 voice. The females are more tractable and teachable than the 

 males. 



§ 25. Length of a Butterfly's Life. 



This is largely dependent upon its habits and its native vigor. 

 Some kinds that are stout of body, and which feed abundantly 

 upon flowers, will live several months, and these will occasionally 

 live over winter, if in some sheltered and wooded canyon where 



