28 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE WEST COAST 



they can find cover from the cold winds and the rains. The 

 Graptas, Vanessaois, and Pyrameis are the most notable examples 

 of this group, the long-lived species. Intermediate species, like 

 Argynnis, and Meiiicca, have a life of several weeks, or possibly 

 two months' duration. The Satyridcc are generally non-feeding, 

 are seldom or never seen feeding on flowers, or on the damp 

 ground taking water. They are slender in build of body, and 

 sluggish and lazy in habit, and the individual life of these non- 

 feeding kinds is, therefore, necessarily short, because they have 

 not a supply of nutriment in their scanty bodies to enable them 

 to withstand the stress of time and weather ; and their brief lease 

 of life is occupied solely in the business of propagation of their 

 kind. For instance : the annual flight of Chionobas Iduna is be- 

 gun and ended inside of ten days. One year I was able to stay 

 with them and to make particular note of their comings and go- 

 ings, being on the ground before the first one appeared, and re- 

 maining till the last one had disappeared ; and seven days saw the 

 first and the last of that year's flight. 



§ 26. Ultimate Fate of Butterflies. 



The logical and natural end of a butterfly's life is that it be- 

 comes benumbed by cold, or in some way is disabled and falls to 

 the ground and is seized upon by the ever-present ant and eaten 

 up alive by that poison-fanged tiger. That such an innocent and 

 happy creature should meet with such a fate, the most terrible and 

 deplorable that we can conceive of, is sad, indeed, but such is the 

 inexorable law of Nature. The collector, therefore, who catches 

 his butterfly and mercifully kills it, and gives it a place in his 

 cabinet, gives it thereby a relative immortality, and it lives in 

 some one's museum for many years. Is not this relatively a 

 happy and a useful ending of its life? 



§ 27. Rubbing the Wings. 



Theclas and Lycanas have a curious habit when at rest, or 

 when feeding on flowers, of rubbing their wings together with a 

 gentle, even motion, which recalls to the observer the habit which 

 houseflies have of rubbing their hind feet together. The wings 

 I think do not ever touch together during this rubbing process, 

 and what can be the use or object of the rubbing motion is a 

 mystery. I have never seen any reasonable explanation of this 

 curious habit oflFered by any one. No other kind of butterfly 



