36 



not far from the first, but neither of these was as large. I should mention that I often 

 observed examples among them in coitu. 



I have seen archippus flocking at the Isles of Shoals, N.H., towards evening, in 

 very much the same manner, having flown nine miles from the mainland. I have also 

 seen clusters of Vanessa J-album on tree trunks at dusk in New Hampshire, which 

 seemed to present a parallel to the archippus flocks, though of course on a very small 

 scale. 



It. Thaxter, Newtonville, Mass. 



The assembling of D. archippus is perhaps not so frequently noticed as their passing 

 over localities in flocks. Several years ago I saw them congregating in a bit of woods in 

 the neighbourhood of the city which I was visiting at the time. At least every other day 

 they were hanging in a listless kind of manner to the underside of branches in immense 

 numbers, with their wings closed, and not noticeable utiles disturbed, very few being on 

 the wing. Their favourite resting place seemed to be dead pine twigs, which would be 

 drooping with their weight, and in more than one instance I saw one too many light and 

 the twig snap, and send a dozen or more into the air to seek for another perch. In going 

 to and from the woods I have seen several of them at once coming from different direc- 

 tions, high in the air, sailing along in their own easy and graceful way, all converging to 

 the one spot. I did not see them depart. I went one day and could not find one in the 

 woods ; and as there were thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of them, it would 

 have been a fine sight to see them go. The following year they were remarkably scarce, 

 and it was three years before they were even moderately plentiful. 



J. Alston Moffat, Hamilton, Ont. 



A very remarkable gathering of Danais archippus came under my observation, at 

 Racine, Wisconsin, in the first week of September, 1868. The insect appeared in great 

 numbers, and gathered in several swarms about trees in the vicinity. The day was cloudy, 

 but without rain. Shortly after noon the swarms seemed to gather, and settled upon a 

 tree in my garden, a well-formed black oak about 15 inches in diameter at the trunk, and 

 perhaps 40 feet high. The swarm covered the southern aspect of this tree so abundantly 

 that the green of the leaves was quite obscured by the brown of the wings of the butter- 

 flies. A few sailed back and forth through the air as if seeking a place to alight, when the 

 wings of those sitting, opening and shutting as if by a single impulse, caused the prevailing 

 colour to shift from the dark hue of the upper surface to the lighter colour of the lower 

 surface. They remained until after nightfall, but were gone when we looked for them 

 in the morning. No attempt was made to capture or count them, but the swarms 

 must have contained some thousands. 



S. H. Peabody, Champaign, Ills. 



During the first week in July I found Ifelitoea phazton in considerable quantities 

 in a small clearing in Dow's swamp, about one mile south of this city. The swamp is 

 densely wooded with tamarack and a thick undergrowth of Myrica gale, Salices, Alnus 

 incana,etc, besides many herbaceous plants, and among them (but not at all plentiful) 

 Chelone glabra. Upon inquiry, I find that this clearing was the exact locality where the 

 late Mr. B. Billings found this butterfly in 1870. 



J. Fletcher, Ottawa. 



Prof. J. E. Willet, of Macon, Georgia, writes under date of 19th January, 1880 : 

 — " I saw Callidryas eubule passing here in great numbers during Sept., Oct. and Nov., 

 1878, from N.-W. to S.-E. About noon, when they were most abundant, there would be 

 half a dozen visible all the time, crossing a 15-acre square of the city.. They pursued an 

 undeviating course, flying over and not around houses and other obstructions. They flew 

 near the ground, and stopped occasionally to sip at conspicuous flowers. A geranium 



