April 13, 1901.J 
FOREST ' AND « STREAM; 
288 
for chasing would come with bad grace after such an 
example. As I took the struggling bird from under his 
paws ^nd confronted the necessity of taking a life in cold 
blood, shadows of sadness followed twinges of regret. 
But when one considers freedom from cares of business 
and professional life, the refreshment of body and mind 
incident to field sports, and the privilege of layinfj a 
trophy at the ladies' feet, of leaving a plump brace at 
the door of an invalid friend, the accusing voice is hushed 
and one is easily persuaded that "the end justifies the 
means." 
From a short distance the Colonel called out, "What 
are you shooting at?" 
Crrouse. 
"What luck?" 
"Great luck.; a brace of grouse." 
And them, "Mark! mark!" Bang! 
"What was it?" 
"Woodcock." 
"Get him?" 
"Sure, and a grcundkeeper, too." 
The woodcock is not the least among the prizes ofifered 
by woodlands to sportsmen. What mystery envelops 
his career! Solitude is his joy and gloom his chosen 
habitation. Swift as a ghost he wings the moonlit space 
on long vernal and autumnal flights — here to-day; to- 
morrow, where? What music in the whistle of his 
wings! What light in those Madonna eyes, deep, dark 
and fathomless! 
The Colonel meets the rhapsody with, "Yes, in cover 
or under cover, he's all right; and now if we could only 
pick up a snipe what a varied bag we should have." 
Joining the carriage a little later the ladies held the dogs 
in leash, while we tried to stalk a wisp of ring-necked 
plover, which settled in an open field near by. They 
were wary and took wing, their cries growing faint and 
fainter, but we waited motionless, confident of their re- 
turn. Back they came and wheeled just near enough to 
draw an ineffectual volley, and then away on swifter wing 
to pastures new. Plover are grub, not game, anyway. 
Who cares for plover! 
Just as we came to the rushy intersection of two open 
ditches, up jumped the fellow we were looking for, and 
with a 'scaipe, 'scaipe, was away on erratic wing. The 
first shot ser\^ed only to change his flight to due west, but 
at the second, he wilted in mid air, done to death at 60 
yards by a featherweight Daly. A fine shot that, and 
rewarded by a salvo of applause from the carriage. 
Beating across the field a few quail were added to the 
bag. and then some calves gave chase to the dogs, but 
they could easily beat three of a kine. The shadows 
lengthened; top coats were donned, and bowling home- 
ward, Lady J. declared, "I have seen it done; I can do it. 
And when Jack gets back I will do it." And she did. 
And when the contents of the bag, from the lordly 
grouse to the slender "shad-spirit," were laid in state 
on the center-table that evening, we were all of one mind: 
For variety of wings and comfort of sportsmen and dogs 
a day with the upland game birds of Michigan is easily 
first. Alma. ' 
— 
A Herald of Spring. 
BY J. HOBAET EGBERT^ A.M., M.D., PH.D., WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
BY FREDERIC KNAB. 
The returning birds are commonly regarded as the 
first indication of the approach of spring. True it is that 
some of them make their appearance when cold winds 
still prevail and the landscape is yet bleak and covered 
with snow. Hence Mallet tells us that with the dawn of 
spring: 
"The birds of passage transmigrating come, 
Unnumbered colonies of foreign wing, 
At nature's summons." 
Hence Savage wrote: 
"Now various birds in melting concert sing, 
And hail the beauty of the op'ning spring." 
However, it is not the present purpose of the writer 
to discuss what species of birds are the first to arrive with 
us, nor, in fact, to treat of our feathered friends at all. 
The creature we are about to describe shows itself before 
VANESSA ANTIOPA. 
even the very earliest avian arrival from the South, and 
many will be surprised to learn that it is a frail - insect. 
Even in our cold New England, winter is brightened 
and cheered by occasional days of warming sunshine, 
especially as the days begin to lengthen. On such days 
the outdoor world irresistibly attracts the lover of nature 
and he sallies forth to drink in the beauties of air. of sky 
and of landscape, and to look for the first signs of return- 
ing spring. After the bitter cold and raging wind of the 
storm just past, the peace and quiet are indeed most en- 
joyable. As yet there is little indication of the awakening 
of animal life from its winter's sleep, or evidence of new 
arriv^als from warmer climes. A flock of the ever busy 
little chickadees ilit about among the leafless bushes, a 
woodpecker darts across our path and perhaps a squirrel 
is seen, lured out of his retreat by the warmmg sunshine. 
At length we come to an open glade in the woods; 
sheltered, and the temperature noticably warmer than 
elsewhere. Suddenly, almost from under our feet, a 
butterfly starts up and darts away into the air. A butter- 
fly? In the dead of winter? Yes, and by no means the 
onlj* 'one for, as he mounts above the treetops, he is 
joined by another — either mate or rival — and the two 
whirl about in rapid, constantly ascending flight till at 
last they separate, and each darts back to its favorite 
resort. 
The butterfly in question is a common species with us. 
Its scientific name is Vanessa antiopa, and popularly it 
is known as the "mourning cloak." In England, where 
VANESSA ANTIOPA — CATERPILLAR AND CHRYSAUS. 
it is extremely rare, it is called "Camberwell beauty ,"i and 
specimens which have actually been captured there are 
valued very highly by collectors. Unlike most species 
of the great insect order Lepidoptera, to which it belongs, 
it is distributed very widely and is not only found over 
the greater part of North America but also in Europe 
and many parts of Asia. It is one of our handsomest 
butterflies, and measures about three inches across the 
extended wings, the outline of which is notched and ir- 
regular. .A,bove, the ground color of the wings is a rich 
purplish-brown, shading into black toward the body, and 
on the outer edge is a broad border of pale yellow. A 
row of blue spots on the purplish ground follows the 
border around. Beneath the colors are dark grav and brown 
with irregular black lines and mottlings. When at rest, 
with the wings closed, it closely resembles a chip of bark, 
and is then very difficult to detect, especially when perched 
on the trimk of a tree, as is often the case. However, 
the specimens found in winter and early spring have quite 
a different appearance, having suffered considerably from 
exposure to intense cold and stormy weather. The 
ground color becomes a faded reddish-brown, the border 
3 dirty white, and the spots fade to palest blue. The 
wings are more or less tattered and worn, and no wonder, 
for he has lived all through the long winter in such poor 
shelter as he could find in some crevice or under a stone, 
and must have been frozen quite solid during the severe 
cold. 
The Antiopa is one of the few butterflies which hiber- 
nate as fully developed insects. The others which are known 
to do so are close allies, such as Vanessa J. album, Vanessa 
niilberti and the species of Pyrameis and Grapta. How- 
ever, these others are much more rarely met with than 
the Antiopa, which one can count on finding with cer- 
tainty during the first calm days of approaching spring. 
They prefer wooded tracts, and are generally seated on 
some damp spot sipping the inoisture or on the side of 
a tree trunk, from which sap exudes. Like many of their 
tribe they seem to be much attached to a chosen spot, 
and often when pursued for some considerable .distance 
will again return to it. This habit is, of course, taken 
advantage of by the experienced collectors of Lepidop- 
tera. 
These butterflies evidently enjoy the balmy days of 
returning spring, but their pleasure is short-lived, for by 
the first of May the most of them have disappeared, and 
only occasionally a female can be seen feebly- flit- 
tering about in search of a proper place to deposit her 
eggs. These eggs, about two hundred in number, are laid 
on a twig of the caterpillar's food-plant, usually the willow 
or eliTi. but also the poplar, birch, and some others. The 
caterpillars are gregarious and voracious feeders. 
Branches and even small trees may often be seen com- 
pletely defoliated by them, and the black masses of cater- 
pillars are then verv conspicuous. When full grown these 
caterpillars are nearly two inches long and black, with 
a row of brick-red spots along the back. All except the 
first of its twelve body-rings are armed with long stout 
spines, which are beset with small spikes, and arranged 
oyer the body in seven longitudinal rows. The head is 
bifid and beset with many short spikes. Through the 
black ground-color of the caterpillar's body are irregu- 
larly scattered very small wh^te spots, from which rise 
fine long hairs. In persons with delicate skin, contact 
with the spines is said to occasion itching, as from'neilles, 
but personally we have never suffered discomfort from 
handling the larvae. 
When the caterpillars have attained their full growth 
they become restless and wander about in search of a 
suitable place to assume the pupa state. As-the chrysalis 
hangs downward, suspended by the tail only, the under 
surface of a projecting branch or similar situation is pre- 
ferred, in order that it may swing clear. In color, the 
chrysalis varies in different individuals from yellow-brown 
to gray, is sometimes almost black, and is more or less 
mottled, so that it assimilates well with its surroundings 
and is not easily detected. Such protection is quite 
necessary, since in its horny case it is quite helpless and 
incapable of any motion except a wriggle by means of 
the abdominal segments. The head of the chrysalis— if 
we may speak of such, for the creature is now merged 
into one continuous whole without specialized external 
organs — ends in a couple of pointed projections, while 
on the sides there are other elevations, and along the 
back there is a double row of spines. On the flat and 
smooth side of the chrysalis, which corresponds with the 
under surface of the future butterfly, the legs, proboscis, 
antennae and wings — all folded flat against the body- 
can already be traced. When reversed and viewed from 
the side, a. superficial resemblance to a human profile 
can be discerned, and this has, in olden times, given rise 
to some curious notions and superstitions, jvhich may be 
found scattered through various ancient learned works. 
In Massachusetts the Antiopa, being double-brooded, 
may be seen on the wing nearly all through the warmer 
weather. The caterpillars of the first brood reach matur- 
ity by the middle of June, and early in July the butterflies 
appear. These give rise to a second brood from which 
the imagos emerge in September, and it is these that 
sleep through the winter and fly forth at the first sign 
of spring. 
But these butterflies are by no means the only insects 
of early spring. A multitude of different species hiber- 
nate and come forth from their hiding places as soon as 
the sun's warming influence is felt. Indeed, it seems that 
a number of species, like our Antiopa, though matured 
in the fall do not until spring provide for the increase 
of their kind. 
A number of peculiar species of insects find in the 
first days of early spring the conditions suitable to com- 
plete their development, and can be found at no other 
time. Among these may be mentioned Boreus, the 
snow insect; certain Podurids, or spring-tails, and some 
Neuroptera, as well as many species of Diptera. to which 
latter order belong the swarms of midgets which many 
have doubtless seen dancing in the sunshine on a quiet 
winter's day. Among the Lepidoptera, a considerable 
number of species, belonging to many different families, 
appear very early in the season. Even in Massachusetts 
newly-emerged moths may be found as early as January 
and Fberuary. The adults of the well-known destructive 
canker worm (Anisopferyx vernata) begin to leave the 
ground as soon as the snow melts. The beautiful little 
Brephos infans is found only in the earlv spring when the 
ground is still partly covered with snow." Still, on account 
of its size, its beauty, and its habits, the Antiopa remains 
the most notable of our insects of early spring. 
HoLYOKE,*Mass. 
'*,The' Woodpeckers. 
Among the books on nature study, about which it is 
hard to say whether they are more useful or more at- 
tractive, Mrs. Fannie Hardy Eckstorm's "The Wood- 
peckers," published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., easily 
stands in the first rank. It is devoted to a considera- 
tion of the North American members of the family, and 
thotigh only five species are carefully considered as to their 
habits, the volume affords the means of identifying each 
one of the many species and subspecies ' scattered over the 
continent. Moreover, those chosen for special study— 
the downy, j'ellow-bellied sapsucker, California wood- 
pecker, the red-head and the flicker — are so widely dis- 
tributed, that it is quite certain that any one wishing to 
observe these interesting birds can find two or three at 
least in the locality wdiere his observations will be made. 
The woodpeckers are among the easiest' of birds to 
recognize, and from ancient times have been highly re- 
garded. They take their name from Virgil's character 
Picus, who was skilled in augury, and the birds them- 
selves were used in divination. Mrs. Eckstorm's fore- 
word seems to carry out his idea, and she suggests a great 
variety of questions to be asked about the birds — as in- 
deed there are about many others — and in the happily 
written chapters of the book she answers many of them. 
Some of the things which she explains are how to 
know a woodpecker, how the woodpecker earns his liv- 
ing, courts his mate and makes his house, and also how a 
flicker feeds her young. We are told much about the 
friendly downy, the wicked sapsuckei; and the indus- 
trious carpenter of California, as well as of the provi- 
dent — but sometimes criminal — redhead woodpecker found 
as far West as the Rocky Mountains. Some of the ex- 
traordinary changes of habit acquired by the woodpecker 
through his association with civilized man are described, 
and then Mrs. Eckstorm passes to the woodpecker's tools 
—his bill, his foot, his tail and his tongue. The last two 
chapters treat of how each woodpecker is fitted for his 
own kind of life and the argument from design. This is 
followed by an Appendix, containing a Key to the Wood- 
peckers of - North America and Descriptions of Them. 
Although the woodpeckers are so generally useful, they 
are, like most other people, not without some faults, and 
about some of these we learn not only in reading the 
chapter on the sapsucker. but also in Mrs. Eckstorm's 
chapter on acquired habits. 
Concerning the redhead, she says: "There is positive 
proof that sometimes the redhead has been guilty of 
crimes which would give a man a^full column in the'^ews- 
papers with staring headlines. If such deeds were not a 
