50 
NATURE NOTES 
forest. The great pine trees tower like spectral sentinels above 
the timber of lesser growth. A night wind, chilled in its journey 
across the glacier and snowfield, sighs through the valley : it 
seems like the last breath of the dying day : then, save the river, 
all is quiet. Night has touched Nature’s eyelids. The forest 
sleeps. 
Following the valley of the Salmon River is the track of 
the Nelson and Fort Shepherd Railway, over which a train runs 
daily from Nelson to Spokane in Washington county, U.S.A., 
and another from that city to Waneta, a little town about twenty 
miles from here. It is a charming walk along the railway, and 
the principal promenade of the folk who dwell in the little 
mining town of Ymir. Along the railway the writer sometimes 
takes a pleasant ramble. Thousands of butterflies flutter 
amongst buds and blossoms, and one sees many which carry 
one back to the summer hedgerows of the Old Land. 
The VanesscE are now especially numerous. Presently, as the 
season ripens, will come the Avgynnis, with his beautitul silver 
spots beneath the wings. This insect is an exception to most 
butterflies, in that the markings beneath the wing are more 
showy than those on the top. Later still, the great Papilios will 
come, distinguished by their soaring flight ; and the common 
but lovely Painted Lady {Vanessa Cardui), also the Colias Pieris, 
and a lovely insect (a Linieniiis, I believe) which they say does 
not breed here, but comes up to the north with the sun. 
Apropos of butterfly collecting, I have had one or two rather 
amusing experiences. 
When out collecting one day last year, 1 met a man (a 
leading citizen, and a J.P. of a neighbouring town). 
“ Good morning, Mr. ” said I. 
“ How do you do ? ” said he. Then, eyeing my net, he 
said : “ Wot’s this year thing you’ve got ? ” 
I explained what it was, and also its uses, whereupon he 
said: “ Wa’al, Pm blamed if it ain’t the first time I’ve seed 
a fellar a hunting of all fired bugs.* What do you use them for, 
anyway ? ” 
Controlling my emotion, I explained as best as 1 could, and he 
went on his enlightened way, muttering, Wa’al, I’ll be darned.” 
Next day, when out again, I encountered another leading 
citizen. We exchanged greetings, then he, too, saw the net, 
and said : “ How do you ketch ’em ? ” 
I illustrated the modus opcraudi upon an imaginary insect. 
He said : “ By Gum, that’s a sight ahead of using a fish pole 
(fishing rod) 1 Guess you catch quite a few that way } ” 
“ Yes,” I replied ; “ 1 caught over liftj’ beauties yesterday.” 
‘‘ Great snakes ! You won’t leave many fish in the river, 
landing them that way 1 ” 
1 went home and devised a folding net from the shattered 
The name used for all (lying insects indiscriminately in the West. 
