BUTTERFLIES. 
IT may appear strange, if not alto- 
gether inappropriate to the sea- 
son, that "the fair fragile things 
which are the resurrection of 
the ugly, creeping caterpillars" 
should be almost as numerous in Octo- 
ber as in the balmy month of July. 
Yet it is true, and early October, in 
some parts of the country, is said to be 
perhaps the best time of the year for 
the investigating student and observer 
of Butterflies. While not quite so 
numerous, perhaps, many of the species 
are in more perfect condition, and the 
variety is still intact. Many of them 
come and remain until frost, and the 
largest Butterfly we have, the Archip- 
pus, does not appear until the middle 
of July, but after that is constantly 
with us, floating and circling on the 
wing, until October. How these deli- 
cate creatures can endure even the 
chill of autumn days is one of the 
mysteries. 
Very curious and interesting are the 
Skippers, says Current Literature. 
They are very small insects, but their 
bodies are robust, and they fly with 
great rapidity, not moving in graceful, 
wavy lines as the true Butterflies do, 
but skipping about with sudden, jerky 
motions. Their flight is very short, and 
almost always near the ground. They 
can never be mistaken, as their pecu- 
liar motion renders their identification 
easy. They are seen at their best in 
August and September. All June and 
July Butterfles are August and Sep- 
tember Butterflies, not so numerous 
in some instances, perhaps, but still 
plentiful, and vying with the rich 
hues of the changing autumnal foliage. 
The "little wood brownies," or 
Quakers, are exceedingly interesting. 
Their colors are not brilliant, but 
plain, and they seek the quiet and 
retirement of the woods, where they 
flit about in graceful circles over the 
shady beds of ferns and woodland 
grasses. 
Many varieties of the Vanessa are 
often seen flying about in May, but 
they are far more numerous and per- 
fect in July, August, and September. 
A beautiful Azure-blue Butterfly, when 
it is fluttering over flowers in the sun- 
shine, looks like a tiny speck of bright 
blue satin. Several other small Butter- 
flies which appear at the same time 
are readily distinguished by the pecu- 
liar manner in which their hind wings 
are tailed. Their color is a dull brown 
of various shades, marked in some of 
the varieties with specks of white or 
blue. 
"Their presence in the gardens and 
meadows," says a recent writer, "and 
in the fields and along the river-banks, 
adds another element of gladness which 
we are quick to recognize, and even 
the plodding wayfarer who has not the 
honor of a single intimate acquaint- 
ance among them might, perhaps, be 
the first to miss their circlings about 
his path. As roses belong to June, 
and chrysanthemums to November, so 
Butterflies seem to be a joyous part of 
July. It is their gala-day, and they 
are everywhere, darting and cir- 
cling and sailing, dropping to investi- 
gate flowers and overripe fruit, and 
rising on buoyant wings high into the 
upper air, bright, joyoiis, airy, ephe- 
meral. But July can only claim the 
larger part of their allegiance, for they 
are wanderers into all the other 
months, and even occasionally brave 
the winter with torn and faded wings." 
1 02 
APR 25 n 
