There are few or none who fail to delight in the beauty of the
butterfly, while to the thinker its different stages of existence are
rich with lessons in which the analogy-loving soul of man can revel to
fullest gratification. Flitting about above the things of earth it seems
to descend for rest only, or to sip the sweets of some nectar-bearing
flower. In the sunshine all day long, chasing at will through field or
woodland, and with no more care than the so-called “butterflies of
fashion” (not as much, for it needs to give no thought to the fashion or
fit of its garb), it basks till nightfall in the delights that go to
make up its ethereal existence.
But whenever we thus watch the brilliant little creature we should
remember that it has come up through many changes and tribulations to
this its last and perfect stage. Weeks, months, or—as in the case of one
or two species—three years before, a tiny egg was deposited in some
safe, secluded spot, the parent butterflies dying soon after because of
their mission being then accomplished.
The egg is the first stage of the butterfly, as it is also of the moth.
The eggs of the different species vary greatly in size and shape, and
are deposited in as many different kinds of places. Some are placed on
the under side of leaves, others on the outside of the cocoon; some are
glued together in rings around the smaller branches of fruit trees,
others on the interior of bee-hives. In this stage they remain for
periods varying from a few weeks to three years, when the larva or
caterpillar state is entered upon. The larvæ are very greedy, beginning
to eat as soon as hatched and devouring the leaves, spreading themselves
over the web prepared for them by the parent, ravaging the fruit trees,
or routing the bees from their rightful possessions. A number of changes
of skin take place during the larval stage, ranging from five to ten.
Some are smooth-skinned and are used by insectivorous animals for food,
while others are hairy and on this account are rejected as food, the
hair having the power of stinging much the same as nettles.
Having attained its full growth the instincts of the caterpillar undergo
a change. It ceases to eat and begins to weave a couch or cocoon round
about itself by which it is finally more or less enclosed. It then
throws off the caterpillar or larval skin and appears in the third
stage.
This state of its existence seems to me the most mysterious and
therefore the most interesting. More than one of these cocoons have I
found attached to walls, fences, limbs and in similar places, looking as
though they were but the dried-up remains of some species of insect
life. But there was life within them, a germ which sooner or later would
spring forth in all the wonderful beauty of the moth or the butterfly.
This third period is termed the pupa, nymph or chrysalis state. Its
duration varies from a few weeks to several months, according to the
time of year at which it enters this stage. The common Cabbage
Butterfly, which rears two broods during the season, is quickest to make
the change, only a few weeks of the pupa form being necessary. Some
remain in the chrysalis a month or more, appearing in the butterfly form
at the close of the summer. Those becoming encased in autumn are like
the hibernating animals in many respects, lying dormant the winter
through. The only sign of life ever discovered in the pupa is a
convulsive twitching when irritated, and for this reason those who know
nothing of the hidden beauties of butterfly life miss a great deal of
pleasure in not being able to study the seemingly lifeless chrysalis.
When mature the pupa case cracks toward the anterior end, and the
butterfly or moth crawls forth with wings which, though at first small
and crumpled up, in a few hours attain their full size. As soon as they
are strong enough the new creature mounts upon them and, if it be a
butterfly, flies out into the sunlight; while the moth hies away to some
dark corner until nightfall, then for the first time in its existence it
rises upon wings to enjoy the summer zephyrs.
I remember having watched one butterfly leave the chrysalis and, though
but a child at the time, I shall never outlive the impressions which
that rare pleasure left with me. It was one of the large-winged,
black-white-and-yellow fellows which every one admires so much, and
which species is regarded as a treasure here in these Central States.
Little by little the ugly casing opened, and when I first saw the baby
butterfly he was like a tiny mass of mingled colors, with neither life
nor shape to give me an idea of the sort of creature into which he would
develop. Soon he began to move uneasily, like a child awaking out of a
long sleep; then he stretched his wings leisurely as though proud to
have found them at last. Next he drew himself up and finished bursting
his paper-like shell, gained a foothold on the plank on which we had
placed him and looked about with a, seemingly, very much surprised
though gratified air. Meanwhile he kept working his wings and stretching
them anon, very impatient because of their, to him, slow growth. At last
he gained the confidence to try them, and within an hour from the time
we first saw him he had arisen and flown away into the sunshine to seek
his place in the world.
Butterflies and moths are widely distributed all over the globe,
occurring, however, in greatest variety and abundance in tropical lands.
They are found as far north as Spitzbergen, on the Alps to the height of
9,000 feet, and to double that height on the Andes. In Great Britain
there are sixty-six species, while in all Europe only three hundred and
ninety have been enumerated. In Brazil there are about seven hundred,
and the total number of species of moths is about two thousand. Among
the butterflies are to be found some exceedingly beautiful insects, some
of them very large, especially in the tropical belt.
The butterflies are to insects what the humming-birds are to the
feathered tribes, the analogy holding good not only in the brilliant
colors and manner of flight, but also in the nature of their
nutriment—the honeyed juices of flowers. Both seem destined to brighten
and beautify the way for man, while the lesson of immortality gathered
from the life of the ethereal butterfly, like that conveyed by the
beautiful and ever-wandering Psyche of Greek mythology, is so easy of
comprehension that we can but stop and wonder at the exquisite
simplicity with which the all-wise Creator has clothed so important a
truth.
Claudia May Ferrin.
Oh! the bonny, bonny dell, whaur the primroses won,
Luikin’ oot o’ their leaves like wee sons o’ the sun;
Whaur the wild roses hing like flickers o’ flame,
And fa’ at the touch wi’ a dainty shame;
Whaur the bee swings ower the white clovery sod,
And the butterfly flits like a stray thoucht o’ God.
—MacDonald.
THE EVERGLADE KITE.
(_Rostrhamus sociabilis_.)
High in mid-air the sailing hawk is pois’d.
—Isaac McLellan, “Nature’s Invitation.”
The Everglade Kite or Snail Hawk, as it is sometimes called, has a very
small range within the borders of the United States, where it is limited
to the swamps and marshes of Southern Florida. It also frequents Eastern
Mexico, Central America, Cuba and the eastern portion of South America
as far southward as the Argentine Republic.
Its habits are very interesting. Peaceable and sociable at all times,
other birds do not fear them. “The name of the Sociable Marsh Hawk is
very appropriate, for they invariably live in flocks of from twenty to a
hundred individuals and migrate and even breed in company. In Buenos
Ayres they appear in September and resort to marshes and streams
abounding in large water snails, on which they feed exclusively.” They
spend much of the time flying, and when soaring will frequently remain
poised in the air for a considerable time without apparent motion,
except that the tail is constantly and nervously moved in nearly every
direction.
An authority, writing of these birds in Florida, says, “Their favorite
nesting sites are swamps overgrown with low willow bushes, the nests
usually being placed about four feet from the ground. They frequent the
borders of open ponds and feed their young entirely on snails. According
to my observations the female does not assist in the building of the
nest. I have watched these birds for hours. She sits in the immediate
vicinity of the nest and watches while the male builds it. The male will
bring a few twigs and alternate this work at the same time by supplying
his mate with snails, until the structure is completed. They feed and
care for their young longer than any other birds I know of, until you
can scarcely distinguish them from the adults.”
The nest is a flat structure, the cavity being rarely more than two or
three inches in depth, and the whole structure is about twelve or
sixteen inches in diameter and about one-half as high. It is usually
placed in low shrubs or fastened to the rank growth of saw grass
sufficiently low to be secure from observation. The materials used in
its construction are generally dry twigs and sticks loosely woven
together. The cavity may be bare or lined with small vines, leaves or
dry saw grass.
Dr. A. K. Fisher says, “Its food, as far as known, consists exclusively
of fresh-water univalve mollusks, which it finds among the water plants
at the edges of shallow lakes and rivers or the overflowed portions of
the everglades. When the bird has captured one of these mollusks it
flies to the nearest perch and removes the meat from the shell with
apparent ease and without injuring the latter. While collecting food it
will often secure five or six before returning to the nest, keeping in
its gullet the parts it has extracted for the young.”
[Illustration: EVERGLADE KITE.
(Rostrhamus sociabilis).
⅖ Life-size.
FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.]
THE ANIMALS’ FAIR.
PART I.
Once upon a time—for this is a fairy story—all the beasts and birds and
bugs gathered in a solemn convention. The object of their meeting was
explained by the dog, who—because of his intelligence and his intimacy
with men and their ways—had been elected chairman of the convention.
He spoke thus:
“My friends, we have gathered here to discuss an important question,
namely, ‘Our dealings with men, and men’s dealings with us.’ It is a sad
fact that although we are the benefactors of mankind, and positively
necessary to their well-being and even to their lives, they do not
appreciate us as they should. If you will pardon my egotism, I will
illustrate this assertion by my own experience. I may say modestly—for I
am only quoting men’s words—that I am considered the most intelligent of
beasts, and am chosen as the companion, the playmate, the assistant,
yea, the protector of man. I cheer hours of his loneliness from the
cradle to the grave, and am ever ready to assist him in a thousand
different ways. Yet how am I treated? A hard crust, a dry bone, kicks
and curses and harsh words, a bed on a hard plank or on the cold ground,
wherever I can find it. These are too often the inventory of my rewards;
while the torments inflicted by small boys, and the indignity and
torture of tin cans tied to my tail, fill the full record of my tale of
woe. No doubt the rest of you have grievances many and various.
“We will be pleased to hear from any of you who desire to speak, and
will be glad of any suggestion, or plan for the general good which may
present itself to you. The meeting is now open for remarks.”
He sat down on his tail and assumed his most dignified and intelligent
expression, while he looked about the miscellaneous assembly. In an
instant the horse walked forward, and was duly recognized by the
chairman.
“The words of our chairman have struck a responsive chord in my heart,”
he said gravely. “I have pondered on this subject many times when
suffering from the abuse of men. Sometimes I am driven at my utmost
speed for hours at a time, while my head is held unnaturally high and my
graceful neck cramped and stiffened by the cruel check-rain; my body
exposed to the torments of flies because my beautiful tail has been
docked; and then, when weary and sore and over-heated, I am tied up in
some chilling draught of wind while my feet are obliged to stand in a
wet gutter, and I am stiffened and ruined for life by some person’s
ignorance or foolishness.
“It does seem a pity, to me, that some more rational creature than man
had not been chosen as ‘The lord of creation’ in the beginning. Why, he
cannot govern himself. Then how can he be capable of governing us who
follow unerring instincts with unfailing faithfulness? The question is
wide as the world and deep as the sea. As I have said, I have pondered
it many times in all its aspects, but as yet have reached no definite
conclusion which might suggest a remedy.
“Therefore, let me urge upon you all to give us your wisest thoughts
upon this subject, which is of vital importance to us all.”
He returned to his place and waited anxiously for the next speaker.
The cat took the floor with a graceful step and a gentle expression
which caught the favor of the assembly.
“I am small among beasts, but my grievances are many and great. I am
chosen by men as a playmate for their children, so that the mothers may
be free to attend to what they call their ‘necessary work’ in peace and
without interruption. How am I rewarded?
“The children whom I strive to amuse drag me ceaselessly around, pull my
tail and pinch my ears, blow in my face and jerk my sensitive whiskers;
and if I remonstrate with voice or teeth or claws, I am beaten and
kicked and tossed out of doors without even the privilege of trial by
jury.
“I catch the rats and mice which infest men’s houses, and then when they
forget to give me milk which is so necessary to prevent the ill effects
which follow a diet of meat and I help myself delicately to a few laps
of cream, I am abused as if I had committed a mighty and unpardonable
sin.
“They call me a necessity, yet they drown my beautiful kittens, or carry
them off in bags and cast them helpless and forlorn upon the mercy of a
cold and cruel world. And then men presume to say that they are made
after the image of God, and have been divinely appointed masters of the
world! What blasphemy! What blind stupidity! Words fail me in view of
these appalling facts.”
Half the assembly was in tears before poor pussy had finished her
category of woes.
A fly buzzed forward with impulsive haste, and spoke with a little
rasping voice:
“We flies are small; but we are mighty. We remove mountains of dirt for
uncleanly men, and how do they reward us? They catch us in traps and
drown us with boiling water. They snare our feet with treacherous
fly-papers, and after laughing at our struggles to get free, burn us
without mercy. Small boys torture us with pins, or pull off legs and
wings for what they call ‘fun.’ If they do not want us about them, why
do they make the filth which necessitates our presence? That is a
conundrum beyond my solving. I leave it for this wise assembly to
answer.”
The fly buzzed back to a sunny spot, and an unwieldy hog ambled forward.
“‘As greedy as a hog.’ ‘As lazy as a pig.’ ‘As fat as a pig.’ ‘No more
sense than a hog.’ Have you never heard such expressions as these fall
from the lips of men? They shut us up in little dirty pens where we must
needs be lazy, since we cannot run about. They continually tempt us with
food, and the more we eat the better they like it, since it produces the
fat which they afterwards deride. If we weary of dry corn or thin slop,
and break through some convenient hole which their own carelessness has
left, and help ourselves to the tender cabbages and peas of their
gardens, they chase us with yells and sticks and stones, and send their
dogs to make devilled ham of us before we are dead.”
His pun so amused the assembly that they were convulsed with laughter.
After vainly waiting several minutes for silence the hog returned calmly
to his place, convinced that he had at least presented his grievances in
a striking manner.
A handsome black Spanish rooster strutted forward to the platform, and
stretching his neck, called the audience to order with his clear-toned
“How-do-you-do? I am the ‘Cock-o’-the-walk,’” he explained, “a term
which men are pleased to borrow and apply to themselves. They rely upon
me to give them warning of the approach of day, and then grumble because
I disturb their slumbers. How can they expect to wake up without having
their slumbers disturbed? That’s what I would like to know. They rely
upon me to eat the worms and bugs and grasshoppers that destroy their
gardens, and then chase me with stones and dogs when they find me in
their gardens doing my duty.
“They pen me up, often for days at a time, with insufficient food and
water, and do not even deign an apology for their neglect.
“My wives supply numerous eggs for men’s food, yet they wring our necks
without mercy if we venture to eat an egg ourselves when they have
forgotten to feed us. ‘As full as an egg is of meat,’ is a comparison
which might properly be balanced with ‘As full as a man is of
inconsistency.’
“If men would attend to their business and scratch for a living as I do,
the world would be a far better place than it is today.”
He ended amid prolonged applause, and walked proudly to a conspicuous
perch in the sunshine.
By this time there was much excitement among the audience, who all
signified a desire to speak at once. While the chairman was busy
quieting them with most vigorous barks, a monkey with much agility made
his way over the heads of the audience, and leaped to the platform,
where he was ready to make his profoundest bows to the assembly the
moment quiet reigned.
“You may consider me an alien, since I hail from a far country, yet I am
truly American—for even South America reveres the Stars and Stripes,” he
said, and his words were applauded by the very ones who had but a moment
previous frowned at his audacity.
“I hold myself the superior of mankind since many of their scientists
assert that the human race are but highly developed monkeys. To be sure,
a few haughty fellows have lately declared that monkeys are but the
offspring of degenerate men, but we monkeys resent such assertions as
uncalled-for insults. Why, it is bad enough to have to endure the
thought that possibly—mind you, I say possibly, not probably—possibly
men have descended from our race. There is no monkey but what lives up
to the best of his God-given instincts, whereas, on the other hand,
there is no man that does at all times the very best that he knows.
Therefore, by all the rules of logic, the monkey is superior to the man,
and must be thus considered by all fair-minded judges.
“This, however, is but a prologue to my more serious remarks. I have
only been presenting my credentials to this court.
“May I now proceed to disclose my plan for calling the attention of
ungrateful men to the benefactions we are daily bestowing upon them?” He
paused and bowed respectfully to the chairman and then to the audience.
A thunder of applause greeted his proposition, and the hall resounded
with cries of “Good! good!” “Go on!” “Three cheers for Brother Monkey.”
When quiet was restored, the monkey continued rapidly:
“Since my time is necessarily spent in intimate association with men, I
have taken note of many of their schemes for self-aggrandizement. The
most popular at the present time, is the Fair, where everyone seeks to
outdo his neighbor and to proclaim his own superiority to the whole
world, while he exhibits his own abilities and his own genius by a
display of his productions.
“Now, what I propose is this: Let us secure a convenient enclosure, and
let each family of birds and beasts and reptiles erect a booth in which
to display the gifts which they are daily bestowing upon mankind.
Perhaps in this way the hearts of men will be drawn to honor us, and
they will—after the ruling passion of men—seek to advance their own
interests by favoring ours. Does my plan meet with approval? If so, your
humble servant feels highly honored.” He placed his hand upon his heart
and bowed deeply to his audience, then, with customary dexterity,
returned to his place as he had come, while the hall resounded with
prolonged applause.
The meeting was at once declared a “Committee of the Whole,” and
vigorous plans were laid for the carrying out of the monkey’s scheme.
Because of his familiarity with such places of resort, the monkey was
elected President of the Fair, an office which he accepted with many
expressions of humility, and equally numerous feelings of
self-complacency.
Other officers and directors were speedily appointed, the place for
holding the Fair selected, and the time set. Being unacquainted with the
red tape and appropriation-grabbing customs of men, the animals thus
speedily brought their business affairs to the working point, and in the
utmost harmony adjourned to begin their preparations without delay.
Mary McCrae Culter.