The assembling of _D. archippus_ referred to in CAN. ENT. 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 neighborhood
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
unless disturbed, very few being on the wing. Their favorite 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 directions, 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
plenty.
J. ALSTON MOFFAT, Hamilton, Ont.