through the vicinity the following winter revealed a number of nests. They were all placed low, and one of them showed every indication of having been built and occupied by an oven bird. The usual wild flowers of the season were abundant and the surrounding country at large was admirably suited for exploration and research; hence our sojourn at the “Cottage” was one of great pleasure and instruction. Berton Mercer. [Illustration: SILVER-SPOT BUTTERFLY. (Argynnis nitocris nigra-caerulea). Life-size. FROM COL. MRS WILMATTE PORTER COCKERELL.] Top row: Female, upper surface. Male, upper surface. Bottom row: Female, under surface. Male, under surface. A NEW ARGYNNIS. The butterfly to which I want to introduce you is a rare beauty! It is called Argynnis nitocris nigrocaerulea by scientists, but the young people of our school call it the blue-black silver spot or the Sapello Fritillary. They wanted very much to name it after the Territory, but unfortunately there is a butterfly of this genus that bears the name of New Mexico Silver-spot. Every member of the genus Argynnis is beautiful and it is a great treat to see the glint of the silver dotted wings of these butterflies as they hover about the gaily colored flowers in some mountain canyon or alpine meadow. But no member of the genus will compare in beauty with the female of the nigrocaerulea, and I should find difficulty in forgetting the pleasure I felt in seeing two of these lovely creatures sucking the nectar from a large bright colored Rudbeckia. The nigrocaerulea is very much like a silver-spot that is found in the mountains of Arizona; both belong to the species nitocris and there is still a third form found in the mountains of Mexico. It is very likely that these forms were the same years ago, but the mountains in this arid region are like islands, and are separated by dry expanses upon which an Argynnis could not live. It follows, therefore, that in the isolated mountain regions many forms of the same species may be found, and when the country has been more carefully explored we shall very probably find other varieties of nitocris.