Among the animals thus left stranded by the retreating ice cap this White Mountain butterfly has perhaps attracted the most attention from scientists. It is a butterfly of moderate size which shows in every phase of its structure and its life-history the results of the long process of adaptation to its unique environment. It has been carefully studied by many observers and has been considered one of the most desirable trophies by every collector of insects. As a result, notwithstanding its isolation and the difficulty of studying it, its life-history is better known than that of many a common and widely distributed species. To appreciate the facts in regard to the structure and life of this butterfly one must know that its habitat is confined to a thousand feet or so at the summits of the mountain, that in this area there are no trees or even shrubs worth mentioning, and that the surface of the mountain is covered with rocks between which grow a few stunted sedges and over which grows the ever-present reindeer moss. It is a bleak, bare, gray environment, constantly swept by terrific winds, where snow is seen in August and is likely to remain until June. So the summer season is of briefest duration and the climatic conditions are so severe that one can only wonder how a fragile creature like a butterfly is able to survive the twelve long months. _Habits and Life-history_ From a first glance at the mottled gray-brown wings of these insects one would guess that here was a distinctive example of obliterative coloring, and it is true as all observers testify that when the butterfly lights upon the stones and turns sideways, as apparently it does habitually in deference to the force of the wind, it becomes very difficult to see, for the wings are closed and only the rounded, mottled under surface shows. It appears also to have the habit of some of the Graylings when hard pushed of simply closing its wings and dropping to the ground feigning death. In deference also to the winds its flight is just above the surface. Doubtless if it rose high in the air it would be swept away to lower regions where evidently it is unable to survive for long periods. [Illustration: _From a drawing by Mary E. Walker_ _See page 229_ THE ZEBRA BUTTERFLY On orange leaves and blossoms. (Reduced)] [Illustration: On a milkweed pod] [Illustration: _From "Seeing Nature First"_ _See pages 47, 235_ On clematis seed-fruits PHOTOGRAPHS OF A PET MONARCH BUTTERFLY]