One of the earliest observations upon this subject was that published in my book "Nature Biographies" which appeared in June, 1901, concerning the habit in the Mourning Cloak: "On a spring-like day early in November (the 8th) I came across one of these butterflies basking in the sunshine upon the ties of a railway track. It rested with its wings wide open. On being disturbed, it would fly a short distance and then alight, and I was interested to notice that after alighting it would always turn about until the hind end of its body pointed in the direction of the sun, so that the sun's rays struck its wings and body nearly at right angles. I repeatedly observed this habit of getting into the position in which the most benefit from the sunshine was received, and it is of interest as showing the extreme delicacy of perception toward the warmth of sunshine which these creatures possess." A little later, some very elaborate observations were made upon this habit of the Mourning Cloak by Prof. G. H. Parker of Harvard University. Professor Parker noticed that during the warm spells in winter the butterflies came out of their hiding places and after alighting, always placed themselves with their heads away from the direction of the sun and their bodies lying nearly at right angles to the sun's rays. By experiment, he found that they adjusted themselves to this position as soon as they were fully exposed to direct sunshine, even if at the time of alighting they were in a shadow. He found that this movement was a reflex action through the eyes, for when the eyes were blinded no such adjustment took place. He called it _negative heliotropism_. Dr. Longstaff uses the term _orientation_ for this adjustment of the butterfly to the sun's rays and he finds it is a very general habit, especially with the Angle-wings, for the butterfly thus to orient itself after alighting, in such a way that the hind end of the body points toward the sun. This occurs not only with those species which keep their wings spread open when they alight but also with those in which the wings are closed together and held in a vertical position on alighting. Various explanations of this phenomenon have been offered but apparently none of them are yet generally accepted. Were the habit confined to butterflies like the Mourning Cloak, it would seem easy to prove that a main advantage was found in the benefit derived from the heat rays of the sun. Were it confined to those species which always fold their wings on alighting, it would seem easy to believe that it was a device for reducing the shadow cast by the insect to its lowest terms. It has also been suggested that the habit is for the purpose of revealing to the fullest extent the markings of the butterfly. Evidently there is here an ample field for further investigation before definite conclusions are reached. LIST AND SHADOW OBSERVATIONS