not mature and that from the same kinds of butterflies with which he failed early in the summer he got plenty of eggs in September. There is here a rich field for observation and experiment for every naturalist who wishes to take up the study of butterflies. He can be sure of the parentage of the caterpillars and can trace them from the very moment of egg-laying through all their wonderful changes until they become butterflies again. PHOTOGRAPHING BUTTERFLIES There is a famous old saying that to make hare stew it is first necessary to catch your hare. So if one wishes to make perfect pictures of butterflies it is first necessary to get the caterpillars. For though caterpillars are not butterflies they are butterflies in the making and they will show you most interesting stages in nature's manufacture of these dainty and exquisite creatures. This is not, however, the chief reason why the photographer should get them. He will wish to make perfect pictures and in order to do this he must have not only perfect specimens but living butterflies which are willing to look pleasant while he makes comparatively long exposures under conditions of light that he can control. If you catch a butterfly outdoors and bring it in you will be likely to find that it is by no means a docile subject. The sunlight shining through the nearest window will be a call which you cannot counteract and your butterfly will constantly respond to it in a most vexing manner. So you must catch the butterfly young and take advantage of a brief but docile period in their lives when they are willing to pose before your camera in quite a remarkable manner. This is the period just after the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis when its wings are fully developed but before the tissues have hardened and the muscles in the thorax are strong enough for flight. At this time the butterfly is perfect, every scale is in its place and every spot of color is at its best, and it will rest quietly upon a flower, leaf, or twig while you adjust the camera and expose the plate. From one such specimen one can get many pictures upon different flowers and with different angles of view. (_See plates, pages 160, 225._) In order to make admirable photographs of living butterflies it is by no means necessary to have a regular photographic studio. If one has a room lighted from the north or east one can arrange for exposure near the window, using cardboard reflectors to make the light more even from both sides. In such a situation one soon learns the exposure periods required and can easily get many beautiful photographs.