Some of our Norfolk County swamps are so thickly set with swamp white
cedars that it is almost impossible for a man to push his way through
their young growth. That north wind that can cut its way to the heart of
these must be keen indeed, and here, when the berries are plentiful, you
may find not only robins, but now and then a bluebird, and more
frequently partridge woodpeckers, all winter long.
We had a killing frost only a night or two ago, the thermometer in
sheltered positions marking twenty-five to twenty-eight degrees. It
withered the grape leaves and took all tender things of the gardens and
fields. Such a temperature for a long autumn night one would think would
be death to those frail creatures of summer,--the butterflies. Yet
to-day I saw a monarch soaring on strong red wings about the top of a
great pine tree, sixty feet in air, seemingly seeking food among the
resinous tips.
Across the fields a sulphur flitted his dainty way like a yellow fleck
of animated sunshine. A few grizzled goldenrod and frost-bitten asters
still bloom feebly for him, but in the swamp, undismayed, the
witch-hazel twists its soft, yellow petal-fingers and sends out dainty
perfume for his delectation. Over at the clubhouse a hunter’s butterfly
and two well-preserved specimens of the painted lady sunned themselves
in warm spots on the shingles.
In spite of the summerlike quality of the day these seemed anxious. Now
and then they fluttered eagerly about the building trying window
fastenings and poking their heads into cracks, seemingly trying
desperately to get in. They tried on the shady sides of the building as
well as on the sunny, and though I cannot prove that it was not mere
aimless wandering, it seemed to me to be done with a definite design. I
think the painted ladies were hunting shelter in expectation that the
day was a weather breeder. I think they knew that more cold weather was
sure to follow, and though they had found shelter in which they were
able to weather the first cold snap, they feared lest the next be too
much for them, and hoped to get inside in some crevice next to a stove
funnel.
Some butterflies, notably the _Antiopa vanessa_, which appears sometimes
on warm days in February, winter successfully. Probably the _vanessa_ is
particularly resistant to cold. Probably also he has a peculiar faculty
for finding shelter and safety, and I think the two hardy examples of
_Pyrameis cardui_ showed signs of some of the same instinct.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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