Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-09-08
SHOOTING BUTTERFLIES
Australian Specimens Which Can
Only Be Reached With Shot

Australian Specimens Which Can
Only Be Reached With Shot.
From the Youths Companion .--
In the forests of northern Australia
lives butterfly which is always hunt
ed with powder and shot This is a
briiliant-hued creature. highly valued by
collectors. 1t Is very shy and hovers about
the upper branches of the trees seldom
approaching within twenty feet Of the
ground.
Z For a long time the only specimens In
draggled individuals, which, because Of in
1uries to their wings, had dropped below
their zone of light
A travelling American naturalist went
70 australia determined to get some per-
feet specimens of this rare insect For
several days he strOve with long nets
and short nets to entrap some of the
beautiful creatures Of the upper air. He
raised ladders and climbed trees at the
peril of life and limb. but the wary but
terf1ies kept beyond the range of his swoop-
Ing net. Yankee ingenuity was not to be
beaten SO easily, however. The entomolo-
Slst hit upon the brilliant idea of a decoy
Loading his gun with the smallest shot
he had, he brought down one Of the high
flyers 1t was badly battered, but he
patched and furnished it up to an ap-
pearance or responsibility, and spread it
on bush top in conspicuous spot ten
1eet above the ground, arranging the wings
with as close a resemblance to life as pos
sible
Curiosity is a besetting failing of butter
MES Presently two of them noticed their
departed comrade, and began to circle
lower and lower above the bush Others
joined the investigation, and finally the
patent collector was able to capture one
OF them by swift movement This sent
the others soaring away in alarm but in
a few moments they were back again
and before the day was over the nat
urallsts ingenuity was rewarded by the
capture of half dozen perfect specimens.
which afterward became the property of
various scientific museums Since then this
has been the recognized method of taking
that species of insect
!. =, Somewhat similar was the canture of
some rare South American butterflies sew
eral years ago. An entomologist travelling
on the Orinoco, failed, after many at
tempts, to take single specimen of a
swallowtail butterfly, which haunted the
upper foliage Of the forest One day his
party came across a band of half savage
natives. armed with blow-guns bows and
spears, one Of WHOM offered to supply the
collector with a number Of the desired in
sectS at a price.
An offer of twenty-five cents a specimen
represented opulence to the native, who
returned on the following evening with
six OF the butterfiies-all perfect or nearly
so. How the Indian could catch the shy
and delicate insect, which he himself with
all the implements of the chase could not
capture. was problem to the traveller
Not until he was about to leave would
the native explain His method was very
simple, he said, and pointed to his blow
gun, weapon with which these people
are marvelously accurate and deadly
marksmen, even killing big game with
darts blown from them He had marked
down his butterfly, waited for 1t to alight
and then shot pellet to the leaf upon
which 1t was posing. This impact was suf-
1fieient to stun the prey and bring it to
the ground without injuring it's fragile
wings.