The Opelousas courier., 1901-12-07
SHOOTING BUTTERFLIES.
specimens Which Can Only he Clrcun
vented with Sh0t.

specimens Which Csn Only he Clrcum-
vented with Shot.
In the forests Of northern Austria
liza lives a butterfly which Is always
hunted with powder and shot. This
- a brilliant-hued creature, highly
valued by collectors. 1t Is very shy
and hovers about the upper branches
Of the trees. seldom approaching with
in 20 feet of the ground.
For a long time the only specimens
in collections were the frayed and be-
draggled individuals which, because
of injuries to their wings, had dropped
below their zone of fight.
A travelling American naturalist
went to Australia determined to get
some perfect specimens of this rare
insect. For several days he strove
with long nets and short nets to en-
trap 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 butterflies kept
beyond the range of his swooping net.
Yankee ingenuity was not to be beat
en- so easily, however. The entomolo-
gist 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. It was badly battered,
but he patched and furnished it up
to an appearance of responsibility, and
spread it on a bush top in a conspic-
uous spot 10 feet above the ground,
arranging the wings with as close a
resemblance to life as possible.
Curiosity is a besetting falling of
butterflies. Presently two of them
noticed their departed comrade, and
began to circle lower and lower above
the bush. Others Joined the investi-
cation, and finally the patient collector
was able to capture n of them by
a swift movement. This sent the 9TH
ers soaring away in alarm, but in a
few moments they were back again,
and before the day was over the nat
uralist's ingenuity was rewarded by
the capture of half a dozen perfect
specimens, which afterward became
the property of various scientific mu-
seums. Since then this has been the
recognized method of taking that spe-
cies of insect.
Somewhat similar was the capture
Of some are South American butter
flies several years ago. An entomolo-
gist, travelling On the Orinoco, failed,
after many attempts, to take a 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 b%lowguns, COWS and
spears, n of whom offered to supply
the collector with a number of the de-
sired insects at a price.
An offer of Is cents a specimen rep
resented opulence to the native, who
returned on the following evening
with six of the butterfies-all perfect
or nearly SO. How the Indian could
catch the shy and delicate insect,
whihc he himself with all the imple-
ments of the chase could not capture,
was a 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 blowgun, a weapon with which
these people are marvelously accurate |
and deadly marksmen, even killing
big gime with darts blown from them. |
He had marked down" his butterfly, |
waited for it to alight and then shot
a pellet to the leaf upon which it was
The impact was sufficient TO
stun the prey and bring it to the
ground without injuring its fragile
Companion.