VINTER 
 BUTTEBFLIE 
 
 at tot mi idi lot IQI tar IGR IDI i 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES 
 IN BOLINAS 
 
Monarch Butterflies and Daffodils in January 
 
WINTER 
 BUTTERFLIES 
 
 IN BOLINAS 
 
 BY 
 
 MARY D. BARBER 
 
 i 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 PAUL ELDER W COMPANY 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
MART D. BARBER 
 
E Monarch Butterfly 
 * Anosia Plexippus is a fam- 
 iliar object in many parts of 
 
 [3i 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 the United States, but the fact 
 that it migrates, covering in 
 its flights hundreds and even 
 thousands of miles, is not 
 generally known. This but- 
 terfly appears in immense 
 swarms every year early in 
 September at Bolinas, a shel- 
 tered haven on the coast of 
 California, about ten miles 
 north of the Golden Gate. 
 A southerly beach walled 
 by high bluffs, a quaint little 
 village which consists of trim 
 cottages set in pretty, old- 
 
 [4] 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 fashioned gardens; wide stret- 
 ches of sunny mesa, broken 
 here and there by arroyos 
 and groves of cypress trees, 
 make up a picturesque land- 
 scape; while to the south and 
 westward rolls the vast Pacif- 
 ic, the ceaseless surging of its 
 surf on the smooth sand a 
 never-ending delight to the 
 ear. This is the winter home 
 of the Monarch butterfly 
 which comes not only from 
 the Sierra Nevada mountains 
 but also from the western 
 
 [51 
 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 ranges of the Rockies. 
 On the meadows of these 
 mountains a pale green cater- 
 pillar,ornamented with glossy 
 black bands, feeds on the 
 leaves of the milkweed plant. 
 This caterpillar forms a chrys- 
 alis about an inch long, green 
 spotted with gold. The Mon- 
 arch butterfly emerges from 
 this chrysalis, unfurls its 
 wings, draws its sustenance 
 from the milkweed blossoms, 
 lays its eggs and lives happily 
 in the high altitudes till the 
 
 [6] 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 chill of approaching autumn 
 in the air warns it that the 
 time for migrating has come. 
 Thousands of these frail but- 
 terflies start on their long 
 journey toward the Pacific, 
 in search of a mild climate, 
 free from frost and snow, 
 in which they can live all 
 winter. 
 
 Fly brown butterflies out to sea, 
 Frail pale wings for the winds to try; 
 Small brown wings that we scarce can 
 see 
 Fly. 
 
 [7] 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 Here and there may a chance caught eye 
 Note, in a score of you, twain or three 
 Brighter or darker of tinge or dye; 
 Some fly light as a laugh of glee, 
 Some fly soft as a long, low sigh ; 
 
 the haven where each would be 
 Fly. 
 
 In Nevada County great 
 flocks of them have been seen, 
 following the course of a 
 stream downwards from the 
 mountains towards the sea. 
 Before they reach the end of 
 
 [8] 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 their journey they scatter, for 
 although they appear in Bo- 
 linas suddenly and in large 
 numbers, no flock has ever 
 been seen approaching en 
 masse. 
 
 The Monarch is of a red- 
 dish chestnut-brown, veined 
 with black and bordered with 
 a band of black which is or- 
 namented by two rows of 
 small white spots. The under 
 side of the wings is paler, an 
 ashy buff color similarly 
 veined and bordered. The 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 butterfly is large, measuring 
 between four and five inches 
 from tip to tip of outstretched 
 wings. 
 
 When these butterflies ar- 
 rive, the air seems full of 
 them,hovering,flitting,whirl- 
 ing like brown autumn leaves 
 caught in a gust of wind. 
 Having reached their winter 
 home they swarm on a cypress 
 tree which affords the best 
 shelter during wind and 
 storm. Each year they come, 
 not only to the same grove, 
 
 [10] 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 but to the very same tree, 
 and always to the southerly 
 and easterly side of it. This 
 tree is within sight and sound 
 of the surf which perhaps 
 reminds the butterflies of the 
 roar of rushing streams and 
 waterfalls in the mountains 
 whence they came. Is it in- 
 stinct,or scent, or the climatic 
 advantage of some especial 
 tree which guides them in 
 their choice? It is certainly a 
 mystery that a newly arrived 
 flock should choose the iden- 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 tical tree which was the home 
 of their predecessors the win- 
 ter before; for they migrate 
 but to end their days, and can 
 not return to show the way 
 to their progeny which will 
 hatch next spring into stupid 
 caterpillars having no desire 
 but to eat till their time for 
 sleep arrives. The instinct or 
 intelligence of the awakened 
 butterfly is inexplicable. 
 
 On sunny days the Mon- 
 archs feast on the flowers that 
 bloom all winter in the vil- 
 
 [12] 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 lage gardens, calla lilies, mar- 
 guerites and heliotrope being 
 their favorites. One day a bee 
 and a butterfly were vying 
 with each other for the pos- 
 session of a marguerite. The 
 butterfly alighted on it first, 
 but the bee buzzed his way 
 in under the wings of his ri- 
 val who, realizing that his 
 companion was dangerous, 
 flew off, leaving the bee sole 
 possessor of the coveted flower. 
 At evening the Monarchs 
 return to the grove where 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 they may be seen hanging on 
 the cypress branches. A tree 
 appears brown, as if covered 
 with dead leaves, as the but- 
 terflies, in countless thousands 
 hang close together with fold- 
 ed wings to conserve the 
 warmth of their frail bodies. 
 In stormy weather they re- 
 main thus dormant for days 
 and even weeks, benumbed 
 by the cold, yet clinging fast 
 to the branches. Many, how- 
 ever, are wrenched from their 
 places of refuge and lie scat- 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 tered on the ground like a 
 carpet of fallen leaves. 
 
 One evening a number of 
 these which had hardly a 
 spark of life remaining in 
 their water-soaked bodies as 
 they lay on the grass, were 
 picked up and brought into 
 the house where a fire of drift- 
 wood blazed bright on the 
 hearth. The butterflies soon 
 revived in the warm atmos- 
 phere, hung themselves to the 
 curtains in lieu of trees and 
 went to sleep for the night. 
 
 [15] 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 Next morning dawned bright 
 and clear. The captive Mon- 
 archs awakened early and 
 flew away, happy, when the 
 window was opened to release 
 them. 
 
 The many birds that 
 choose Bolinas as their win- 
 ter home would have a feast 
 if these butterflies were edible, 
 but Monarchs are protected 
 by an acrid secretion which 
 is distasteful to birds, and en- 
 joy a long life on this account, 
 living not only all winter, 
 
 [16] 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 but long enough to taste the 
 sweetness of the spring wild- 
 flowers. 
 
 The Monarchs are great 
 migrants. They have crossed 
 the Pacific Ocean, probably 
 on ships, and have reached 
 the Philippine Islands and 
 Australia. 
 
 When on a yacht bound for 
 the Farallone Islands mem- 
 bers of the party saw one of 
 these butterflies soaring over 
 the ocean about ten miles 
 from shore. It did not rest 
 
WINTER BUTTERFLIES IN BOLINAS 
 
 on the boat, but with wings 
 spread before the east wind it 
 sped a way, folio wing the path 
 of the setting sun like a soul 
 in quest of the ideal. That 
 evening a storm came on sud- 
 denly. What was the fate of 
 that lone butterfly? 
 
 He died, unlike his mates I ween, 
 Perhaps not sooner or worse 
 crossed; 
 
 And he had felt, thought, known 
 
 and seen 
 A larger life and hope, though 
 
 lost 
 
 Far out at sea. 
 
 [18] 
 
This is the tale of the Winter Butterflies 
 in Bolinas, as to! a 1 by Mary D. Barber, 
 and put into permanent form by Paul 
 Elder and Company under the direction 
 of Ricardo J. Oroxco during the month 
 of January of the year Nineteen Eighteen, 
 with decorations by Rudolph F. Scbaeffer 
 

 J 
 
 CO 
 
liayiord Bros., inc. 
 
 Makers 
 Stockton, Calif. 
 
 PAT, JAN. 21. 1908 
 
 9186981 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBF