Winter Butterflies in Bolinas

The Monarch Butterfly Anosia Plexippus is a familiar object in many parts of the United States, but the fact that it migrates, covering in its flights hundreds and even thousands of miles, is not generally known. This butterfly appears in immense swarms every year early in September at Bolinas, a sheltered haven on the coast of California, about ten miles north of the Golden Gate.

On sunny days the Monarchs feast on the flowers that bloom all winter in the village gardens, calla lilies, marguerites and heliotrope being their favorites. One day a bee and a butterfly were vying with each other for the possession of a marguerite. The butterfly alighted on it first, but the bee buzzed his way in under the wings of his rival who, realizing that his companion was dangerous, flew off, leaving the bee sole possessor of the coveted flower.