212 INSECT ENJOYMENT. 



with delight, and plunges deeper and deeper into the perfumed 

 chalice. Can anything exceed his energetic active pleasure ? 

 Only, possibly, the calm, lazy luxuriance of that sleek, soft, 

 Sybaritish Caterpillar, rose-fed, rose-cradled, now regaling, 

 heedless of the joy above him, on a delicate morsel of the 

 flowery couch whereon he lies, his green length extended, the 

 very image of sensual sloth. 



But, ah ! Sir Caterpillar ! tliou pillager of cates* fit for the 

 food of fairy ! blissful as thou seemest in discussion of thy 

 roseate repast, here is a brother, a less bulky one, of thy gor- 

 mandizing race, who, as we verily believe, is eating his break- 

 fast albeit a coarser one than thine (a green rose leaf, not a 

 pearly petal) with a keener relish than thyself; and why? 

 Because by labour he has earned it, and earned, too, a greater 

 measure of security from attack of surrounding foes quick- 

 sighted bird, and yet more dangerous, quick-eared, prying, 

 piercing Ichneumon. He hangs close by, encased, all but the 

 head and shoulders, which, on the slightest alarm, he would 

 presently encase, too, in a tent or hammock of liis own work- 

 manship, curiously wrought of leaves of the rose-tree, spirally 

 rolled together, and suspended by silken cords of his own 

 spinning, so as to bring him within convenient reach of the 

 young green foliage on which he is making his repast. 



Let us notice, last, though it seems not least, the evi- 

 dent ecstasy of a thirsty, habitually thirsty Butterfly, a little 



* The term Caterpillar is derived from Ciller aiid cedes, signifying provision. 



