I 



THE BUTTERFLY HUNTERS. 1 43 



are out nutting in the Autumn, you will find the cocoons 

 fallen among the dead leaves. They are of the same dull 

 brown color as the leaves, and are not very easy to dis- 

 tinguish from them. I found one of these cocoons once 

 in the early Spring, when the snow had just left the 

 ground. It was about the first of April. I carried it home 

 and placed it under a glass on the top of my secretary. 

 Here it remained until the last of May, and I had for- 

 gotten all about it, when one day as I was sitting at* my 

 desk writing I was startled by a loud crackling sound. 

 It was several minutes before I perceived that it came 

 from my cocoon. I at last saw that the cocoon was 

 moving slightly. As I watched it the motion gradually 

 increased, and in about half an hour the cocoon burst, 

 and an unsightly thing crawled forth. It appeared like 

 a large white worm with two flippers, I might call them, 

 in the place where the wings were to be. These flippers 

 were not much larger than the antennae which, at the 

 very first, were broad and feathered. The creature moved 

 vigorously about and tried to attach itself to the top of 

 the glass, but the smooth surface afforded nothing to which 

 its feet could cling, so I removed the glass and put in its 

 place a small osier basket of openwork. Very soon the 

 insect suspended itself to the top of the basket, and its 

 wings commenced to expand. As they opened, the delicate 

 green color, of which there was no appearance at first, 



