MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



lace, slowly opening and closing its wings to strengthen 

 them for flight, could be nothing but a delightful reality. 



A few days later, in the valley of the Wood Robin, 

 while searching for its nest I found a large cocoon. It 

 was above my head, but afterward I secured it by means 

 of a ladder, and carried it home. Shortly there emerged 

 a yet larger Cecropia, and luck seemed with me. I 

 could find them everywhere through June, the time 

 of their emergence, later their eggs, and the tiny cater- 

 pillars that hatched from them. During the summer I 

 found these caterpillars, in different stages of growth, 

 until fall, when after their last moult and casting of skin, 

 they reached the final period of feeding; some were over 

 four inches in length, a beautiful shade of greenish blue, 

 with red and yellow warty projections — tubercles, 

 according to scientific works. 



It is easy to find the cocoons these caterpillars spin, 

 because they are the largest woven by any moth, and 

 placed in such a variety of accessible spots. They can 

 be found in orchards, high on branches, and on water 

 sprouts at the base of trees. Frequently they are spun 

 on swamp willows, box-elder, maple, or wild cherry. 

 Mr. Black once found for me the largest cocoon I ever 

 have seen; a pale tan colour with silvery lights, woven 

 against the inside of a hollow log. Perhaps the most 

 beautiful of all, a dull red, was found under the flooring 

 of an old bridge crossing a stream in the heart of the 



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