MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



rare with me no longer, all that is necessary is to pick 

 it up, either in caterpillar, cocoon, or moth, at any season 

 of the year, in almost any location. The Cecropia moth 

 resembles the robin among birds; not alone because he 

 is gray with red markings, but also he haunts the same 

 localities. The robin is the bird of the eaves, the back 

 door, the yard and orchard. Cecropia is the moth. 

 My doorstep is not the only one they grace; my friends 

 have found them in like places. Cecropia cocoons are 

 attached to fences, chicken-coops, barns, houses, and all 

 through the orchards of old country places, so that their 

 emergence at bloom time adds to May and June one more 

 beauty, and frequently I speak of them as the Robin 

 Moth. 



In connection with Cecropia there came to me the most 

 delightful experience of my life. One perfect night dur- 

 ing the middle of May, all the world white with tree bloom, 

 touched to radiance with brilliant moonlight, intoxi- 

 cating with countless blending perfumes, I placed a 

 female Cecropia on the screen of my sleeping-room door 

 and retired. The lot on which the Cabin stands is 

 sloping, so that, although the front foundations are 

 low, my door is at least five feet above the ground, and 

 opens on a circular porch, from which steps lead down 

 between two apple trees, at that time sheeted in bloom. 

 Past midnight I was awakened by soft touches on the 

 screen, faint pullings at the wire. I went to the door and 



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