MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



lars of this region. They drove very fast, and I had no 

 trouble to induce Modesta to clamber over a poplar twig, 

 and settle. Then by gently stroking, an unusual wing 

 sweep was secured, because there is a wonderful purple- 

 pink and a peculiar blue on the back wings. 



It has been my experience that the longer a moth of 

 these big short-lived subjects remains out of doors, the 

 paler its colours become, and most of them fade rapidly 

 when mounted, if not kept in the dark. So my Modesta 

 may have been slightly faded, but she could have been 

 several shades paler and yet appeared most beautiful 

 to me. 



Her head, shoulders, and abdomen were a lovely dove 

 gray; that soft tan gray, with a warm shade, almost 

 suggestive of pink. I suppose the reason I thought of 

 this was because at the time two pairs of doves, one 

 on a heap of driftwood overhanging the river, and the 

 other in an apple tree in the Aspy orchard a few rods 

 away, were giving me much trouble, and I had dove 

 gray on my mind. I had tried for a study of the brood- 

 ing dove by the river five times, and the one in the apple 

 tree fifteen. I had lived in the locality, practically. I 

 had set up a tripod, first yards away, then slipped to it 

 with a camera, but could only screw it on. After leaving 

 half an hour I crept up and opened it, working in the sun 

 until almost melted, to get a focus. I only hoped to 

 make a little thumb-nail picture that would serve for 



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