THE CABBAGE MOTH. 317 



queutly does them considerable damage when its 

 numbers exceed their ordinary bounds. Another 

 species, the Cabbage Moth [Mamestra Brassicce) vies 

 with the Cabbage Butterflies in the injury Avhich it 

 does to our oleraceous plants ; its caterpillar is green^ 

 with a dusky stripe on the back, and a dingy yellow 

 one on each side, immediately above which are the 

 white openings of the stigmata, each in the centre of 

 a black spot. It feeds upon cabbages, &c. from July 

 to September. The moth makes its appearance in 

 the following May or June; it measures about an 

 inch and a half across the wings, the anterior pair of 

 which are usually of a mottled grey tint, but some- 

 times nearly black, with the three spots of the disc 

 margined with white, and a whitish crescent in the 

 middle one. The back of the thorax exhibits a strong 

 double crest, a structure which is more or less apparent 

 in a great many species of these Moths. It may be 

 frequently observed during the day concealed in cre- 

 vices of the palings and out-buildings in gardens. 



I am afraid that some of my readers at this portion 

 of my book will begin to think that I am giving them 

 a very prosaic description of the proceedings of some 

 of Homer^s heroes, with the fighting left out ; for it 

 is well known that the two principal employments of 

 those ancient warriors consisted in eating and fighting, 

 the monotony of these occupations being relieved only 

 by an occasional long-winded speech, or a piece of 

 love-making after a rather loose fashion. With the 

 Moths we certainly get the love-making in high per- 

 fection, but there is unfortunately a sameness about 

 it that deprives it of all romantic interest, and we are 



