Sugaring for Moths 



shows faintly upon the silvery-gray bark of the tree. Look 

 sharply! Here below are a few Geometers daintily sipping the 

 sweets. There is a little Eustixis piipula, with its silvery-white 

 wings dotted with points of black. There is a specimen of 

 Harrisimemna, the one with the coppery-brown spots on 

 the fore wings. A good catch! 



Stop! Hold still! Ha! I thought he would alight. That is 

 Catocala coccinata — a fine moth — not overly common, and 

 the specimen is perfect. 



Well, let us try another tree. Here they are holding a 

 general assembly. Look! See them fairly swarming about the 

 spot. A dozen have found good places; two or three are 

 fluttering about trying to alight. The ants have found the place 

 as well as the moths. They are squabbling with each other. 

 The moths do not like the ants. I do not blame them. I would 

 not care to sit down at a banquet and have ants crawling all 

 over the repast. There is a specimen of Catocala relicta, the 

 hind wings white, banded with black. How beautiful simple 

 colors are when set in sharp contrast and arranged in graceful 

 lines! There is a specimen of Catocala neogama, which was 

 originally described by Abbot from Georgia. It is not un- 

 common. There is a good Mamesira, and there Pvrophila 

 pyramidoides. The latter is a common species; we shall find 

 scores of them before we get through. Do not bother with 

 those specimens of y^^ro//5 Ypsilon] there are choicer things to 

 be had. It is a waste of time to take them to-night. Let them 

 drink themselves drunk, when the flying squirrels will come and 

 catch them. Do you see that flying squirrel there peeping 

 around the trunk of the tree? Flying squirrels eat insects. I 

 have seen them do it at night, and they have robbed me of many 

 a fine specimen. 



Off now to the next tree! 



And so we go from tree to tree. The lightning in the west 

 grows more vivid. Hark! I hear the thunder. It is half-past 

 nine. The storm will be here by ten. The leaves are beginning 

 to rustle in the tree-tops. The first pulse of the tornado is 

 beginning to be felt. Now the wind is rising. Boom! Boom! 

 The storm is drawing nearer. We are on our second round 

 and are coming up the path near the pasture-gate. Our 



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