THE OAK EGGAR 208 



worth examination. It was a fine cocoon, thick and with 

 blunt ends, very like a silkworm's cocoon, firm to the 

 touch and of a tawny colour. A brief reference to 

 the text-books almost convinced me that this was a 

 cocoon of the Bomhyx quercusJ- If so, what a find ! I 

 could continue my inquiry and perhaps confirm what 

 my study of the Great Peacock had made me suspect. 



The Bombyx of the oak-tree is, in fact, a classic 

 moth ; indeed, there is no entomological text-book but 

 speaks of its exploits at mating-time. It is said that a 

 female emerged from the pupa in captivity, in the 

 interior of an apartment, and even in a closed box. It 

 was far from the country, amidst the tumult of a large 

 city. Nevertheless, the event was known to those 

 concerned in the woods and meadows. Guided by some 

 mysterious compass, the males arrived, hastening from 

 the distant fields ; they went to the box, fluttered against 

 it, and flew to and fro in the room. 



These marvels I had learned by reading ; but to see 

 such a thing with one's own eyes, and at the same time 

 to devise experiments, is quite another thing. What had 

 my penny bargain in store for me ? Would the famous 

 Bombyx issue from it ? 



Let us call it by its other name, the Banded Monk. 

 This original name of Monk was suggested by the 

 costume of the male ; a monk's robe of a modest rusty 

 red. But in the case of the female the brown fustian 

 gives place to a beautiful velvet, with a pale transversal 

 band and little white eyes on the fore pair of wings. 



The Monk is not a common butterfly which can be 

 caught by any one who takes out a net at the proper 

 * Now classified as Lasiocampa quercus. — [Trans.] 



