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making a meal of his old coat. Mostly all caterpil- 

 lars are very voracious eaters. When placed in localities 

 where they have plenty of food, they will consume in 

 twenty-four hours more than twice their own weight of 

 food. Some naturalists say that a caterpillar, one month 

 after leaving the egg, will increase nearly thirty thous- 

 and times their original weight. Should this statement 

 be correct, it is little wonder that they grow so quickly 

 out of their skin. There are two other species of cater- 

 pillars that would deserve special notice, but from my 

 very imperfect knowledge of their habits, I can do little more 

 thanjust allude to them— I mean the LeafroUers and the 

 Leafminers. The LeafroUers are very numerous. They are 

 named LeafroUers from their curious mode of rolling up the 

 leaf which they feed on. They roll up the leaf in the form 

 of a tube, and fix it by the means of silk threads to the 

 position which their habits dictate. Every species has a 

 different plan of rolling the leaf Some use one leaf, some 

 take three leaves, to make one habitation. On all occasions 

 the leaf is curled in the form of a tube, and open at both 

 ends. The caterpillar lives and feeds in the interior of the 

 tube dwelHng ; and when he has eaten himself out of house 

 and home, he just sets about making another dwelling, and 

 so on till he is full fed up. These snug dwellings afford the 

 creatures a great means of protection, not only from the 

 Ichneumon fly, but also from the birds. All the leaf-rolling 

 larva are very active in their habits ; and their houses being 

 open at both ends, they can back out at one end just as fast 

 as they can run out at the other ; so that, should a bird poke 

 his bill in at one end, they just tumble out at the other, and 

 drop about three feet, and there he hangs by the means of 

 a few silk threads, which they are always provided with ; 

 and when the danger is past, they wind themselves up by 

 coiling the silk round their pro-legs, and in this way they 

 soon regain their old home. Any one may observe the same 

 thing for themselves during the summer months, by striking 

 the branches of the oak trees a good rap with a stick, when 



