l6o NATURE STUDY. 



"great, green, nasty thing " will come to the garden at 

 twilight, flitting about the shrubbery, hovering over the 

 flowers, and drawing nectar from the blossoms through its 

 long tube. 



The caterpillars of the Hawk-moths do not spin silken 

 cocoons, but burrow down into the earth, where they make 

 a smooth cell by turning round and round until the shape 

 and size just suit them. Then they go to sleep and wait 

 until the flowers come again, when they emerge to fly away 

 as beautiful winged creatures of the twilight hour. 



Most moths fly at night or at dusk, and when at rest 

 hold their wings flat, but there is one small family whose 

 members fly in the daytime and have the habit of folding 

 their wings on the abdomen in such a way as to resemble 

 the roof of a house. Although there are only a few spe- 

 cies, they are quite common, and may be found on almost 

 any day in summer, resting upon shrubbery or on the 

 grass in fields, from which they rise and fly when dis- 

 turbed. Of course they are easily recognized by the way 

 they hold their wings. Specimens can readily be secured 

 another summer, but if there are already some in the col- 

 lection, as is most likely, they should be pinned by them- 

 selves and labeled with the family name, Cymatophoridse, 

 which means "the wave-bearers," the name being given 

 because these moths have beautiful wavy lines on their 

 front wings. 



There are very many other families of moths, but it would 

 only serve to weary the children to attempt to do so much 

 as merely mention them. It is better to become familiar 

 with a few. There is one other family, however, that we 

 must not overlook altogether, and as there is no more 

 space in this lesson, we will remember to tell something 

 about it next time, before taking up the butterflies. 



