40 NATURE STUDY. 



in flying the plainer upper sides are less conspicuous. 

 Try to think how this helps the butterfly to escape its 

 many deadly enemies. 



If we are close to the butterfly when at rest, we can see 

 its legs. What does it do with them ? Can a butterfly 

 walk ? If it wished to move along a few inches, would it 

 use its long, slender legs, or would it rise on its strong 

 wings, fly about a moment and finally settle where it wished 

 to be? Some legs are fitted for jumping, like a grasshop- 

 per's ; some for running, like an ant's ; .some for slow walk- 

 ing, like some clumsy beetles', and some for clinging, like 

 the dragon-fly's. Which kind does the butterfly have? 



If the butterfly is feeding, we may be able to see it make 

 use of its long, slender tongue, but as that, together with 

 the antennae and other parts of the body, is most satisfac- 

 torily studied with the insect in hand, we will leave it for 

 some rainy day or winter evening at home. 



As we become accu.stomed to keep a sharp lookout, and 

 learn what to look for, we shall frequently find butterflies 

 laying their eggs. These are tiny, but can be seen with 

 good eyes, and under a magnifier are very beautiful. We 

 must notice on which side of the leaf they are always 

 placed, and what kind of plants are selected by each kind 

 of butterfly. Some of the eggs may be carried home and 

 placed in a jelly tumber, with some cheap netting or screen 

 cloth over it. When the young caterpillars appear, they 

 must be fed on leaves of the same kind of plant that the 

 eggs were found on. In this way the growth and changes 

 of the caterpillar can be watched, until the chrysalis is 

 formed, and at last — often in a few days — a new butterfly 

 appears. 



