222 THE CLOTHES MOTH. 



we find some piece of material containing moth- 

 larvae, we are usually too intent upon destroying 

 them to bestow much thought upon the habits of 

 the creature ; but I have discovered of late that 

 even these moths are so curious as to be well 

 worth a little careful study. I will relate how 

 I came to know something about the life-history 

 of some of the Tinece, the name by which this 

 species of insect is known. 



Many years ago a friend gave me some beautiful 

 grey feathers of birds which he had obtained 

 during a voyage up the Nile. The majority of 

 these feathers had been arranged in my feather- 

 books, but a few remained in a drawer, and on 

 examining them after a lapse of time I found they 

 were shredded and perforated till only fragments 

 were left. Quantities of little grey cases, or 

 cocoons, showed that what had gained access to 

 the feathers was moth. As I was then specially 

 interested in the subject of domestic natural 

 history, the living inmates of our houses, these 

 cases were exactly what I wished to study. Ac- 

 cordingly I made a collection of them and covered 

 them with a glass shade until I should find leisure 



