88 LITTLE ERMINE MOTH. 



the apple, the exit of the grub, and his wandering to this 

 place of security j usually take place in the night time. In 

 this situation he remains without stirring for a day or two, 

 as if to rest himself after the uncommon fatigue of a two 

 yards 7 march - y he then gnaws away the bark a little in or- 

 der to get further in out of the way of observation ; and 

 having made a smooth chamber big enough for his wants, 

 he spins a beautiful, little, milk-white, silken case, in which, 

 after a few weeks, he becomes a chrysalis, and in this 

 state remains throughout the winter and until the follow- 

 ing June, unless some unlucky, b]ack-headed tit, running 

 up the trunk, peeping into every cranny, and whistling out 

 his merry see-saw, happen to spy him, in which case he is 

 plucked without ceremony from his retreat, and his last 

 moments are spent in the bird's crop ; but supposing no 

 such ill-fortune betide him, by the middle of June he is 

 again on the wing, and hovering round the young apples 

 on a midsummer evening as before. 



By burning weeds in your gardens at this time of year 

 you will effectually drive away this little moth. If you 

 have trees the crops of which you value, make a smoking 

 (mind, not a blazing) fire under each ; it will put you to 

 some inconvenience if your garden be near your house, 

 but the apples will repay you for that. 



Who has not noticed the white-thorn hedges stripped of 

 their leaves, and the twigs matted together with a web ? 

 and who has not heard the appearance attributed to east 

 wind and to blight ? The blight is nothing more than the 

 caterpillar of a small moth, the LITTLE ERMINE MOTH,* 

 which lays its eggs on the twigs the year before. When 



* Yponomeuta padella. E. N. 



