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day, upon the leaves of the tree, going and returning in a 

 single procession. As they crawl over twig and leaf, they 

 spin from their mouths a silken thread, which in time 

 forms a pathway of silk, serving to render their footing 

 more secure and assist them in again finding their way 

 back to their common habitation. They are hardy little 

 creatures, and can fast many days without apparent suffering. 

 During stormy weather they do not leave their tents, and 

 sometimes as many as three or four days elapse without their 

 partaking of food. The first warm weather often hatches 

 the young and causes them to appear before the leaves are 

 unfolded, and they then subsist on the glutinous substance 

 on the outside of the egg; which substance has also served 

 to prevent the winter storms from destroying the eggs. 

 After five or six weeks have elapsed, they having 

 changed their skins four times, the caterpillars become 

 fully grown, and for the first time scatter independently 

 of each other, and seek to find a shelter in which 

 to spin their cocoons. These cocoons are of a long, 

 oval form, composed of silk, woven loosely, the 

 crevices being filled with a paste, which, on drying, 

 becomes yellow, and resembles sulphur. 



After remaining in the chrysalis state from fourteen to 

 seventeen days, the insect bursts its chrysalis skin and 

 forces its way out of the softened end of the cocoon and 

 issues forth as a moth. Many die either from weakness or 

 injury, during the chrysalis state, by small maggots, which 

 subsist upon the inside of the chrysalis and come forth in 

 time as a small four-winged Ichneumon fly. They are 

 kept in partial subjection by these parasites. It is also 

 said that some of our birds peck at the nests of the cater- 

 pillars, and destroy many in that way, but do not subsist 

 entirely upon them. 



The moth expands from one inch and a quarter to one 

 inch and a half. It is of a rusty, reddish-brown color, the 

 front wings being divided into nearly three equal parts, by 

 two white lines, between which the color is paler in the 



