BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 77 



like a ring upon a finger. Some butterflies secure 

 their eggs from the injuries of air, by covering 

 them with hair plucked from their own bodies, 

 as birds sometimes are seen to make their nests ; 

 so that their eggs are thus kept warm, and also 

 entirely concealed. 



All the tribe of female moths lay their eggs a 

 short time after they leave the aurelia ; but there 

 are many butterflies that flutter about the whole 

 summer, and do not think of laying till the win- 

 ter begins to warn them of their approaching 

 end; some even continue the whole winter in 

 the hollows of trees, and do not provide for pos- 

 terity until the beginning of April, when they 

 leave their retreats, deposit their eggs, and die. 

 Their eggs soon begin to feel the genial influence 

 of the season ; the little animals burst from them 

 in their caterpillar state, to become aurelias and 

 butterflies in their turn, and thus to continue the 

 round of nature. 



CHAPTER IV. 



OP THE ENEMIES OF THE CATERPILLAR. 



NATURE, though it has rendered some animals 

 surprisingly fruitful, yet ever takes care to pre- 

 vent their too great increase. One set of crea- 

 tures is generally opposed to another j and those 



