18 TRIBES OF THE 



Sometimes paler, sometimes darker, 

 Often gloriously coloured, 

 As iu these superb Triphsense ; 

 In the Konpareil, Fraxini ; 

 Crimson Underwing, promissa ; 

 Or the willowfeeding nupta, 

 Common Underwing or nupta. 

 Very beautiful, but common : 

 All these brilliant wings are hidden 

 By the sobercoloured fore wings 

 AVlien the moth by day is resting 

 On the tree trunks or on pahngs. 



Next them the Pykalidina, 

 Verv like the Noctuina, 

 But more slender and more graceful, 

 Their antennte very threadlike, 

 All their bodies smooth and slender ; 

 All their wings are rather larger, 

 More triangular in outline 

 Than in normal Noctuina, 

 And the insect seems more flattened 

 Yv^hcn it rests upon the palings. 

 Their fore legs are rather longer 

 Than the middle or the hind legs. 

 But, my child, it is not easy 

 To decide between these orders ; 

 Still the eye, when fully practised. 

 Sees the difference between them. 



