The Great Peacock 



"A nice state I'm in !" said Mouflard, the 

 Bull-pup, when his pitiless breeder had docked 

 his ears. "How dare I show my face before 

 the other Dogs?" 



Can it be that my Moths entertain Master 

 Mouflard's apprehensions? Once deprived of 

 their fine plumes, dare they no longer appear 

 amidst their rivals and a-wooing go? Is 

 it bashfulness on their part or lack of 

 guidance? Or might it not rather be ex- 

 haustion after a wait that exceeds the 

 duration of an ephemeral flame? Experi- 

 ment shall tell us. 



On the fourth evening, I take fourteen 

 Moths, all new ones, and imprison them, as 

 they arrive, in a room where I intend them to 

 pass the night. Next morning, taking ad- 

 vantage of their daytime immobility, I re- 

 move a little of the fur from the centre of 

 their corselet. The silky fleece comes off so 

 easily that this slight tonsure does not in- 

 convenience the insects at all ; it deprives them 

 of no organ which may be necessary to them 

 later, when the time comes to find the cage. 

 It means nothing to the shorn ones; to me it 

 means the unmistakable sign that the callers 

 have repeated their visit. 



257 



