196 THE WOODLANDS. 



recorded. In times past there was undoubtedly a 

 prevalent belief that an unusually large number of 

 insects making their appearance was a presage of 

 coming evil. 



Insect-hunters, like anglers, adopt manoeuvres to 

 beguile their prey, and of these the most universal is 

 called " sugaring." It consists in smearing the trunks 

 of trees on the borders of woods with a mixture of 

 coarse sugar dissolved in beer and flavoured with a 

 spoonful of rum. This is done at dusk, and shortly 

 afterwards the trees are visited in turn with a " bulPs- 

 eye " lantern, when moths will be found busy at the 

 sugar, and are then transferred deftly into pill-boxes. 

 The moths caught by this method in the greatest 

 number are the sombre-coloured, thick-bodied 

 " Noctuas," which are almost exclusively night-fliers. 

 Some few are more brightly coloured, but the rule is 

 in favour of funereal tints. As a rule, the fore-wings 

 entirely cover and hide the hind-wings when the 

 insect is at rest. The tracery of the fore-wings is 

 rarely continued on the hind-wings, which latter are 

 commonly of a uniform colour, except a marginal band 

 or line. 



One of the most common of these moths is the 

 Grey-dagger, with dagger-like marks conspicuous 

 amongst the delicate tracery of the fore-wings. The 

 caterpillar is a tree-feeder, and the chrysalis is found 

 in the cracks of the bark. The Wainscots are all 

 very deficient in characteristic markings. The large 

 and small yellow underwings are common everywhere 

 at midsummer, and are favourites with young entomo- 

 logists because they are large, showy, and readily 



