ioo SUMMER 



dark garden alleys in July. In June the various species of 

 emerald moths float abroad, obscurely pallid in the gloom, 

 but of exquisitely delicate tints of green when we find them 

 stranded in our windows next morning, or beat them out of 

 the beech-saplings and undergrowth. 



The attraction of bright light for moths at night seems 

 partly due to their habit of frequenting pale blossoms. They 

 are accustomed to visit flowers which advertise themselves 

 in this way, and are consequently sensitive to any illumina- 

 tion in the gloom. In a perfectly wild land, where there 

 were no lamps and few or no fires, moths would not be 

 exposed to the perils which beset them so constantly in 

 populous countries ; and they have never acquired the power 

 of guarding themselves against the fatal fascination of the 

 candle or lamp. In a district where moths of many species 

 abound, a surprising variety can be observed by placing a 

 lamp inside an open window on a warm, cloudy night 

 between nine o'clock and midnight. The commonest species 

 and the chief tribes can be easily distinguished after a few 

 evenings' experience by their method of approach. The 

 strongly-flying noctuse, such as the common yellow under- 

 wing and the dark arches which is one of the commonest 

 June species about lights arrive with a sudden dash which 

 often flings them straight upon the floor as they rebound 

 from the lamp-shade or the wall. Common swifts also flock 

 to light in large numbers near hay-fields about midsummer, 

 and they are betrayed at once by their small size and wildly 

 erratic speed. The flight of the geometers is comparatively 

 weak and flapping, yet because of the more moderate pace 

 with which they arrive they often reach the lamps most 

 directly and singe themselves at the chimney the soonest. 

 There are nights in June and early July when the moths 

 seem seized with madness, and fling themselves through the 



