200 THE MOTH, AND THE 



(coccinella septem punctata), was so obvious, as to be 

 remarked by very indifferent persons. 



There is a large yellow under-wing moth (phalaena 

 pronuba), too, which is generally abundant. It hides 

 itself during the day in the thickest foliage, and screens 

 itself from the light in the moist grass crops of the 

 rnead, where it is perpetually disturbed, and roused 

 from its rest, by the Scythe of the mower. That ele- 

 gant little bird, the yellow wagtail, is a great destroyer 

 of this insect. It is very soon apprized of these move- 

 ments, and will often attend the steps of the mower, 

 fearless of harm, to watch for its prey. As soon as the 

 moth rises, it is chased ; and its exertions and shiftings 

 to escape, and the activity and perseverance of the bird 

 to capture it, are very amusing. 



Our lepidopterous insects feed upon various sub- 

 stances in their several states, and most of our butter- 

 flies, when perfected, appear to extract the sweet liquor 

 from the tubes or nectaries of plants, and many of our 

 moths obtain their nourishment by, similar means : but 

 one butterfly alone, the admirable (v. Atalanta), and at 

 times the peacock (v. lo), feeds upon the juices of our 

 autumnal fruits ; and in the months of September and 

 October we may frequently see these beautiful creatures 

 basking and regaling themselves upon the rejected frag- 

 ments of our wall fruit. They seldom prey upon the 

 growing produce, like the hornet, wasp, and hive bee, 

 but when it has fallen and advanced to a state of fer- 

 mentation, it becomes the most grateful to them. No- 

 thing can be less injurious than this propensity, and it 

 seems that fruit in such a state is requisite for them by 

 some constitutional formation, as they appear only at 

 the termination of a season when the product of our 

 trees is in a state of great ripeness and decay. The life 

 of this creature appears to be remarkably short, and we 

 have more certain means of ascertaining its duration, 

 than are afforded us for others of the race. It very 

 rarely appears until late in September, and then so per- 

 fect and fresh in its plumage as to manifest its recent 

 production from the chrysalis. In some years they 

 abound, and we may see twenty of these beautiful crea- 



