TREACLING 159 



And here is black arches, not very common in this 

 country, but one of the chief pests of some Conti- 

 nental lands the " Monacha butterfly," as it was 

 recently called in one of our dailies when the news of 

 special ravage by its caterpillar came from Germany. 



We are soon in the thick of our work, the " pill- 

 box " or killing-bottle being in constant requirement 

 as one desirable beauty after another is recognised in 

 the feeding throng. In the soft setting of night our 

 moths glow with a beauty as complete and as varied 

 as the gaudiest butterflies on bright flowers in the 

 sunshine. Indeed, if the exquisitely pencilled moth 

 and the gayest of the butterflies, such as small copper 

 or red admiral, met side by side on the midnight 

 treacle, it is by no means the moth that would be 

 outshone. The purple and orange of the herald, 

 though they be but moth-purple and moth-orange, 

 must furnish a robe of high brilliance as seen by the 

 people of the dark. The glistening, jewel-like point 

 on the fore-wing is not equalled by the inlaid mother- 

 of-pearl of the fritillaries or by the best sheen of the 

 hair-streaks. The peach-blossom is another moth out 

 of many whose appearance at the treacle could never 

 fail, however frequently it might happen, to gratify 

 the heart of him who has spread the feast. 



We should need to acquire the nocturnal eye in 

 order to appreciate half the undoubted beauty that 

 attends our banquet in the wood. Broadly smudged 

 with every shade of pretty grey, brown, yellow ; 

 shaded to a nicety so that each light bar is admirably 

 thrown up and often made to represent an embossed 

 pattern ; boldly inscribed with figure-of-eight, heart 

 and dart, dagger or Greek letter, they offer repeated 



