114 COMMON CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. 



and black above, the former clothed with hoary pu- 

 bescence on the thorax. Males sometimes occur 

 spotted with black on the upper wings, somewhat 

 in a similar manner to the female. 



The caterpillar is green, having a narrow line of 

 yellow along the back, and another on each side of 

 the belly ; the body pretty thickly covered with black 

 tubercular points, each of them -with a hair in the 

 centre. Besides consuming the different varieties of 

 the common cabbage (brocoli, cauliflower, &c.), this 

 destructive caterpillar has been often found to attack 

 the turnip, and its voracity is so great, that these 

 useful vegetables would often be completely destroy- 

 ed, were it riot for the numerous enemies which 

 prevent its superabundant increase. Of these, the 

 most formidable arc the parasitical ichneumons, es* 

 pecially the minute species formerly described,* and 

 others allied to it. The small birds likewise destroy 

 great numbers. " I once observed a titmouse (P- 

 rus major}" says Haworth, "take five or six large 

 ones to its nest in a very few minutes. In inclosed 

 gardens, sea-gulls, with their wings cut, are of infi- 

 nite service. I had one eight years, which was killed 

 by accident, that lived entirely all the while upon the 

 insects, slugs, and worms he found in the garden. 

 Poultry of any sort will soon clear a small piece of 

 ground ; but unless they are of the web-footed kind 

 they do much mischief, by scratching the earth/ 

 But perhaps the most effectual method would be to 



