BRITISH BUTTERFLIES 



thicker part of a branch are usually more effective 

 than any amount of indiscriminate thrashing of the 

 foliage and smaller twigs. Some collectors, however, 

 prefer to search the leaves and twigs for the caterpillars 

 and rarely bring the beating stick into action. 



Two friends, one an advocate of forcible ejectment, 

 and the other an expert in the more gentle art, decided 

 to test the two methods when on an expedition for 

 caterpillars of the Large Emerald, which feed on birch, 

 hazel and alder. At the close of the trial the searcher 

 had eight caterpillars and the beater only two. Seven 

 moths were subsequently reared from the eight cater- 

 pillars, but neither of those that fell to the beating 

 stick reached the chrysalis stage. 



It is the habit of many kinds of moths to sit during 

 the day on tree-trunks, rocks, palings and other sorts 

 of fencing, etc., and the collector often secures a goodly 

 bag by simply walking about a wood, or by the side of 

 a long stretch of paling. Some moths are rather 

 conspicuous objects when resting in this way, but others 

 seem to so closely match whatever they are upon that 

 their detection is at first somewhat difficult. Many 

 collectors become such adepts at the sport that they 

 can not only see a moth on a tree several yards away 

 from them, but very often they can tell whether or not 

 it happens to be of the kind they want. Such efficiency 

 is, however, only acquired by considerable experience. 



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