166 WOODLAND IDYLS. 



grees at a single plunge would cause a quake to 

 run down my spine, but the frog seems used to 

 it. However, each time he jumps he utters a 

 little croak of protest, then "kerplunk." 



My first visitor this morn was a catocala moth 

 or "underwing" which flew inside the tent as 

 I was dressing and alighted on the front wall 

 above the door. When I went out away it flew 

 to the bole of the near-by oak. It is but one of 

 thirty-five or more belonging to the same group 

 which, during the next six weeks, will pass the 

 heyday of their existence in the open woods of 

 this region. Flat against the bark of beech, 

 maple, oak and other trees these underwings 

 rest in daytime. There they are invisible till 

 they move, unless one is in especial search for 

 them. Among them are some of the most beau- 

 tiful of our night flyers. The fore wings, which 

 overlap the others when at rest, are usually 

 dark or sooty gray, mottled and shaded with a 

 paler hue. The hind wings, which show only 

 when they fly, are often very prettily varie- 

 gated or cross-banded with black and crimson, 

 black and yellow or other colors, and for this 

 reason all are known as "underwings." The 

 one seen this morn had the hind wings an iri- 

 descent sooty brown, edged with silvery gray. 64 

 How handsome are some simple colors when set 

 in sharp contrast and arranged in graceful lines. 



* Catocala dejecta Strecker. 



