THE OAK MOTH. 313 



who finds the leaves of his favorite trees curled up and perma- 

 nently disfigured by these little marauders. All of them are of 

 small size, and some so minute that the mere fact of their ability 

 to roll up a leaf is something wonderful. 



They flourish best during mild and rather rainy seasons, be- 

 cause the leaves are charged with moisture, and are so soft that 

 they can easily be rolled, and, moreover, contain a plentiful sup- 

 ply of food. During the present year the Leaf-rollers have suffer- 

 ed greatly, the continual drought having dried up the leaves, ren- 

 dering them both stiff and innutritious. The lilacs in my garden, 

 which are usually covered with these cylindrical nests of Leaf- 

 roller caterpillars, are comparatively free from them, and the few 

 which exist are very poor specimens, several having been aban- 

 doned in a half-made state. In the lilacs of a friend, however, 

 where the soil is about one hundred and twenty feet lower than 

 my own garden, there are plenty of Leaf-roller nests, the ground 

 being much moister than in more elevated situations, and being, 

 moreover, on a different soil. 



The mechanics of the Leaf-roller nest are very curious, and 

 will be presently mentioned. 



Oxe of the most common among the Leaf-rollers is the pretty 

 Oak Moth (Tortrix viridana), which must not be confounded 

 with the oak-egger moth already mentioned. It is a little crea- 

 ture with four rather wide delicate wings, the upper pair of a soft 

 leaf-green, and the under pair of a grayish hue. In some seasons, 

 the moths, or rather their larva?, are so plentiful that great dam- 

 age is done to the oak forests, tree after tree being so covered 

 with them that scarcely a leaf escapes destruction, and the growth 

 of the tree is consequently checked. 



Like all Leaf-rollers, they feed on the green substance, or pa- 

 renchyma of the leaf, and, being ensconced within theif tubular 

 home, can eat without fear of molestation. They are not very 

 much afraid even of the small birds, for as soon as a bill is push- 

 ed into one end of the leafy cylinder, the caterpillar hastily " bun- 

 dles" out of the other — there is no other word which so fully ex- 

 presses the peculiar action of the larva — and lowers itself toward 

 the ground by a silken thread which proceeds from its mouth. 

 In fact, it acts like a spider in similar circumstances. 



Where these insects are plentiful, an absurd effect can be pro- 

 duced by tapping the branches of oak trees with a stick. As the 



