130 ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



terflies are subject to them ; but there are few caterpillars which 

 spin so valuable a cocoon as the silkworm. Moreover, some 

 bury themselves in the earth ; while others hide in the middle of 

 a leaf, the edges of which they curl round so as to form a kind 

 of bag, in which they are protected from the beaks of birds; 

 again, some hollow out a shelter in the trunk of a tree, and 

 line their abode with silk more or less fine. Thus, in every case, 

 the chrysalis waits patiently for the time when it will change 

 from a worm into a butterfly, painted with the richest colours." 

 The subject was really an inexhaustible one, so I deferred the 

 rest of my explanations to another day. Besides, I'Encuerado 

 was loudly calling for us. 



