300 PRACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



a nasty trick of " dropping " at tlie least alarm ; to prevent this, 

 the whipcord of the net (Fig. 43 or Fig. 46), should be always 

 pressed close to the tree to receive them. The cyanide bottle 

 should be held with the left hand, and the insect gently 

 " flicked " in with a disengaged finger, the cork held in the right 

 hand to close the bottle as quickly as possible. My readers will 

 say, How is the necessary lantern held all this time ? Between 

 the teeth by a piece of wood, or leather, fixed round the top or 

 swinging handle ; or by being strapped on the chest at the 

 height of the sugar patch. This is, of course, on the assumption 

 that you work solus — not too pleasant if in a lonely wood for 

 three or four days and nights. Unless you are greedy, there- 

 fore, and wish to make a regular trade of your loneliness, you 

 will find that a friend, holding the lantern or net while you 

 "bottle," is not by any means prohibitory to enjoyable col- 

 lecting. Two working together can get over more ground than 

 one, and what one friend misses, the other stops. 



From dusk to eleven on a favourable night in the summer 

 months the fun is fast and furious ; thousands of moths of the 

 common sorts come and go ; now and then a " good thing " to 

 sweeten the toil. The " Peach Blossoms " and " Buff Arches " 

 slacken at about half-past nine, and do not reappear until 

 exactly the same light reappears in the morning, going on well 

 into the daylight. In fact, I have taken them still coming to 

 the sugar as late as a quarter past three, when the first rays of 

 the sun were just appearing. This is one of the most curious 

 things about sugaring. The swarming of one species at a 

 certain hour of the night, their almost total disappearance, and 

 their replacement by moths of quite a diflierent genus, giving 

 way again to others ; then comes a lull — remarked by everyone 

 — between half-past eleven and one or half-past, then a rush 

 again up to daylight, when they all disappear, save one or two, 

 who remain until they tumble dead drunk off the tree — a 

 shocking example to the wood fairies, who are popularly sup- 

 posed to draw the line at rum ! Another curious thing is that 

 you may sugar in a wood for years and will always find certain 

 trees unprofitable. I remember one tree in a favourite wood, which 

 tree I sugared for years without taking a single moth from it. You 

 can assign no reason for this, as the unproductive tree may 



