PREFACE 



JN this little book I want to tell you something 

 about the common butterflies and moths which 

 you may find in almost all parts of the country. 

 But, first of all, I think that perhaps I had better 

 say something about what we generally call their 

 " life-history." 



Of course you know that butterflies and moths 

 are not butterflies and moths to begin with. 

 They enter the world in the form of eggs, just 

 as birds and fishes do. These eggs are often 

 very beautiful indeed. You may find them on 

 the leaves of different plants, sometimes on the 

 upper side and sometimes on the lower side. 

 And if you look at them through a good strong 

 magnifying -glass — or, better still, through a 

 microscope — you will find that some are shaped 

 like little sugar-loaves, and some like acorns, 

 and some like tiny melons, while they are nearly 

 always covered with raised patterns which one 

 might almost think must have been cut by fairy 

 chisels. 



In course of time these eggs hatch, and out 

 come a number of little caterpillars, which at 

 once begin to eat the leaves of the plant on 

 which the eggs were laid. They have most 

 wonderful appetites, and hardly ever stop feeding 

 ix b 



