132 



THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



more or less rudimentary. The pupa varies 

 very greatly both in shape and colour, it is 

 sometimes subterreanean, sometimes under 

 bark, among leaves, &c., &c. Some few 

 spin a peculiar boat like cradle in which the 

 pupa reposes, a few others suspend the 

 pupa after the fashion of some of the 

 butterflies. 



Both Doubleday and Stainton follow 

 Guen6e in their arrangement of this group. 

 Seventeen families are represented in these 

 is lists, viz. — 



1 Ourapterydas lo Macaridse 



2 Ennomidae ii Fidonidse 



3 Amphidasidae 12 Zerenidae 



4 Boarmidas 13 Ligidae 



5 Boletobidae 14 Hybernidae 



6 Geometrid^ 15 Larentidse 



7 Ephyridae 16 Eubolidae 



8 Acidalidae 17 Sionidag 



9 Caberidae 



I. OuRAPTERYD^ Contains but one 

 species, the well-known " Swallow-tail " 

 Moth. The larva is twig-like, and the pupa 

 which is rather long, is in a suspended 

 cocoon. 



II. Ennomidze. This family includes 

 twenty-one species in thirteen genera. The 

 wings are angulated, and most of them are 

 yellow or orange coloured, many of them 

 being very pretty. Some of the larvae have 

 12 or 14 legs, but where this occurs the 

 additional pairs are seldom or never used: 

 They are generally twig-like, and some of 

 them, as P. syringaria, are very curious. 

 The pupa is either in a cocoon among leaves 

 or subterranean. E. autumnaria, which is 

 attracting such attention at present, belongs 

 this family. 



III. Amphidasid^. Only six species in 

 four genera occur in this country. In gen- 

 eral appeaarnce they are more like the 

 BoMBYCEs than any other family of the 

 Geometrina, and, like some members of 

 that group, some of the species have 

 wingless females. The imagines have rather 



stout bodies, and the thorax is well covered 

 with down ; the antennae of the males are 

 highly pectinated. They are all greyish in 

 colour, and vary in expanse from over an 

 inch to two inches. The larvae have only 

 ten legs, and are long and slender, bnt only 

 some of them are twig-like. The pupae of 

 all of them are subterranean. 



IV. BoARMiD^. Eighteen species in 

 seven genera are found in this family. They 

 have slender bodies and rather large wings, 

 the same pattern often occurring on both. 

 The larvae have 10 legs, and are generally 

 twig-like. The pupa is nearly always sub- 

 terranean. Two or three species included 

 in Mr. Stainton's Manual are not now 

 recognized. 



V. BoLETOBiD^. Only one species oc- 

 curs in this family, the larva of which feeds 

 on rotten wood and seems most partial to 

 the metropolis. It is placed by Dr. Stau- 

 dinger among the Nogtuina. and next to 

 Aventia flexula, a British species of very 

 doubtful location. 



VI. Geometrid^, This family contains 

 only eight British species in six genera. The 

 imagines are all green in colour, some of 

 them very brilliant, but they fade quickly 

 in the light, and can only be had in perfec- 

 tion by breeding. The larvae are rather 

 shorter and stouter in proportion than 

 others of the group, and are frequently 

 rather rough looking. The pupae are among 

 leaves loosely spun together or in a slight 

 web. 



BRITISH BIRDS, THEIR 

 NESTS AND EGGS. 



By S. L. Mosley. 



Family II. Strigidse. 



The members of this family inhabiting ; 

 Britain are sometimes divided into several ' 

 genera, but the species are so similar that i 

 they may with advantage all be placed in 

 one genus. 



