348 
ANIMALS OF EGA. 
Chap. V. 
may be made on the singular cases and cocoons woven 
hj the caterpillars of certain moths found at Ega. The 
first that may be mentioned, is one of the 
most beautiful examples of insect work- 
manship I ever saw. It is a cocoon, about 
the size of a sparrow's egg, woven by a 
caterpillar in broad meshes of either buft 
or rose-coloured silk, and is frequently 
seen in the narrow alleys of the forest, sus- 
pended from the extreme tip of an out- 
standing leaf by a strong silken thread five 
or six inches in length. It forms a very 
conspicuous object, hanging thus in mid- 
air. The glossy threads with which it is 
knitted are stout, and the structure is 
therefore not liable to be torn by the beaks 
of insectivorous birds, whilst its pendulous 
position makes it doubly secure against 
their attacks, the apparatus giving way 
when they peck at it. There is a small 
orifice at each end of the egg-shaped bag, 
to admit of the escape of the moth when ^^'PfMoth.''"'''''' 
it changes from the little chrysalis which 
sleeps tranquilly in its airy cage. The moth is of a 
