SEPTEMBER. 
293 
among the foliage of the maples ? an earnest of that splendid 
livery which will clothe all the forest in a few weeks. 
C. — What birds are those which are hovering in a cloud 
about yonder field of buckwheat ? 
F. — They are the common Passenger Pigeon ( Columba 
Migratoria J ; they devour a great quantity of that grain^ in 
seasons when they are numerous with us. It is, I believe, 
the only mischief we sustain from them ; and the gun takes 
ample revenge. 
C. — While the leaves of the trees are yet green, I am dili- 
gent in beating them for lepidopterous caterpillars : I have 
had much success in obtaining these lately, some of which I 
will mention to you. I have taken several of the fine green vel- 
vety caterpillars of the Tiger Swallowtail f Papilio Turnus ), 
with violet spots on the body, and two eye spots. It spins a 
bed of silk so tightly stretched from one edge of a leaf to the 
other as to bend it up, so that a section of it would represent 
a bow, the silk being the string. On this elastic bed the 
larva reposes, the fore parts of the body drawn in so as to 
swell out that part, on which the eye spots are very conspi- 
cuous. I have taken it from willow, poplar, and basswood, 
but chiefly from brown ash. Before it spins its button and 
suspending girth, it gradually changes colour to a dingy 
purple. The chrysalis is brown, with many darker blotches. 
The caterpillars of the Muff Moth ( Lophocampa Tesselaris ) 
are also numerous on ash, willow, poplar, and apple trees ; 
these are very pretty, covered with a thick, soft, long fur 
generally bright yellow in the middle, and black at each 
end ; but in many the yellow, and in others the black, 
predominates, to the almost total exclusion of the other 
colour. They spin oval cocoons, slight and thin in texture, 
being in a great degree composed of the hairs of the cater- 
pillar ; these are found attached to the under sides of stones, 
&c. in spring. I find caterpillars of that division called 
