SOLITARY NESTS. 
47 
nious manner. It slits the tent in two, and 
joins in a fresh. piece, so as to allow itself plenty 
of room. It has taken care to fasten the tent 
clown by cords, lest the wind should blow it 
over; and when it wishes to move, it gnaws the 
cords asunder, for it can spin new ones without 
any difficulty. So on it goes, eating, growing, 
and moving, until its caterpillar life is ended. 
There is a little neighbour of this caterpillar, 
that lives upon the leaf of the rose-tree. It does 
not build a tent, but it works its way between 
the membranes of the leaf, where it lives quite 
hidden from sight, and eats the pulp as it goes. 
You may trace its course by the marks and lines 
it has made in its wanderings, and that wind 
about as a river does upon a map. This little 
miner began to dig into the leaf, the moment it 
o O / 
was hatched;, and seemed afraid of moving a hair’s 
breadth from the spot, lest it might fall into 
danger. In course of time it will change into a 
moth,* so extremely small as to pass unnoticed; 
but if you looked at it under a microscope, 
you would be astonished at the brilliance of its 
colours. Even the humming-bird of the tropics 
can hardly compare with it, and it has been called 
a little miracle of nature. Gold, silver, and pearl 
are lavished upon it; and so splendid are its tints, 
* Of the genus Tinea. 
