THEIR MODES OF ESCAPE. 3! 
cic5 have a still better mode of escape, 
for they spin a slender thread whenever 
they move, and when pursued they can 
throw themselves from the leaf, and hang 
by this thread. 
Lucy. Indeed, mamma, I have ob- 
served caterpillars banging just so be- 
tween the bough of a tree and the 
ground, by a thread that I could hardly 
see. 
Mother, But perhaps you did not ob- 
serve, that, when the caterpillar climbs 
up again by the thread, as it cannot help 
spinning while it moves, the thread i^ 
doubled by the time it has reached the 
leaf or spray from w^hich it threw itself; 
it then nips the thread asunder with its 
Jaws, which are very sharp, that it may 
not have an additional weight of thread 
to drag. 
Lucy, I am determined to watch for 
these hanging caterpillars. Do not you 
think that under the large oak in the 
lawn, or perhaps at the lime tree with 
the seat under it, I might see them : 
