There are times when your only plan of netting a butterfly is to sweep it from a flower or leaf on which it has settled. If the vegetation is very low, you have simply to bring the net down upon it, and then, holding up the apex of the net with the other hand so as to give it room to fly, you can inclose it by grasping the lower part of the net as soon as the butterfly has fluttered upward. If the herbage is tall it is advisable to strike either upward or sideways at the insect, starting it from the leaf or flower on which it rests; for if you bring _down_ the net you will have to inclose the whole or part of the plant on which the butterfly has settled--a procedure that often ends in a torn net, or in the insect becoming damaged through being rubbed against the plant. Whenever you capture a butterfly by a sweep of the net through the air, you immediately turn the ring into a horizontal position, so that the bag of the net closes itself as it falls over the edge. This gives you an opportunity of examining the insect before you introduce your killing bottle. This is a very necessary precaution, for you are generally unable to judge of the condition of a butterfly while on the wing, and in some cases you cannot even be certain of the species. If, then, you were to call the killing bottle into requisition for every capture you make, you would certainly find yourself taking the life of many an insect that is of no use whatever to you. Always examine your specimens at the moment they have been secured, at least as far as it is possible to do so, by looking through the gauze; and let your examination be as brief as possible, or some of the butterflies that were at first in splendid condition will render themselves useless to you during their struggles to get away. When satisfied that an insect is likely to be of value to you, keep it in the apex of the net by grasping the bag beneath it with the left hand, and then introduce the opened killing bottle with the other hand. As a rule you will experience not the slightest difficulty in coaxing it into its trap, and then you quickly cover the mouth of the killing bottle with the gauze, then apply your left hand, using it as a temporary stopper for a few seconds, and now, the insect having been quieted, replace the cork. A good killing bottle is almost instantaneous in its action, not only stupefying, but immediately killing the insects; and as soon as you are sure that each specimen is quite dead, you may pin it in your collecting box. You must be cautious, however, on the one hand, that you do not take it out too soon. If you do you may find that it recovers from the mere stupefying effect of the poison, even after it has been pinned, and when you open your collecting box for the next butterfly, you are horrified at the sight of the poor victim struggling to free itself.