THE “SHOWN TO THE CHILDREN” SERIES 1. BEASTS With 48 Coloured Plates by PERCY J. BILLINGHURST. Letterpress by LENA DALKEITH. 2. FLOWERS With 48 Coloured Plates showing 150 flowers, by JANET HARVEY KELMAN. Letterpress by C. E. SMITH. 3. BIRDS With 48 Coloured Plates by M. K. C. SCOTT. Letterpress by J. A. HENDERSON. 4. THE SEA-SHORE With 48 Coloured Plates by JANET HARVEY KELMAN. Letterpress by Rev. THEODORE WOOD. 5. THE FARM With 48 Coloured Plates by F. M. B. and A. H. BLAIKIE. Letterpress by FOSTER MEADOW. 6. TREES With 32 Coloured Plates by JANET HARVEY KELMAN. Letterpress by C. E. SMITH. 7. NESTS AND EGGS With 48 Coloured Plates by A. H. BLAIKIE. Letterpress by J. A. HENDERSON. 8. BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS With 48 Coloured Plates by JANET HARVEY KELMAN. Letterpress by Rev. THEODORE WOOD. 9. STARS By ELLISON HAWKS. THE “SHOWN TO THE CHILDREN” SERIES EDITED BY LOUEY CHISHOLM BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS [Illustration: PLATE I 1. Silver-washed Fritillary 2. Pearl-bordered Fritillary] Butterflies and Moths SHOWN TO THE CHILDREN BY JANET HARVEY KELMAN DESCRIBED BY REV. THEODORE WOOD [Illustration] FORTY-EIGHT COLOURED PICTURES LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK NEW YORK: THE PLATT & PECK CO. A large number of the butterflies and moths in this book were drawn from insects in Mr. R. J. M. M‘Kerrell’s private collection, and the artist wishes to thank him most cordially for his great kindness. PREFACE In this little book I want to tell you something about the common butterflies and moths which you may find in almost all parts of the country. But, first of all, I think that perhaps I had better say something about what we generally call their “life-history.” Of course you know that butterflies and moths are not butterflies and moths to begin with. They enter the world in the form of eggs, just as birds and fishes do. These eggs are often very beautiful indeed. You may find them on the leaves of different plants, sometimes on the upper side and sometimes on the lower side. And if you look at them through a good strong magnifying-glass--or, better still, through a microscope--you will find that some are shaped like little sugar-loaves, and some like acorns, and some like tiny melons, while they are nearly always covered with raised patterns which one might almost think must have been cut by fairy chisels.