On any warm, sunny day from the beginning of August till the middle of October you may see a little brown moth darting swiftly about, with a curious zigzag flight. First it flies for a few feet in one direction, then for a few feet in another direction, and then for a few feet in a third direction, and always at some little height from the ground. This is a male Vapourer Moth, and a very pretty little fellow he is, with bright chestnut-brown wings, and a crescent-shaped white mark in the middle of the front ones. But his mate is not in the least like him. In fact, if you were to see her, you would find it very hard to believe that she was a moth at all; for she has no wings, and looks just like a very fat grey grub. She is so fat, indeed, that she cannot even walk, and has to spend her whole life clinging to the cocoon in which she lived as a chrysalis. And when she has covered this cocoon all over with her little round white eggs she falls to the ground and dies. The caterpillar of the Vapourer moth is very common. You may find it feeding upon the leaves of all sorts of trees and plants in the garden; and you can tell it at once by the row of little tufts of hair, just like tiny shaving-brushes, upon its back. [Illustration: PLATE XXXII 1. Oak Eggar 2. Drinker 3. Drinker Caterpillar] PLATE XXXII THE OAK EGGAR (1) If you walk across a heath or a moor on a hot day in June you may often see a large brown moth dashing wildly about quite close to the ground. This is almost sure to be a male Oak Eggar. You can always tell him from the female by his deep chestnut-brown wings, hers being light brownish-yellow. And besides that, she is a good deal larger than he is, and has a very much stouter body. The caterpillar of this moth is a big brown creature, which you may find feeding upon the leaves of hawthorn bushes in May. You cannot possibly mistake it for that of any other insect, for its body is covered all over with short yellow down, just like fur. If you touch it, or frighten it in any way, it at once drops to the ground and curls itself up into a ring; and then you notice a number of black bands round its body, which are really formed by the dark skin showing through the fur. Early in June this caterpillar spins a dark brown cocoon and changes to a brown chrysalis, out of which the moth hatches about a fortnight or three weeks later. PLATE XXXII THE DRINKER (2 and 3)