This seems rather an odd name to give to a moth, doesn’t it? But it really belongs to the caterpillar, which you may often see drinking the dewdrops on the long grass on which it feeds. It is a very hairy caterpillar, of a dark brown colour, with yellow spots and streaks upon its sides, and little tufts of short white down between them. I would advise you to be very careful in handling it, for its long hairs have a way of working themselves into one’s skin, and causing big swellings and a great deal of irritation. Indeed, if you were to rub your eyes after handling one of these caterpillars, you would run a good deal of risk of losing your sight! Drinker caterpillars are very common indeed in some places, and you may often see them feeding on the long grass by the roadside in May. About the beginning of June they spin shuttle-shaped yellow cocoons, which are always fastened to stout grass-stems, and turn to dark brown chrysalids, out of which the moths hatch in July. The male moth, like that of the “oak eggar,” is a good deal smaller than the female, and is much darker in colour. [Illustration: PLATE XXXIII 1. Lappet 2. Lappet Caterpillar] PLATE XXXIII THE LAPPET (1 and 2) When this moth first hatches out of the chrysalis it is really a very beautiful insect, for although the wings are reddish-brown all over, they have a kind of purple bloom on them, just like that on a ripe plum. But after a day or two this bloom always gets worn off. The moth is not at all an uncommon one, and yet one hardly ever sees it. The reason is that when it sits with its wings folded together over its back, as it almost always does, it is exactly like a dead leaf. You might look straight at it from only a few inches away, and never imagine for a moment that it was really a moth. And if it is hard to see the moth, it is still harder to see the caterpillar, which flattens itself against the branches of blackthorn bushes, and looks just like a piece of rather rough bark. You may find this caterpillar--if you look for it _very_ carefully indeed--in May and June. A little before midsummer it spins a long blackish cocoon, either among the leaves of its food-plant or amongst grass quite close to the ground, and changes to a smooth black chrysalis, out of which the moth appears early in July. PLATE XXXIV THE SWALLOW-TAILED MOTH (1 and 2) You may often see this handsome moth flying about in the garden on warm evenings in July; and during the daytime you may sometimes shake it out of ivy, or out of the leaves of a thick bush, in which it has taken refuge from the unwelcome daylight. It is easy to see why it is called the “Swallow-tailed” Moth, for on the hind-wings are two little “tails,” very much like those of the “swallow-tailed butterfly.”