We looked about the leaves of a wild-carrot, and, on the under side of two or three, safe from the wet, we found a cluster of pale greenish eggs. “See,” I said, “the bird dipped down, and picked up the butterfly, while it was clinging to the leaf, laying its eggs. “Or, perhaps the eggs were all laid, and the butterfly was resting on the bush. Many of these insects die, soon after the eggs are laid. When the eggs are safely placed, the insect seems to feel tired and dull.” Then we looked at the black and yellow wings through the microscope. “See all these little scales and plumes!” said Hermie. “They lie thick as a bird’s feathers! Once I put a butterfly in a box. When I let him out, the box was all dusted over with gold dust. But the butterfly did not look _bare_. He seemed as well dressed as ever.” Then we looked at the head. “What big eyes!” said Hermie, “and that curled-up thing is his mouth. I have seen him drinking with it out of flowers. I do think butterflies are the prettiest things that are made!” Many persons think the butterflies are the most beautiful of all the insects. Next to the beetles they are the most numerous order. They have, also, been the most studied. Let us look at them a little. The butterflies belong to the great order of the scale-wings. To this order belong two groups of very beautiful insects. We will look at them. They are the butterflies and the moths. The butterflies are insects of the day. The moths are generally insects of the night. Even when the moths fly by day they can be easily known from the butterflies. The butterfly always has a knob or a point on the end of his horns. The ends of the moth’s horns are pointed. When the butterfly is at rest, his wings are held up and laid flat against each other. Thus the top sides are hidden, and the under sides show. His wings are called vans. The moth rests with his wings folded along his body or laid out flat. They cling close to what he rests upon. If they bend at all, they bend downward, not upward. The body of the moth is shorter and thicker, more wedge-shaped, than that of the butterfly. Now, for a look at our butterfly. The head is small and moves freely. It is not set in a socket to the body, but held by a little neck. On each side of the head is a great, bright eye with many thousand facets, or surfaces. At the back of the head of a butterfly are generally two small, simple eyes. These are usually hidden under long hairs. Do you see the soft hairs which clothe all the butterfly’s body? For you must notice that the butterfly wears an elegant, soft, velvet coat of fine hairs. This coat is usually black or brown. But it has often stripes or spots of a lighter color. On the top of the head the butterfly carries a pair of many-jointed horns. As I told you, the ends of these are little knobs.