“The woolly bear and the cabbage caterpillar move about in the same way,” said Frank. “But look at those currant caterpillars, Uncle George, what a funny way they have of getting along!” “These belong to a kind of caterpillars known as ‘loopers,’” said his uncle. “They move about by looping up their bodies in this strange manner.” “I do not like to handle those hairy caterpillars,” Tom remarked. “Why are they covered with those nasty long hairs?” “You have just given the reason, Tom. You don’t like to touch them on account of these hairs; neither do animals. No bird will eat one of these. If he does, he will never eat another. “Notice how they coil up like a hedgehog when they are touched. This makes them more difficult to swallow. Just imagine how a bird would feel with one of these ticklish customers stuck in his throat, eh? “Now, boys, make a sketch of one of the tiny eggs, also one of the big cabbage caterpillar, and then we will go out and have a game of cricket on the lawn.” Exercises on Lesson XII. 1. Where would you look for the eggs of the white butterfly? Why are they always laid upon the same kind of plant, and why _under_ the leaf? 2. Explain how caterpillars breathe. 3. Take any caterpillars you find. Observe the leaves you find them feeding upon. Give them fresh leaves every day, and watch how they grow. 4. Why has the “woolly bear” caterpillar got a hairy coat? What does he usually feed upon? XIII.—THE WHITE BUTTERFLY. Uncle George had to go from home for a week, and his two nephews went part of the way to the railway station with him. As they were about to take a short cut through the wood, Uncle George went up to a huge beech tree. He looked very closely at its grey trunk for a time, then stepping back from it about three yards, exclaimed:— “Come here boys! Stand beside me, look closely at this tree, and tell me if you see any strange objects sticking to the bark.” After staring at it for some time, they both declared that they could see nothing upon it. “Go nearer—nearer still! Now, do you see anything?” The boys shook their heads. “Go quite close up to the trunk and examine it,” said Uncle George. “Oh,” said Frank suddenly, “I see queer things like grubs, coloured almost exactly like the bark. Some of them are lighter in colour.” “Look carefully at those lighter ones, and you will find that they are just empty cases.” “So they are,” said Frank, as he touched one with his finger and saw it crush up. “Notice how they are fixed to the bark!” said Uncle George. The boys watched as their uncle placed his pencil under one of the darker coloured objects, and saw that it was slung up to the tree by a loose silken girdle round its middle, while a tuft of fine threads fastened the lower end to the bark.