is the only
butterfly that is a pest.

2nd. The _Yellow_ or _Clouded Sulphur Butterfly_. You are sure to find
it, as soon as you begin to look for butterflies. This is the one that
is often seen in flocks about mud puddles.

When I was a very small boy, I once caught a dozen of them, and made a
little beehive to hold them, thinking that they would settle down and
make themselves at home, just like bees or pigeons. But the grown-ups
made me let them fly away, for the Sulphur is a kindly creature, and
does little or no harm.

One of the most beautiful things I ever came across, was, when about ten
years old, I saw on a fence stake ahead of me a big bird that was red,
white and blue, with a flaming yellow fan-crest. Then as I came closer,
I knew that it was a red-headed woodpecker, with a Sulphur Butterfly in
his beak; this made the crest; what I thought was blue turned out to be
his glossy black back reflecting the blue sky.

3rd. The next is the _Red Admiral_ or _Nettle Butterfly_. The "red" part
of the name is right, but why "Admiral"? I never could see unless it was
misprint for "Admirable."

[Illustration: Red Admiral]

[Illustration: Tiger Swallowtail (life size)]

This beautiful insect lays its eggs and raises its young on nettles, and
where nettles are, there is the Red Admiral also. And that means over
nearly all the world! Its caterpillar is not very well protected with
bristles, not at all when compared with the Woolly-bear, but it lives in
the nettles, and, whether they like it or not, the hospitable nettles
with their stings protect the caterpillar. The crawler may be grateful,
but he shows it in a poor way, for he turns on the faithful nettle, and
eats it up. In fact the only food he cares about is nettle-salad, and he
indulges in it several times a day, yes all day long, eating, growing
and bursting his skin a number of times, till he is big enough to hang
himself up for the winter, probably in a nettle. Then next spring he
comes forth, in the full dress uniform of a Red Admiral, gold lace, red
sash, silver braid and all.

4th. The last of the four is the _Tiger Swallowtail_. You are sure to
see it some day--the big yellow butterfly that is striped like a tiger,
with peacock's feathers in its train, and two long prongs, like a
swallow-tail, to finish off with. It is found in nearly all parts of the
Eastern States and Canada. I saw great flocks of them on the Slave River
of the North.

It is remar