go dead before pinning.

Many insects sit very quietly at the sugar, but some few have a nasty
trick of "dropping" at the least alarm; to prevent this, the whipcord
of the net (Fig. 43 or Fig. 46), should be always pressed close to the
tree to receive them. The cyanide bottle should be held with the left
hand, and the insect gently "flicked" in with a disengaged finger, the
cork held in the right hand to close the bottle as quickly as
possible.

My readers will say, How is the necessary lantern held all this time?
Between the teeth by a piece of wood, or leather, fixed round the top
or swinging handle; or by being strapped on the chest at the height of
the sugar patch. This is, of course, on the assumption that you work
solus--not too pleasant if in a lonely wood for three or four days and
nights. Unless you are greedy, therefore, and wish to make a regular
trade of your loneliness, you will find that a friend, holding the
lantern or net while you "bottle," is not by any means prohibitory to
enjoyable collecting. Two working together can get over more ground
than one, and what one friend misses, the other stops.

From dusk to eleven on a favourable night in the summer months the fun
is fast and furious; thousands of moths of the common sorts come and
go; now and then a "good thing" to sweeten the toil. The "Peach
Blossoms" and "Buff Arches" slacken at about half-past nine, and do
not reappear until exactly the same light reappears in the morning,
going on well into the daylight. In fact, I have taken them still
coming to the sugar as late as a quarter past three, when the first
rays of the sun were just appearing.

This is one of the most curious things about sugaring. The swarming of
one species at a certain hour of the night, their almost total
disappearance, and their replacement by moths of quite a different
genus, giving way again to others; then comes a lull--remarked by
everyone--between half-past eleven and one or half-past, then a rush
again up to daylight, when they all disappear, save one or two, who
remain until they tumble dead drunk off the tree--a shocking example
to the wood fairies, who are popularly supposed to draw the line at
rum!

Another curious thing is that you may sugar in a wood for years and
will always find certain trees unprofitable. I remember one tree in a
favourite wood, which tree I sugared for years without taking a single
moth from it. You can assign no reason for this, as the u