he looks like a snake's head-even pushing out his funny little scent
organ which looks like a forked tongue. Birds take one look and fly
away in great alarm when they come upon this wicked-looking, but
harmless little caterpillar.
"Caterpillars are greedy little creatures; they eat and eat and eat.
In fact, they eat so much, heir skins become too tight and they change
them several times before deciding to go into the chrysalis. When he
sheds his last coat, the caterpillar leaves the feet that he used to crawl
with, but he does take with him into the chrysalis the six legs he will
need as a butterfly.
"To make the chrysalis, the caterpillar hangs himself by the last
two legs, called anal legs, to a twig or leaf, and with his mouth starts
weaving around himself a coarse woody covering. It looks very much
like a tiny Chinese lantern. In this case or chrysalis, the caterpillar goes
into a magic sleep, at the end of which he comes out a full-grown
"The wings of butterflies, as you have noticed, are very large compared
to the size of the body. The bright colors and funny markings are mostly on the
upper surface of the wings, while the underside is often dull. This is the
butterfly's protection against enemies. A bird chasing a butterfly, often loses it
when the butterfly alights and closes its bright wings upright. Then