By Dan Beard
Fig. 14.
The Butterfly Kite.
Make a thin straight stick of a piece of elastic wood, or split rattan; to the top end of this attach a piece of thread or string; bend the stick as you would a bow until it forms an arc or part of a circle; then holding the stick in this position tie the other end of the string to a point a few inches above the bottom end of the stick.
Fig. 13.
Frame of Butterfly Kite.
At a point on the stick, About one-quarter the distance from the top, tie another string, draw it taut, and fasten it to the bottom end of the bow. Take another stick of exactly the same length and thickness as the first and go through the same process, making a frame that must be a duplicate of the of the other. Then fasten the two frames together, as shown by Fig. 13, allowing the arcs to overlap several inches, and bind the joints securely with thread.
The head of the insect is made by attaching two broom-straws to the top part of the wings where they join, the straws must be crossed, the projecting ends serving for the antenna, or, as the boys call them, the "smellers" of the butterfly. Now select a piece of yellow or blue tissue paper, place your frame over it, cut and paste as directed in the Man Kite. When the kite is dry, with black paint make some marking upon the wings similar to those shown in the illustration Fig. 14; or, better still, cut out some pieces of dark colored paper in the form of these markings and paste them on, of course taking care to have one wing like the other (Fig. 14), as in nature.
