WALKING UNDER WATER. 191 



proceeding (to us a strange one) of three several caterpillars 

 of the " Lime Hawk/'"* which we had in feeding last summer. 

 Just before these entered for transformation their provided bed 

 of earth, and after their hue of brilliant green had faded to a 

 sickly brown, they commenced, to all appearance, licking their 

 bodies all over from neck to tail, reminding one of a dog or 

 cat when similarly employed. This operation could hardly 

 have been for the mere cleaning of a skin so speedily to be 

 cast off. Could it have been intended to render it more pliant 

 and easy to detach ? 



We once supposed that amphibious reptiles were the only 

 creatures sharing with aquatic insects the power of walking 

 under the element they frequent ; but are informed by Reimie,t 

 that in such performance they are matched by the water 

 ousel, which he has " seen repeatedly walk deliberately under 

 water (in pursuit of insects and small fry of fish), and con- 

 tinue its pace for many yards, as if on land." This, an 

 unusual, if not a singular practice amongst aquatic birds, is a 

 very common one amongst insects of the same description, 

 such as water-beetles, water-scorpions, and water-mites. The 

 latter are pretty little animals, of which some that are scarlet- 

 coated cut almost as showy a figure at the bottom of shallow 

 pools and ditches as a larger species, of the like brilliant 

 exterior, one of the heralds of summer, when seen marching 

 upon land. 



* See Vignette. f In ' Insect Transformations.' 



