146 



NSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



silk, from which the head hangs, in order that they 

 may always be ready to drop down in safety, by extend- 

 ing this thread, on the sudden approach of enemies. 

 As they feed chiefly in the night, they may be seen 

 continuing in this stiff and singular attitude for a 

 whole day without moving. '* So that, doubtless," 

 say Kirby and Spence, " the sparrows and other birds 

 are frequently deceived by this manoeuvre, and thus 

 baulked of their prey. Rosel's gardener, mistaking 

 one of these caterpillars for a dead twig, started back 

 in great alarm, when upon attempting to break it he 

 found it was a living animal*." We are well 



Caterpillars of the swallow-tailed moth, resembling the twigs 

 on which they rest. 



* Intr. ii. 236 ; Rrisel, Insecten, i. v. 27, 



