British Reptiles and Amphibians 



on the field post, turns its massive head around, and 

 again slides over the meadow. At the distance you can 

 see its great round eyes that pierce the shadows — a 

 feathered cat upon the wing. While the Owl is hawking 

 the crepuscular insects issue forth — those big-bodied 

 fliers we speak of as Moths — dancing about the hedges 

 and ditches, especially where willows abound. These 

 are but the Butterflies of the night, just as the Owls and 

 Bats are the birds of the darkened hours. 



" And pluck the wings of painted Butterflies 

 To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes." 



These insects live on the honied dew of the night 

 flowers that do not fold their petals with the fall of 

 night. Most of these flowers are very highly scented, 

 and generally bright in colour (white or yellow), and as 

 a rule grow in clusters. These two characteristics are 

 doubtless for the everlasting good of the insects referred 

 to. In this connection the honeysuckle may be named 

 as one of these powerfully scented flowers that throws 

 its petals open when the world sleeps, but which yields 

 food to the roving night-fly in the interval. The Bee 

 cannot draw honey from the honeysuckle flower, but 

 certain Moths, dancing in the gloaming, can, and do. 

 Nature has decreed so. 



Of course, on the brown earth itself, the rodents 

 move in vast colonies after dark. The Hare then feeds, 

 and the Rabbits, Mice, Weasel, Hedgehog, and others, 

 scour the land for food when the sun goes down and the 

 moon stands silent as the clouds race past. While the 



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