340 OBSEEYATIONS ON IlfSECTS AISB TEEMES. 



Alresford stream. The air was crowded witli them, and the 

 surface of the water covered. Large trouts sucked them in 

 as they lay struggling on the surface of the stream, unahle 

 to rise till their Mdngs were dried. 



This appearaoice reconciled me in some measure to the 

 wonderful account that Scopoli gives of the quantities 

 emerging from the rivers of Carniola. Their motions are 

 very pecuhar, up and down for many yards almost in a 

 perpendicular line. White. 



I once saw a swarm of these insects playing up and down 

 over the surface of a pond in. Denn park, exactly in the 

 manner described by this accurate naturalist. It was late in 

 the evening of a warm summer day when I observed them. 



Maekwick. 



Sphtnx Ocellata. — A vast insect appears after it is 

 dusk, fl}' ing with a humming noise, and inserting its tongue 

 into the bloom of the honeysuckle ; it scarcely settles upon 

 the plants, but feeds on the wi»ig in the manner of humming- 

 birds. "White. 



I have frequently seen the large bee-moth* {siphynx stel- 

 latarum) inserting its long tongue, or proboscis, into the 

 centre of flowers, and feeding on their nectar without settling 

 on them, but keeping constantly on the wing. 



Maekwick. 



Wild BEE.f — There is a sort of wild bee frequenting the 

 garden-campion for the sake of its tomentum, which probably 

 it turns to some purpose in the business of niditication. It 



* This sphynx may almost be thought to be a link between the humming- 

 bird and an insect. It is very wild and by no means common in my own 

 neighbourhood. — Ed. 



f The mention of bees reminds me of the following pleasing lines of 

 Pope : — 



" The happy bees that with the spring renew 

 Their flowery toil, and sip the fragrant oew, 

 When the wing'd colonies first tempt the sky, 

 O'er dusky fields and shaded waters f y, 

 Or settling, seize the sweets the blossom yields 

 And a low murmur runs along the fields." — Ed, 



