OBSERVATIONS ON INSECTS AND VERMES 359 



of the water covered. Large trouts sucked them in as they 

 lay struggling on the surface of the stream, unable to rise till 

 their wings were dried. 



This appearance reconciled me in some measure to the 

 wonderful account that Scopoli gives of the quantities emerg- 

 ing from the rivers of Carniola. Their motions are very 

 peculiar, up and down for many yards almost in a perpendic- 

 ular 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 man- 

 ner described by this accurate naturalist. It was late in the 

 evening of a warm summer's day when I observed them. 

 MARKWICK. 



SPHINX OCELLATA. A vast insect appears after it is dusk, 

 flying with a humming noise, and inserting its tongue into the 

 bloom of the honey-suckle ; it scarcely settles upon the plants, 

 but feeds on the wing in the manner of humming-birds. 

 WHITE. 



I have frequently seen the large bee moth, sphinx stellata- 

 rum, 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. MARKWICK. 



WILD BEE. There is a sort of wild bee frequenting the 

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

 ably it turns to some purpose in the business of nidincation. 

 It is very pleasant to see with what address it strips off the 

 pubes, running from the top to the bottom of a branch, and 

 shaving it bare with all the dexterity of a hoop-shaver. When 

 it has got a vast bundle, almost as large as itself, it flies away, 

 holding it secure between its chin and its fore-legs. 



There is a remarkable hill on the downs near Lewes in 

 Sussex, known by the name of Mount Carburn, which over- 

 looks that town and affords a most engaging prospect of all 

 the country round, besides several views of the sea. On the 

 very summit of this exalted promontory, and amidst the 

 trenches of its Danish camp, there haunts a species of wild 

 bee, making its nest in the chalky soil. When people ap- 



