284 THE HUMMINGBIRD HAWKMOTH. 



different observers for the little blue argus of our 

 pastures ; but it appears some months earlier than 

 that insect is accustomed to do ; does not flit from 

 blossom to blossom, and bask upon the disks of the 

 lowly herbs; and, though a feebler creature on the 

 wing, takes a much higher range in flight, and 

 sports in altitudes which the argus, with all its 

 animation, is very rarely inclined to attempt. When 

 in captivity, the dark margins of the upper wings, 

 the black specks, not eyes, and the pale blue of the 

 reverse, without any other character, render it per- 

 fectly distinguishable from the papilio argus, cory- 

 don, or any other butterfly found with us. A 

 small hatch again takes place about the end of July, 

 and this pretty insect haunts anew our currant 

 bushes ; but, enlivened by the warmth of the sea- 

 son, it becomes more wild and wary, and avoids 

 our approach. 



The hummingbird hawkmoth (sphinx stellata- 

 rum) visits us annually, and occasionally in some 

 numbers, frisking about all the summer long, and 

 in very fine seasons continues with us as late as the 

 second week in October. The vigilance and ani- 

 mation of this creature are surprising, and seem to 

 equal those of its namesake, that splendid meteoric 

 bird of the tropics, " that winged thought," as 

 some one has called it ; though our plain and dusky 

 insect can boast none of its glorious hues. Our 

 little sphinx appears chiefly in the mornings and 

 evenings of the day, rather avoiding the heat of the 

 mid-day sun, possibly roused from its rest by the 



