THE DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH. 325 



takes wing, and then every tree in the wood or the 

 brake becomes a scene of plunder and delight to all 

 the train from the rookery the cats will eat him 

 every sparrow that flies by has a chaffer in. its mouth, 

 captured on the wing or snatched from the spray, 

 and now to be pecked to pieces on the ground the 

 thrush feasts, too, and all the poultry in the yard 

 are running after chaffers, or chasing each other for 

 the prize ; and thus this insect supplies, in one state 

 or another, a general feast to many. 



Our extensive cultivation of the potato furnishes 

 us annually with several specimens of that fine 

 animal, the death's-head moth (acherontia atropos), 

 and in some years I have had as many as eight 

 brought me in the larva or chrysalis state. Their 

 changes are very uncertain. I have had the larva 

 change to a chrysalis in July, and produce the 

 moth in October ; but generally the aurelia remains 

 unchanged till the ensuing summer. The larvag 

 or caterpillars, "strange ungainly beasts," as some 

 of our peasantry call them, excite constant atten- 

 tion when seen, by their extraordinary size and 

 uncommon mien, with horns and tail, being not 

 unusually five inches in length, and as thick as a 

 finger. This creature was formerly considered as 

 one of our rarest insects, and doubtful if truly in- 

 digenous ; but for the last twenty years, from the 

 profuse cultivation of the potato, is become not 

 very uncommon in divers places. Many insects are 

 now certainly found in England, which former 

 collectors, indefatigable as they were, did not know 



