XIX 



BEAUTIFUL HAWK-MOTHS 



IN the late summer I often walk by flowery places 

 of an evening, or at some late hour by moonlight, 

 in the hope of seeing that rare night-wanderer, the 

 death's - head moth ; but the hope is now an old 

 one, so worn and faded that it is hardly more than 

 the memory of a hope. Why, I have asked myself 

 times without number, am I so luckless in my 

 quest of an insect which is not only a large object 

 to catch the eye but has a voice, or sound, as well 

 to attract a seeker's attention ? On consulting 

 others on this point, some of them lepidopterists 

 and diligent collectors, they have assured me that 

 they have never once had a glimpse of the living 

 free Acherontia atropas going about on his flowery 

 business. 



A few years ago, while on a ramble in a southern 

 county, I heard of a gentleman in the neighbour- 

 hood who had a taste for adders and death's-head 

 moths and was accustomed to collect and keep 

 them in considerable numbers in his house. My 

 own partiality for adders induced me to call on 

 him, and we exchanged experiences and had some 



217 



