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to a flower border, can have failed to become ac- 

 quainted with our commonest species, Macroglossa 

 Stellatarum, and to watch it with astonishment as it 

 suddenly made a dash at the corolla of some gay 

 flower, stop as suddenly with its head directed towards 

 it as if for the purpose of testing its fragrance, and 

 remain for a second or two apparently motionless, and 

 horizontally poised without any visible support. This 

 is its appearance when it is in the act of inserting its 

 long tongue into the tube of the flower and lapping 

 the sweet fluid stored up in its nectary. At the 

 slightest motion on the part of the observer it vanishes 

 with such magical speed, that it is utterly impossible 

 to follow it, even by sight, in its course. The next 

 instant it may be seen, again rigidly balancing its 

 short thick body, with its outspread tufts of tail 

 feathers, at the level of another flower, then another 

 and another, until, if undisturbed, it has visited and 

 revisited in this way as many as may suit its purpose, 

 its wings vibrating with such astonishing rapidity all 

 the while, that a faint filmy indication of their play is 

 all that is perceptible to the eye, their powerful action 

 on the air, producing at the same time a distinct 

 humming sound. In 1866 we had many opportunities 

 of watching as many as a dozen at a time, flashing in 

 every direction with unerring aim from blossom to 

 blossom in the flower beds in the shrubbery. On this 

 occasion they did not limit their attention to the 

 flowers alone, the silver-leaved varieties of geranium 

 seemed to have some attraction for them, several indi- 

 viduals curiously and carefully exploring the irregular 

 folds of the leaves with the tips of their tongues. The 

 two other species, the wings of which are transparent 

 with an opaque border, are the Broad Bordered Bee 

 Hawk Moth (Macroglossa Fuciformis}, and the Narrow 

 Bordered Bee Hawk Moth (Macroglossa Bombyli- 

 formis). They are both occasionally met with here, 

 and are equally remarkable with the common species 



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