278 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



the metamorphoses of caterpillars into butterflies, and think it not at all 

 more wonderful that a moth should change into a humming-bird. The 

 resemblance between this hawk-moth and a humming-bird is certainly 

 very curious, and strikes one even when both are examined in the hand. 

 Holding them sideways the shape of the head and the position of the 

 eyes in the moth are seen to be nearly the same as in the bird, the 

 extended proboscis representing the long beak. At the tip of the moth's 

 body there is a brush of long, hair-like scales resembling feathers, which, 

 being expanded, looks very much like a bird's tail. But of course all 

 these points of resemblance are merely superficial. The negroes and the 

 Indians tried to convince me that the two were of the same species. 

 ' Look at their feathers,' they said ; ' their eyes are the same, and so 

 are the tails.' " 



As a typical member of the group, we figure all the stages of the 

 tobacco-worm. The moth is a large, grayish species, well represented in 



Fig. 275. — Tobacco-moth. 



our cut. Like the rest of the hawk-moths, it has the body large and stout 

 and the wings narrow, the anterior pair being pointed and much larger 

 than the hinder pair. Noticeable in our illustration is the long proboscis, 

 partially uncoiled, through which the nectar is sucked. Usually this is 

 kept closely coiled, like a watch-spring, below the head. This species is 

 the most injurious of any of our native hawk-moths, and its larvas feed 



