THE ANIMALS OF THE FOREST. 115 



Coming now to the nocturnal insects, which 

 include flies, beetles, and moths, we are almost 

 bewildered by their number. As we have before 

 mentioned, their buzzing is kept up all night long, 

 even where there are no mosquitoes, which un- 

 doubtedly help to make up the din when they are 

 present. Hang a lantern or candle in your forest 

 camp, and a cloud of insects are attracted by the 

 light. First come the gnats and other flies, which 

 fall into an open flame and create quite a litter 

 underneath. Then the smaller moths burn their 

 wings and drop, while every now and again a great 

 sphinx comes fluttering along, or a monster beetle 

 flies straight and strikes against anything in its 

 way. 



With so many insects which pass through their 

 first stages in the water, it naturally follows that 

 the swamp, river, and creek, are teeming with life. 

 The lower animalculae flourish everywhere and at 

 all times, to feed the myriads of mosquito and fly 

 larvae ; these again nourish the shoals of smaller 

 fish, which in their turn fall a prey to their large 

 finny brethren, as well as to the alligator and the 

 ibis, 



