

Entering at the open casement, appear the head and shoulders of a Death's- 

 head Moth (Acherontia Atropos). The table below is occupied by two Death- 

 watch Beetles (Anobium tessellatum and A. pertinax), while another (Anobium 

 striatum) is creeping up the wall above. All three are drawn much larger 

 than life. 



INSECT DIRGE-PLAYERS. 



T the open window of her solitary kitchen, half 

 lighted by this October moon, half by a flaring 

 candle, sits All-work Deborah at her tea- 

 Why, suddenly arrested in its prophetic orbit, 

 does the tea-cup, in the very turn of fortune, 

 drop, shivered, from her shaking hand ? Why does her tal- 

 lowy dip dip at once into darkness? What is the wailing 

 cry that salutes her startled ear? Is it the voice of a screech- 

 owl from the barn, or the squeal of a mouse from the cup- 

 board ? No ! It is the shriek of some gloomy night-flier, 

 which, entering at the casement, has put out the candle, 



