146 



INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



silk, from which the head hangs, in order that they may 

 always be ready to drop down in safety, by extending 

 this thread, on the sudden approach of enemies. As 

 they feed chiefly in the night, they may be seen con- 

 tinuing in this stiff and singular attitude for a whole 

 day without moving, < So that, doubtless,' say 

 Kirby and Spence, ' the sparrows and other birds 

 are frequently deceived by this manoeuvre, and thus 

 baulked of their prey. Rh'sePs gardener, mistaking 

 one of these caterpillars for a dead twig, started back 

 in great alarm, when upon attempting to break it he 

 found it was a living animal.'* We are well 



Caterpillars of the swallow-tailed moth, resembling the twigs on 

 which they rest. 



* Intr. ii, 236; Rc'sel, Insecten, i, v. 27. 



