102 ASSOCIATIONS AND MIGRATIONS. 



synonymous name of the Purple Highflier. When 

 the sun is at the meridian, his loftiest flights take 

 place ; and, about four in the afternoon, he resumes 

 his station of repose.* 



The large bodies of the Hawk Moths (Sphinx) 

 are carried by wings remarkably strong, both as to 

 nerves and texture, and their flight is proportionally 

 rapid and direct. That of butterflies is by dipping 

 and rising alternately, so as to form a zigzag line, 

 with vertical angles, which the animal often describes 

 with a skipping motion, so that each zigzag consists 

 of smaller ones. This, doubtless, renders it more 

 difficult for the birds to take them as they fly ; and 

 thus the male, when paired, often flits away with the 

 female, f 



* HAWORTH'S Lepidoptera Britannica, i. p. 19. 

 f KIRBY and SPENCE, ii. p. 355. 



