THE DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH. 367 



feathered ; their bodies heavy and unwieldly ; and their 

 motions in consequence slow; so that they offer a 

 prey to hirds which is easily seen from its size, and 

 which has difficulty in escaping. Were they, therefore, to 

 appear during the day, they would be almost sure 

 to fall a sacrifice : the larger to birds, and the smaller 

 to dragon flies and other predatory insects. The night, 

 therefore, is their favourite time for being abroad; 

 and thus they have come in for a share in those 

 imaginary terrors which ignorance always has, and 

 most likely always will, associate with darkness ; and 

 it is one of the evils of those prejudices, that, as there 

 is no reason for their existence, they cannot be re- 

 moved by reasoning. 



The DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH (sphinx atropos, Linnaeus) 

 comes in for its full share of this prejudice; and 

 wherever it is found, except by an insect- fancier, who 

 knows or cares nothing about its habits, but merely 



