22O ?Tf)e farfcen's Sstorj. 



agents in the evolution of flowers, for which they 

 are peculiarly fitted by their long, thin probos- 

 cides, enabling them to probe the most various 

 flowers, whether flat, long, or tubular. Even at 

 night, in fragrant gardens, in lonely meadows, in 

 the most sequestered woods, the process of in- 

 sect fertilization goes on continuously. Then it 

 is that the great nocturnal hawk-moths, their 

 two immensely long, hollow laminae coiled in a 

 spiral, emerge at twilight to haunt the lighter- 

 colored flowers, which exhale their odor most 

 powerfully at night. Verbenas and petunias, 

 always intensely fragrant at this time, are espe- 

 cially sought out by the crepuscular- Lepidopte- 

 ra. Like the humming-bird and swallow, the 

 body of the great sphinges, tapering at the tail, 

 and the stiff, pointed, sharply-cut wings, are 

 framed with special reference to agility and sus- 

 tained flight agility to avoid their pursuers, and 

 great strength of wing to sustain constant sus- 

 pension in mid-air. I have seen the deliciously 

 scented Japanese honeysuckle (Lom'cera Halle- 

 ana), on warm June and July evenings, swarm- 

 ing with the large Sphinges, including S. Caro- 

 lina, 5. cinnerea, and the smaller S. drupif era- 

 rum, the former being present most numerously. 

 The humming of the rapidly vibrating wings, 

 the quick, furtive flight, the perpetual hovering 



