264 ZOOLOGY. [PART II. 



may even be beneficial in preserving the elasticity of its 

 thin and delicate wings, that bend and undulate in the act 

 of flight. 



The Lyccenidce *, a particularly attractive group, abound 

 near the enclosures of cultivated grounds, and amongst the 

 low shrubs edging the patenas, flitting from flower to 

 flower, inspecting each in turn, as if attracted by 

 their beauty, in the full blaze of sun-light ; and shunning 

 exposure less sedulously than the other diurnals. Some 

 of the more robust kinds 2 are magnificent in the 

 bright light, from the splendour of their metallic blues 

 and glowing purples, but they yield in elegance of form 

 and variety to their tinier and more delicately-coloured 

 congeners. 



Short as is the eastern twilight, it has its own peculiar 

 forms, and the naturalist marks with interest the small, 

 but strong, Hesperiidce 3 , hurrying, by abrupt and jerk- 

 ing flights, to the scented blossoms of the champac or 

 the sweet night-blowing moon-flower ; and, when dark- 

 ness gathers around, we can hear, though hardly distin- 

 guish amid the gloom, the humming of the powerful 

 wings of innumerable hawk moths, which hover with their 

 long proboscides inserted into the starry petals of the peri- 

 winkle. 



Conspicuous amidst these nocturnal moths is the richly- 

 coloured Acherontia Satanas, one of the Singhalese repre- 

 sentatives of our Death's-head moth, which utters a 

 sharp and stridulous cry when seized. This sound has 

 been conjectured to be produced by the friction of 

 its thorax against the abdomen ; Eeaumur believed 

 it to be caused by rubbing the palpi against the tongue. 

 I have never been able to observe either motion, and Mr. 

 E. L. Layard is of opinion that the sound is emitted 

 from two apertures concealed by tufts of wiry bristles 



1 Lycama polyommatus, $c. j 3 PampMa hesperia, $c, 



3 Amblypodia pseudocentaurus, fyc. I 



