306 HUMMING-BIRD MOTH. 



two last, but more interesting, perhaps, than either in its 

 habits and associations, is the hawk-moth called the " Hum- 

 ming-bird."* This name is derived from the vibratory sound 

 emitted by the wings of this pretty insect, as it hangs sus- 

 pended, morning and evening, above the flowers, of which the 

 honeyed treasures, however deeply hidden, are never inacces- 

 sible to its prying tongue. Not even the long, narrow flagons 

 of Marvel of Peru, or trumpet honeysuckle, can protect their 

 delicious nectar from the long, pliant trunk of the humming- 

 bird hawk, who delights, also, in the assembled honey-cups of 

 composite flowers likewise in sweet geraniums, tempted by 

 which, it often commits its harmless robberies in greenhouse 

 as well as garden. The anterior wings of this curious moth 

 are dusky brown, striated and barred ; the hinder, white or 

 rusty yellow ; and the body, which is short, is variegated at 

 the sides with small tufts of black and white, finished by a 

 large black bush at its extremity. The " humming-bird " is 

 seen frequently in most parts of England, but especially near 

 the. sea-side, from May to October. 



A word now for the hawk-moth " Death's head,"* to whom, 

 perhaps, we ought to have given precedence over all the 

 above, on account of his yet superior size and the dark cele- 

 brity of his name; but though called a "hawk," and long 

 classed with the sphinxes, he is not considered now as belong- 



* Macroglossa Stellatarum. (Vignette.) f Acherontia atropos. (Frontispiece.) 



