THE HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH. 423 



The colours of tbis insect are anything but brilliant or con- 

 spicuous, and yet it is a very pretty Moth. The upper wings 

 are brown, with a few slight black mottlings, and the lower 

 wings are warm chrome yellow, with a narrow edging of black. 

 Beneath, it is coloured much like the lower wings, but the hue 

 is duller. The thorax and abdomen are of the same colour as 

 the upper wings, but the latter has some black and white spots 

 along the sides, which are covered with tufts of black and white 

 hair, which are spread during flight. There is a tuft of black 

 hair at the end of the abdomen. 



The caterpillar feeds chiefly on the Bedstraw (Galium), and, 

 but for the characteristic horn at the end of the body, would 

 scarcely be taken for the larva of a Hawk-Moth. Its colour 

 is greenish brown, sometimes taking a pink tinge, and there 

 are two lines along the sides, one pink and white, which reaches 

 to the base of the horn, and the other dull brown, beneath the 

 lighter line. 



In some places, the Humming-bird Hawk-Moth is exceed- 

 ingly plentiful, while in others it is quite rare. In Kent, it 

 absolutely swarms in some seasons, but in others only a few 

 are seen. This variability probably depends much on the 

 weather. Last year (1870), when we had a continuance of hot 

 weather in the summer, the Humming-bird Moth appeared in 

 multitudes ; whereas, in the corresponding part of the present 

 year (1871) the Moths have been comparatively few and far 

 between. . 



Sombre as is the colouring of this insect, I really do not 

 know any Moth which is more interesting to the spectator. 

 Fortunately, it flies by day, and, like the lovely bird whose 

 flight it imitates, revels in the hottest sunshine. If, on a hot 

 summer day, the observer will take his stand by a jessamine or 

 other honey- bearing flower, and will quietly wait there, he will 

 assuredly see a Humming-bird Moth before long, should the 

 locality be one which is frequented by this insect. Suddenly, 

 as he is watching a flower, his eyes see a kind of shadowy 

 form flitting in front of the flowers, and his ears are greeted by 

 the hum which accompanies the flight of the Moth. Let him 

 but lift a hand, and the creature is gone — how, or where, it is 

 impossible to say, so amazingly swift is the darting flight. 



Still, though it be gone, it will come back again if no mrve- 



