"Blossom Hosts and Insect Guests 



contentment, sipping at its throat. Its wings were 

 of the purest rose-pink, bordered with yellow. 



All throuorh the nio-ht it fluttered amonor the 

 fresh opening flowers, one of a countless host of 

 feathery nocturnal moths and " millers." But as 

 the sunrise has stolen upon these primroses, the 

 fickle broods have all forgotten the flowers and 

 dispersed afar. "All," did I say? Oh, no ; not all. 

 Let us turn to our withered blossoms and, one by 

 one, look within their bells. Here is one that falls 

 even at our approach, plainly the blossom of night 

 before last. We will turn our attention only to last 

 night's flowers. 



Many show no peculiarity, but at length we find 

 one that appears to have an extra petal folded 

 within its throat, and upon opening the folds, we 

 disclose our faithful nursling with pink and yellow 

 wings, whom we saw last night fluttering from 

 flower to flower, sipping its sweets and bearing its 

 golden pollen from cup to cup. The earliest twi- 

 light sipper, that even on the approach of dawn is 

 loath to leave the flower, and creeps into the wilted 

 bloom, where it remains concealed through the fol- 

 lowing day, and doubtless occasionally falls with it 

 to the ground. 



In the color of its markings we find an outward 



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