i 5 8 JUNE 



torn in the wings, and every wing and body was in 

 some degree 



Beated and chopped with tann d antiquity. 



But they kept the glory of their flight and will be the 

 true parents of a brilliant progeny who will sniff the 

 Buddleia s bloom in September and batten on the 

 early apple windfalls that lie rotting on the orchard 

 floor, 



A stranger fly than any of these was as constant a 

 visitor. As I watched through the flowers a perfect path 

 way of light spread from the setting sun over the smooth 

 sea, a humming-bird hawk moth stopped in rapid flight 

 at the very nearest blossom, and began almost as thor 

 ough an inquest into the florets as any of the painted 

 ladies, in spite of the difficulties of his technique. The 

 body, marked like a bird s, and giving the impression of 

 feathers, often looked perfectly still, while the wings 

 worked at a speed that left them almost invisible. The 

 long proboscis was certainly more visible ; and it was 

 asked to cover a distance of not less than an inch. Is 

 there any adaptation in nature more strange and unex 

 pected ? The movements are curiously like those of a 

 fish or a prawn. Apparent stillness, maintained by in 

 finitely rapid beating of the wings, is interrupted by a 

 streak of motion almost as difficult to follow as the 

 beating of the wings. In spite of the difficulty of the 

 hover and the distance from the flower, the insect hits 

 the door to the honey with as complete a skill as any 

 perching bee or fly. Can any Darwinian point to peculiar 

 advantages in survival due to this strange habit ? The 

 moths were common in Devon. A number visited the 

 valerian, and we met them even among the barren rocks 

 on the sea shore. 



