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In England squirrels are, of course, well acquainted with 

 human beings ; but in wilder countries, where man is a 

 scarcer animal, squirrels show even a greater curiosity and 

 more boldness. In fact, curiosity is one of the leading points 

 in the animal character. 



I have often watched the lizards sunning themselves on 

 the hot walls of the more southern parts of Europe. They 

 will remain the whole morning basking in the sun. If any 

 danger threatens them, they slip instantly into their holes, 

 where they are in perfect safety, but only to peep cautiously 

 out again the very next moment. When the weather is wet 

 or cold they do not quit the hole. When they feel hungry, 

 which appears to be about once or twice a week, they stalk 

 the insects on the wall. The alert and confident way in which 

 they hold up their heads and survey the surroundings, and 

 the lance-like rapidity with which they throw themselves on 

 their prey, both go to show that the lizards are masters of the 

 situation, and they know it, and rejoice accordingly in their 

 powers. But what about the insects which also love to bask 

 in the hot sunshine on the same walls with the lizards ? I 

 have watched them too, and they appear to be equally happy 

 If a lizard is hunting and he comes their way, all they have 

 to do is to quit the wall in haste. If the insect be too lazy 

 or too stupid, it pays the extreme penalty, and the lizard gets 

 its dinner. On the other hand, if the insect escapes, it soon 

 settles down again, perhaps coolly beside another lizard that 

 is clinging quietly on the wall. The flies and other insects 

 may, perhaps, avoid the onslaught of the lizard in the same 

 half-unconscious way that man draws back his head if any 

 near object suddenly comes across his line of vision. I do not 

 believe they can possibly understand that the object which 

 causes them to change their situation is a lizard, and that it 

 wants to eat them. 



Everyone must have noticed the bold, rapid movements oi 

 Sesia (Macroglossa) stellatariuii, the humming-bird hawk moth, 

 when on the wing. Here is an insect endowed with marvel- 

 lous flight. It can pass through the air at an enormous 

 speed with apparently hardly an effort ; it can turn this way 

 and that way, up and down ; it can even remain suspended, 

 hovering in the air. Man when seated in a motor-car, or 

 more happily on a toboggan, enjoys the rush through the air, 

 the exhilarating movement, but he has to keep, more or less, 

 in close contact with the ground. Sesia stellatanim, however, 

 is under no such restriction. Its realm is the air, and it 

 follows its own sweet will in its wanderings, often, I believe. 



