102 [October, 



commotion wheu unable to find the way out again. Others were taken 

 at flowers in the gardens, and altogether a very respectable number 

 have been secured in the neighbourhood. 



Nothing that I have ever seen in the evolutions of Apatura Iris 

 or Limenitis Sibylla approaches in grandeur and power of flight to 

 the motions of these noble moths. Their movements resemble in 

 ease and grace those of a swallow, but far exceed it swiftness. There 

 is something wonderfully lovely in their manner of glancing about 

 from flower to flower, or skimming round the beds. By moving gently, 

 with little perceptible movement towards them, it is easy to watch 

 them for ten minutes at a time, sometimes within a few inches, 

 examining flower after flower, then circling round or gliding to another 

 part of the bed, hovering about two inches from each flower, and 

 probing its deep nectary, with a proboscis from three to four inches 

 long. The petunias and verbenas get a share of attention, as also 

 occasionally the neighbouring geraniums, and even the long tubular 

 flowers of a large species of datura are not entirely overlooked, but 

 not one of these plants approaches in attractiveness to the Nicotiana, 

 to which the moths always return, and about which they spend most 

 of their time. 



The slightest sudden movement alarms them, and causes an 

 instantaneous retreat, but as long as we move gradually and smoothly 

 they seem to disregard us, and a lighted lantern is actually an object 

 of curiosity. It is most curious to see one of these moths on the 

 approach of the light leave the flowers and hover in front of it, then 

 rise higher, pause in front of one's face with uplifted wings, as 

 though looking straight into one's eyes (an attitude which has cer- 

 tainly been seen by some of our earlier artists, for their figures 

 exactly represent it), then pass with a loud hum close to one's ear, 

 and return, as though satisfied, to the flowers. But the most curious 

 performance that we have seen happened in two cases, when one of 

 the boys, w^earing a scarlet-striped jacket, was watching one of these 

 moths. In each case the moth actually flew close to him, evidently 

 actuated by the most lively curiosity, and appeared to touch the 

 scarlet stripes. 



S. convolvuli does not hold itself bound by the crepuscular 

 habits of its family. It is a creature of intelligence as well as of 

 curiosity, and knows that the twilight is too short for all the floral 

 investigation which its large appetite demands. We have taken them 

 at all hours, from dusk (7.30 p.m.) to midnight- later, I confess that 

 we have not attempted much ; and the state of the weather, if not 



