172 MISCRLLANEOUS FACTS. 
Whin-Chat (Saxicola Rubetra), but he did not 
take a second ; and I noticed a Tree-Pipit (Anthus 
Arboreus) take one of them in his mouth, which, 
on tasting, he refused, ‘The caterpillar, also, is 
rejected by all these various birds. May not this 
be a principal cause of the Magpie-Moth being one 
of the most abundant species we haye ?” 
The same gentleman has made another interest- 
ing discovery respecting the eyes of the Dark Arches 
Moth. He says:—* A few weeks ago, on seeing 
a remarkably fine specimen of the Dark Arches 
Moth (Xylophasia polyodon), 1 caught it, and 
placed it in a small box, which I happened to have 
in my pocket. On my return home in the evening, 
when it was almost dark,I gently lifted up the lid, 
and was not a little amazed to perceive that the 
moth’s eyes had the power of converging the few 
rays of light, shining in the dark like two little 
stars, with considerable brilliancy. Ten minutes 
afterwards, however, when I again looked at the 
moth, I was surprised to find that its eyes were 
not visible at all, showing that this faculty is de- 
pendent on the will of the animal. I have since 
examined a considerable number of moths, in va- 
rious genera, but only in one instance have I again 
had the satisfaction of beholding this beautiful 
phenomenon. This was in a common Golden Tail, 
(Porthesia chrysorrhaa ;) but the appearance was 
not so bright as in the Xylophasia. It shows, 
