MISCELLANEOUS FACTS. 173 
however, that moths, like many other nocturnal 
animals, are endowed with this curious power, to 
enable them to see their way clearly at a time 
when the vision of diurnal creatures is of little or 
no ayail.” * 
Variety of the Peacock Butterfly. 
In the first edition of this work we gave the 
above figure of the Peacock Butterfly, and described 
its ordinary form, omitting to point out the peculiar- 
ities of its conformation. 
This specimen was captured near Oxford in 
1828, and is a curiously shaped variety. ‘The supe- 
rior wings are about a fourth larger than the inferior 
ones, in proportion to those of the ordinary speci- 
mens ; the whole insect being much more triangular 
in its general form, and the indentations on the 
margins of both upper and under wings considerably 
* Field Naturalist’s Magazine, vol. i. p. 550. 
