By the Rev. Arthur P. Morres, Vicar of Britford. 127 



interesting sights in natural history : you can almost see the wings 

 grow ; and the moisture from the newly-hatched moth is so excessive 

 that it sometimes exudes from the membranes of the wings, and 

 runs down in drops of a greenish oil-coloured fluid. I may remark 

 here that the slightest contretemps to the newly-hatched moth is 

 always fatal to their proper development, and at once prevents the 

 wings from attaining their normal growth. Directly the moth 

 emerges from the shell of the chrysalis it is impelled by a powerful 

 instinct to assume this upright position ; and it is very interesting 

 to see the hurry with which they run up the sticks provided them 

 until they gain a comfortable position , from which their wings can 

 depend. Having thus once fastened themselves in a comfortable 

 attitude, they cling on with the sharp little claws with which their 

 feet are furnished, and if left alone remain perfectly quiet for some 

 hours. The wings take from an hour to an hour-and-a-half, after 

 having grown to their full size, ere they become strong enough to 

 fall down and cover the handsomely-striped body of the moth. At 

 first they are somewhat crumpled and flabby. They then gradually 

 stiffen, until at last they meet one another, standing up in an erect 

 position, at right angles to the moth's body, thus showing the rich 

 orange markings of the under side of the wings ; and then in about 

 another half-hour they gradually separate once more, until they 

 assume their normal position over the moth's body ; their upper 

 surface consisting of such a peculiar mixture of neutral tints that 

 the eye might rest upon the moth for any length of time in any 

 natural hiding-place, without detecting its presence. 



As every entomologist knows, this moth emits a very peculiar 

 squeaking noise, something similar to that of a bat or a mouse — 

 and it was actually by this sound that I discovered the only moth 

 that I ever came across in a state of nature. I was rolling my lawn 

 one day, when my elbow came in contact with an Irish yew, from 

 the recesses of which I heard a most peculiar squeak, which at that 

 time I did not recognize. On turning to discover what caused it, 

 my eye lighted upon something which I thought at first was a 

 hornet entangled in a spider's web ; but on closer inspection it 

 proved to be the skull-mark on the head of a fine Acherontia Atropos, 



