18 



INSTINCT. 



cause, of the various congregations of birds 

 that we daily witness, and of the varying" 

 habits which they then exhibit crows, e. g. 

 herons, and many water birds, roosting and 

 bringing forth their young in large irregular 

 societies ; the crows, besides, assembling at 

 particular hours of the day, at all seasons ; 

 some of the genus Parus, particularly the 

 great and long-tailed titmouse, feeding in small 

 flocks at all seasons ; plovers and lapwings 

 keeping separate during the season of hatching 

 and rearing their offspring, but assembling in 

 flocks after their young have attained matu- 

 rity; most of the birds of this country in the 

 depth of winter associating in flocks much 

 greater than can be necessary for the sake of 

 warmth ; the hen chaffinches, and perhaps the 

 females of other birds, congregating separately; 

 many of these flocks consisting of multi- 

 tudes moving quite irregularly, but all of them 

 having apparently some means of intercom- 

 munication or agreement ; some of them, as 

 the starlings, performing very singular evo- 

 lutions in concert; and many, as wild geese 

 and other water-birds, always showing the dis- 

 position to fly in regular lines. 



The greatest of all the congregations of birds 

 are those of the migrating pigeons in America, 

 described by Audubon, as forming clouds 

 which pass over the whole extent of a town for 

 several hours together, and as settling on ex- 

 tensive districts of the woods in such multi- 

 tudes as to cause much devastation among the 

 branches. 



But the most extraordinary of all the asso- 

 ciations of animals are those which have re- 

 ceived the title of the perfect societies of in- 

 sects, the bees, wasps, hornets and ants in 

 the order of Hymenoptera, and the white ants 

 or termites, in that of Neuroptera. The most 

 important facts as to them seem to have been 

 ascertained, partly by numerous former ob- 

 servers, but chiefly by the Ilubers, Latreille, 

 and others in the present age. 



The essential peculiarity of these associations 

 of insects appears to be the complete sepa- 

 ration of the males and females, on whom the 

 propagation of the species depends, from the 

 working members of the communities, by whom 

 the habitations are constructed, and who pro- 

 cure food both for the young and for the more 

 perfect insects. In the case of the bees, the 

 only prolific female is the queen-bee; the males 

 are the drones; the working bees, constituting 

 the mass of the community, are sterile females, 

 and the larvae and pupae are confined to the 

 cells and helpless ; the ants appear to differ 

 from these only in the perfect females being 

 much more numerous (only a few, however, 

 being retained in each ant-hill); but the 

 termites difier, in the larvae and even the pupae 

 being working members, the males and females, 

 when brought to perfection, always wandering 

 abroad, and one of each sex in the perfect 

 state only existing in each nest, being in fact 

 forcibly detained there. 



Among these animals there is also a separate 

 class, believed to be analogous to the working 

 bees, i. e. to be sttrile females, larger than the 



labourers, and which are thought to act exclu- 

 sively as the soldiers of the community, the 

 smaller working ants (larvae) always disap- 

 pearing, and these larger and fiercer animals 

 shewing -themselves, when any of the works 

 are attacked.* 



These associations differ from all others 

 existing among animals, in the extraordinary 

 instinct of respect and devotion shewn by the 

 working members to the impregnated female, 

 single in each swarm of bees, and in each 

 nest of termites, and few in number in each 

 nest of ants, and with this instinct most of 

 their other peculiarities seem to be connected. 



But it is justly observed by Mr. Spence, that 

 if we suppose all the labours of the bees and 

 the ants to be guided by instincts, we must ne- 

 cessarily attribute to these animals a much 

 greater number and variety of instinctive pro- 

 pensities, and more extraordinary modifications 

 of them to suit varying circumstancts of their 

 condition, than to any of what are usually 

 called the higher animals. 



" In the common duck, one instinct leads 

 it at its birth from the egg to rush to the water ; 

 another to seek its proper food ; a third to pair 

 witli its mate; a fourth to form a nest; a fifth 

 to sit upon its eggs till hatched ; a sixth to 

 assist the young ducklings in extricating them- 

 selves from the shell ; and a seventh to defend 

 them when in danger until able to provide for 

 themselves : and it would not be easy as far 

 as my knowledge extends, to add many more 

 instinctive actions to the enumeration, or to 

 adduce many specimens of the superior classes 

 of animals endowed with a greater number. 



" But how vastly more manifold are the 

 instincts of the majority of insects! 



" As the most striking example of the whole, 

 I shall select the hive-bee, begging you to 

 bear in mind that I do not mean to include 

 those exhibited by the queen, the drones, or 

 even those of the workers, termed by Huber 

 cirieres (wax- makers) ; but only to enumerate 

 those presented by that portion of the workers, 

 termed by Huber nourrices or petites abeilles, 

 upon whom, with the exception of making wax, 

 laying the foundation of the cells, and col- 

 lecting honey for being stored, the principal 

 labours of the hive devolve. 



" By one instinct bees are directed to send 

 out scouts previously to their swarming in 

 search of a suitable abode ; and by another to 

 rush out of the hive after the queen that leads 

 forth the swarm, and follow wherever she 

 bends her course. Having taken possession of 

 their new abode, whether of their own selection 

 or prepared for them by the hand of man, a third 

 instinct teaches them to cleanse it from all im- 

 purities ; a fourth to collect propolis, and with 

 it to stop up every crevice except the entrance : 

 a fifth to ventilate the hive for preserving the 

 purity of the air ; and a sixth to keep a con- 

 stant guard at the door. 



" In constructing the houses and streets of 

 their new city, or the cells and combs, there are 

 probably several distinct instincts exercised ; 



* See Spence and Kirby, vol. ii. p. 39. 



