294 A BOOK-LOVER'S HOLIDAYS 



nize these big, humming, hornet-hke horse- 

 guards as the foes of their tormentors. As we 

 walked over the islands, and the green-headed 

 flies followed us, horse-guards also joined us; 

 and many greenheads and some horse-guards 

 came on board. Usually when the horse-guard 

 secured the greenhead it was pounced on from 

 behind, and there was practically no struggle — 

 the absence of struggle being usual in the world 

 of invertebrates, where the automaton-like ac- 

 tions of both preyer and prey tend to make 

 each case resemble all others in its details. But 

 on one occasion the greenhead managed to 

 turn, so that he fronted his assailant and 

 promptly grappled with him, sinking his evil 

 lancet into the wasp's body and holding the 

 wasp so tight that the latter could not thrust 

 with its sting. They grappled thus for several 

 minutes. The horse-guard at last succeeded in 

 stabbing its antagonist, and promptly dropped 

 the dead body. Evidently it had suffered much, 

 for it vigorously rubbed the wounded spot with 

 its third pair of legs, walked hunched up, and 

 was altogether a very sick creature. 



On the following day we visited two or three 

 islands which the man-of-war birds were using 

 as roosts. These birds are the most wonderful 

 fliers in the world. No other bird has such an 



