104 THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT 



as far as the natural contact of the mandibles allowed. 

 There remained a narrow slit at the base, sufficient at 

 most to admit the passage of a horse-hair. It was 

 through this that the laying was performed. Lengthen- 

 ing her ovipositor like a telescope, the mother inserted 

 the point of her implement, a point slightly hardened 

 with a horny armor. The fineness of the probe equals 

 the fineness of the aperture. But, if the beak were en- 

 tirely closed, where would the eggs be laid then? 



With a tied thread I keep the two mandibles in abso- 

 lute contact ; and I place a second Bluebottle in the pres- 

 ence of the Linnet, whom the colonists have already 

 entered by the beak. This time the laying takes place 

 on one of the eyes, between the lid and the eyeball. At 

 the hatching, which again occurs a couple of days later, 

 the grubs make their way into the fleshy depths of the 

 socket. The eyes and the beak, therefore, form the two 

 chief entrances into feathered game. 



There are others; and these are the wounds. I cover 

 the Linnet's head with a paper hood which will prevent 

 invasion through the beak and eyes. I serve it, under 

 the wire-gauze bell, to a third egg-layer. The bird has 

 been struck by a shot in the breast, but the sore is not 

 bleeding: no outer stain marks the injured spot. More- 

 over, I am careful to arrange the feathers, to smooth 

 them with a hair-pencil, so that the bird looks quite smart 

 and has every appearance of being untouched. 



The Fly is soon there. She inspects the Linnet from 

 end to end ; with her front tarsi she fumbles at the breast 

 and belly. It is a sort of auscultation by sense of touch. 



