XIX THE RETURN TO THE NEST 261 



unable to find the way back ? Were they out hunt- 

 ing, or in their galleries recovering from the excite- 

 ment of such a trial? I do not know. The next 

 morning I came again, and had the satisfaction of 

 finding at work, as active as if nothing extraordinary 

 had happened to them, five Cerceris with two white 

 dots. Three kilometres of distance, — the town with 

 its houses, roofs, and smoky chimneys — all so novel 

 to my rustic Cerceris, — had proved no obstacle to 

 their return home. 



Taken from its brood and carried an enormous 

 distance, the pigeon returns promptly to its dovecote. 

 If one were to consider the length of journey in 

 proportion to the size of the animal, how superior to 

 the pigeon is the Cerceris carried away three kilo- 

 metres and returning to its burrow ! The size of 

 the insect does not equal a cubic centimetre, while 

 that of the pigeon must quite equal the cube of a 

 decimetre, if it does not exceed it. The bird, a 

 thousand times larger than the Hymenopteron, ought, 

 in order to rival it, to find its dovecote at a distance 

 of 3000 kilometres — thrice the greatest length of 

 France from north to south. I do not know if a 

 carrier-pigeon has ever shown such prowess, but 

 wing-power and yet more lucidity of instinct cannot 

 be measured by yards. Nor can we here consider 

 the question of size, and one can only see in the 

 insect a worthy rival to the bird without deciding 

 which has the advantage. 



Are the two guided by memory when placed by 

 man beyond their bearings and carried to great 

 distances — into regions with which they are un- 

 acquainted and in unknown directions ? Is memory 



