The Volucella 



descend from above. That public granary, 

 lavishly stocked by death, will become a busy 

 factory of fresh life. Who are the guests 

 summoned to the banquet? 



If the Wasps flew away, carrying the dead 

 or sickly grubs with them, and dropped them 

 on the ground round about their home, those 

 banqueters would be, first and foremost, the 

 insect-eating birds, the Warblers, all of 

 whom are lovers of small game. In this 

 connection, we will allow ourselves a brief 

 digression. 



Everybody knows with what jealous in- 

 tolerance the Nightingales occupy each his 

 own cantonment. Neighbourly Intercourse 

 among them is tabooed. The males fre- 

 quently exchange defiant couplets at a di- 

 stance ; but, should the challenged party draw 

 near, the challenger makes him clear off. 

 Now, not far from my house. In a scanty 

 clump of holly-oaks which would barely give 

 a wood-cutter the wherewithal to make a 

 dozen faggots, I used, all through the spring, 

 to hear such full-throated warbling of Night- 

 ingales that the songs of these virtuosi, all 

 giving voice at once and with no attempt at 

 order, degenerated into a deafening hubbub. 



Why did those passionate devotees of soli- 

 tude come and settle In such large numbers 

 289 



