VESPA'S FOOD SUPPLY 61 



she is very skilful in catching. She is 

 particularly fond of flies, though nothing 

 seems to come amiss, and she bears out 

 her reputation of liking ill-smelling 

 food by devouring the malodorous white 

 cabbage butterfly and the ofi'ensive earwig, 

 both of which are left severely alone by 

 even the hungriest of insectivorous birds. 

 She also likes raw meat, to which she will- 

 ingly helps herself from the butcher's shop, 

 without troubling him to wait on her. 

 The butcher ought to welcome her, as the 

 small amount of meat she consumes is 

 more than paid for in the large number 

 of flies she catches, thus protecting him 

 from one of the greatest nuisances he has 

 to contend with. But butchers are not 

 always grateful for their blessings, and one 

 once clipped the wings of the wasps en- 

 gaged in carrymg off his meat, to punish 

 them for the theft. Never before had 

 they been obliged to face such an emer- 

 gency, and finding themselves unable to 



