VENOMOUS FLIES. 101 



quit it till they have either devoured it or 

 carried it off as ready-made building material, 

 which I should thiuk the most probable. At 

 any rate the nest always disappears. The natives 

 are very frightened of this species, as their 

 sting is very severe ; but I have never been 

 attacked by any, although I let them build 

 freely in my verandah. 



The many venomous flies that enter the 

 houses, on the contrary, attack and sting fright- 

 fully without the least provocation, especially 

 one lovely metallic-green fellow ; but fortunately 

 most of the " stingers " make a loud buzzing 

 noise, and so give one warning of their presence. 



The second pretty sight I witnessed was in 

 the heart of the wood itself the ants swarming 

 up into the air as usual, with hundreds of lovely 

 birds, some quite large, chasing them ; even large 

 hawks were so eager for them that they swooped 

 down almost low enough to touch my hat. 

 One greyish-blue bird, with a large red beak, 

 Irrisor erythrothynchus, had varied the feast by 

 catching a huge fat grasshopper three inches 



