WINGS AND STINGS. 343 



at such short intervals that I supposed there must be 

 a nest concealed somewhere there. But I soon dis- 

 covered that they were perching on the stem, and 

 apparently sucking the sap. They invariably settled 

 on spots where the bark had been removed so as to 

 form a scar. But though I came within less than 

 two feet of the insects at work, I was not able to 

 determine whether they made these wounds on the 

 stem, or only took advantage of those already exist- 

 ing. I found that the Lilacs in other gardens were 

 similarly infested by Hornets. Those which came 

 from the same direction seemed to be friendly, but if 

 a couple coming from opposite quarters met on a 

 Lilac stem one of them became angry. Upon this 

 the other dropped, as if shot, without waiting to be 

 touched. The Hornets in our garden never took any 

 notice of us ; and though they are plentiful on the 

 Riviera, I never heard of any one being stung by 

 them. From a note in the Journal of the Selbourne 

 Society, I learn that the ash, an allied plant, is treated 

 in the same way by Hornets in England. 



The Scorpion (Fig.118), again, is a creature which 

 is not as black as it is painted. We suppose the insect 

 to be peculiarly venomous, like an adder, an asp, or a 

 cockatrice. We shudder at the vague but terrible 

 words of the rash young king who threatened to 

 chastise his unruly subjects with Scorpions. We are 

 prepared for something dangerous and deadly, and 

 are almost disappointed when we find that the Riviera 

 Scorpions are as harmless as black-beetles. At least, 

 that is my experience of them. 



I do not know whether they appear in town 

 houses, as I have fortunately never lived in the town. 



