or NATURE. 201 



wasps happened to be found in one of 

 their nests. The combs were conveyed 

 thither doubtless for the sake of the mag- 

 gots or nymphs, and not for their honey : 

 since none is to be found in the combs of 

 wasps. Birds of prey occasionally feed on 

 insects ; thus have I seen a tame kite pick- 

 ing up the female ants full of eggs with 

 much satisfaction. WHITE. 



That red-starts, fly-catchers, black-caps, 

 and other slender-billed insectivorous small 

 birds, particularly the swallow tribe, make 

 their first appearance very early in the 

 Spring, is a well known fact ; though the 

 fly-catcher is the latest of them all in its 

 visit (as this accurate naturalist observes in 

 another place), for it is never seen before 

 the month of May. If these delicate crea- 

 tures come to us from a distant country, 

 they will probably be exposed in their pas- 

 sage, as Mr. White justly remarks, to much 

 greater difficulties from storms and tem- 

 pests than their feeble powers appear to be 

 able to surmount : on the other hand, if we 



