INSECTS AND OTHER SMALL DEER. 153 



in our illustration ; but during a sixteen years' resi- 

 dence in the south the reverse has always been the 

 case, and I have met with by far the greater number 

 in holes in the ground. I once found a small wasp's 

 nest inside an old one belonging to a common wren. 



WASP 8 NEST. 



Wasps kill great numbers ot other insects. 1 

 have seen them come into the kitchen of an old 

 Surrey farmhouse and snatch house-flies oft the 

 heads of nails protruding from a beam as dexter- 

 ously as a professional cricketer would catch a ball ; 

 and after they had torn the wings of their victims 

 off they flew through the open window and away 



