188 OUT OF DOORS. 



it wa* hardly possible to persuade myself that the crea- 

 ture was not a veritable bud. And the similitude was 

 increased by a little red spot at the end of the tail, which 

 exactly represented the red top of an unopened bud. 



On the particular day which I have mentioned there 

 was too much wind to please the insects, very few of 

 whom, therefore, made their appearance on the black- 

 berry bush. The hive-bees were tolerably busy among 

 the flowers ; as, indeed, they always are whenever they 

 have a chance. Humble bees also came with their 

 heavy hum, and accordingly, when a hive-bee and a 

 humble-bee wanted to take to the same flower, there 

 was a difference of opinion, which, however, never came 

 even to the semblance of a fight. Several species of 

 solitary bees also came, more apparently for the pollen 

 than for honey. 



Many ichneumon flies were fussing about among 

 the foliage, but I have not yet been able to discover 

 the object of their search. I suspect, however, that 

 some of them at least may have come after the leaf- 

 rolling and leaf-folding caterpillars. We know that 

 there are some ichneumon flies which can even get at 

 larvae that are buried in the trunks of trees, boring 

 through the solid wood with the long hair-like ovi- 

 positor, and contriving, by some wonderful instinct, to 

 hit upon the very spot in which the larva lies hidden, 

 and to pass an egg into its body along the ovipositor. 

 So I thought that these ichneumons, especially those 

 which had tolerably long ovipositors, might be on a 



