CHAP. IX. SOCIABILITY OF QUADRUPEDS. 279 



by them on the 1st of September, 1811, and another 

 on the 9th of the same month. These celestial 

 dances were indescribably beautiful : they scarcely re- 

 sembled, as our authors observe, anything material ; 

 " they reminded us of angels and glorified spirits drink- 

 ing life and joy in the effulgence of the Divine favour." * 

 Another family of little black flies, forming the Lin- 

 siaean genus Empis, in May and June (their season of 

 love), may be seen wheeling in airy circles over ponds 

 and stagnant waters, or even near hedges, with a rush 

 resembling that of a hasty shower driven by the wind.t 

 (294.) We now come to those permanent societies, 

 where the individuals of a species live together con- 

 tinually ; and whose dwellings, if not common to all the 

 community, are, at least, so contiguous as to resemble 

 a little hamlet or village. We exclude from this sec- 

 tion all those which, by joining in the construction of 

 a common habitation, like the beaver, the ant, and the 

 bee, form among themselves perfect societies. On 

 looking to QUADRUPEDS, we find the greatest number 

 of these societies are composed of the gnawing or rodent 

 order (Glires Lin.) ; they are the smallest and weakest 

 of their class ; and, by living in communities under 

 ground, seem to have that instinctive feeling, common 

 to the timorous among us, that there is some degree of 

 additional safety in numbers. We have, in our own 

 country, a familiar example of these associations in the 

 common meadow or short- tailed mouse (Mus arvalis), 

 more abundant, indeed, in France than with us, since, 

 there, they have been known almost to destroy the crops 

 over a square of near forty leagues. The burrows of 

 these animals, we are told, which serve both as retreats 

 and depositories for their stores, are neither spacious nor 

 deep, but are divided into two or three apartments. 

 The galleries, occupied by several families or small 

 colonies, are not contiguous ; there is always a space be- 

 tween them. If the inhabitants of one burrow abandon 

 it, or perish, others are not found to occupy the same, 



* Int. to Ent. vol. 31 p. 6. f Id. ibid. p. 7. 



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