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murmur rose from them, like that of which 

 Virgil sings : 



S<epe levl somnum suadebit inire susurro. 1 



But, where the poet finds but an incitement 

 to the delights of sleep, the naturalist beholds 

 a subject for study: all this small folk making 

 holiday on the last flowers of the year will 

 perhaps furnish him with some fresh data. 

 Behold me then on observation-duty before 

 the two clumps with their thousands of lilac 

 petals. 



The air is absolutely still, the sun blazing, 

 the atmosphere heavy: signs of an approach- 

 ing storm, but conditions eminently favour- 

 able to the work of the Hymenoptera, who 

 seem to foresee to-morrow's rain and re- 

 double their activity to improve the oppor- 

 tunity. And so the Bees plunder eagerly, 

 while the Eristales fly clumsily from flower to 

 flower. At times, the peaceable multitude, 

 filling its crop with nectar, is disturbed by the 

 sudden invasion of the Wasp, a ravening in- 

 sect attracted hither by prey, not honey. 



Equally ardent in carnage, but very unequal 



x " The busy bees, with a soft murmuring strain, 

 Invite to gentle sleep the labouring swain." 



Pastorals, i., Dryden's translation. 

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