ii4 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



perience without results, for the thirty minutes and 

 more I watched her before I was called away. 



At last she faced about and standing facing the 

 nail head she bent her body up over her head bring- 

 ing the ovapositor in front where she could watch 

 the process and in this position I left her working 

 on the kitchen window sash of my camp. 



The cook afterwards told me that "the long- 

 tailed fly" worked away until dark, until I suppose, 

 the metal head of the nail had dulled her instru- 

 ments to such an extent that a grindstone would be 

 necessary to put them again in working order. 



If the ichneumon used any reason at all it rea- 

 soned something like this: "This is a piece of 

 wood, it has a dark spot on it, my previous expe- 

 rience has taught me that the dark spots on a piece 

 of wood are worm holes, therefore I should be 

 able to thrust my ovapositor in this dark spot." 



The two hundred men, previously alluded to, 

 reasoned, if they reasoned at all, in this wise: 

 Here is a glass, there is something in it that looks 

 like drink; our previous experience teaches us that 

 glasses on these occasions are used to contain drink, 

 therefore this must be liquid, and we will drink it. 



But, personally, I do not believe that either the 

 hornet, the ichneumon, or the men upon these par- 

 ticular occasions reasoned at all, they took things 

 "for granted." 



With these facts in view it is not at all wonder- 

 ful that birds and insects should be easily deceived 

 by the objects resembling other things. 



