MUSIC OF BEES. 235 



peevish sound ; and the same is confirmed by the silent flight 

 of many insects of the same order. 



Speaking of the hum of bees, which, though monotonous, 

 is, through association, one of the most delightful of all insect 

 harmonies, Kirby remarks, " that it ceases when she alights ; 

 that of the wasp and hornet is more sonorous. The bom- 

 bination of humble-bees may be heard from far, gradually 

 increasing, till, when in its wheeling flight it passes close 

 to the ear, almost stunning it by its sharp, shrill, deafening 

 sound." 1 



The buzz of flies has been supposed to arise from the striking 

 of their wings upon the air; but this would seem disproved by 

 the silent progress of many other rapid fliers, such as the 

 dragon and crane flies ; also by the power of some to produce 

 a loud buzz when not upon the wing. Rennie 2 cites, as an 

 example, the buzz of a wasp-fly, when resting, apparently 

 motionless, on the window. Upon close observation, a vibra- 

 tory tremor, similar to that of a harp-string, though so rapid 

 as to be almost invisible, was perceptible in its wings ; and 

 when these were laid hold of, the sound ceased. It is sup- 

 posed by the same author that this sound was not referable, 

 simply, to any muscular movement, but that it must have 

 arisen either from air playing on the membranaceous edges 

 of the wings at their origin, as in the case of an ^JEolian harp- 

 string, or by the stroke or friction of some internal organ upon 

 the roots of the nervures. 3 The drone of the dung beetle, 

 the " Drowsy Dorr," 4 which, in the still twilight of a summer's* 

 evening, 



" Come brushing by 



With buzzing wing" 



owes also its origin to friction, that of the wing-cases upon 

 the base of the wings. Loud hummers of the same order are 

 the musk-beetle, the cock- chafer, 'and the beautiful green chafer 



1 Introduction to Entomology. a In Insect Miscellanies. 



* In Insect Miscellanies, p. 91. 4 Vignette. 



