240 BOMBAY DUCKS 



contrary, are not intelligent creatures. They seem to 

 lead a blissful, happy-go-lucky life. They refuse to be 

 worried ; they decline to be always on the qui vive 

 watching for the devourer who may never come their 

 way. If they are caught, well they are caught. That 

 is the long and the short of it. It is true that Nature 

 has given many of them clothes calculated to render 

 them as inconspicuous as possible, but most of the 

 insects seem unable to understand how to profit by 

 their disguises. It is useless to dress up an ass to look 

 like a lion, if the animal will persist in braying upon 

 every possible occasion. 



Whenever there is a commotion in the grass the 

 grasshoppers and their friends jump into the air and 

 thus show themselves to their enemies ; whereas, had 

 they the common sense to lie low, they might not be 

 detected. Of course there is the point of view of the 

 insect. I can quite imagine one turning round and 

 saying : " It is all very fine for you to talk of sitting 

 still in presence of danger. Try it yourself. If you 

 were seated in your garden quietly taking afternoon 

 tea and you saw a great monster, as big as the Albert 

 Hall, coming towards you and making the earth shake 

 as if it were in the throes of an earthquake, I am 

 prepared to bet you two to one in antennae that you 

 would take to your heels and run for your life ! " 



Well, perhaps, there is after all something to be said 

 for the insects, but the stern fact remains that, when 

 surprised by a cow, they jump out of the way of its 

 feet and find they have leapt out of the frying-pan into 

 the fire, for, before they realize what has happened, 



