Horn] AND SYMBOLS. 151 



the ground they shed their wings, and then they begin to find 

 how many enemies they have. Of the myriad host that pour 

 into the evening air, not one in twenty thousand survives. They 

 have foes above, below, and on every side. The bats and goat- 

 suckers hold high festival on these evenings when the termites 

 are abroad ; and after the insects have cast their wings they arc 

 pursued by ants, toads, spiders, and a host of other enemies. 

 Yes, the loss of the home-wings is a crisis, not only in the 

 life of the termites, but in that of men. A young man flies off 

 from home with his companions, full of high hopes, and settles 

 himself down, as he thinks, in some suitable place. He is no 

 sooner settled than his troubles commence. When soaring aloft 

 he had no conception of the fact that he was to be at once set 

 upon by enemies and troubles, nor in his home dreams did ho 

 suspect their number or their nature. Happy is he if he saves 

 himself from the spiders of the law, the toads of malice, and 

 the many social grubs who are ready to ruin him. H. 



The Home Instinct. 



Swallows (Hirundo) are celebrated for their migratory journeys. 

 In the early days of spring they reach Europe, not in flocks, but 

 as isolated individuals or in pairs. They occupy themselves 

 almost immediately either in repairing their last year's nests, 

 or, if these have been destroyed, in constructing new ones. 

 Among the arrivals are many young birds of the previous year 

 which have not had nests; and yet it is not a little extra- 

 ordinary that these, after six months' absence, return with 

 unerring certainty to the old dwelling where hatched. This 

 fact has been too often recorded to admit of any doubt on the 

 subject. This home instinct exists also very strongly in some 

 families of men. Though the various members may roam far 

 and wide over the whole surface of the world, they return 

 always to the old birthplace, impelled by an impulse which 

 seems irresistible, and which operates independently of the 

 fact that the companions of the old place have departed this 

 life. RE. 



