BIKDS' NESTS. 49 



Hornets are very large flies, with four wings, 

 and bodies banded with yellow and black. 

 They are not so troublesome as wasps, as they 

 do not often come into houses and fly about 

 meat and fruit as those annoying insects do, 

 but their sting is much more painful than that 

 of the wasp. The year before, some hornets 

 had found their way through a hole between 

 the chimney and tiles, into the space between 

 the rafters and ceiling of one of the bed- 

 rooms. There they had built their nest. In 

 doing so, it seemed that they had done some 

 damage to the roof, perhaps, by eating away 

 the wood of the roof, and thus letting in the 

 rain ; for one day in the summer, after heavy 

 rain, a large brown spot appeared in the ceil- 

 ing of the bed-room, and it was feared that 

 the plaster would fall. Attempts had been 

 made to drive them out, by blowing the smoke 

 of burning sulphur into the hole; but the 

 nest was too far in to be reached. To take 

 down the ceiling would have made the matter 

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