A Furious Battle. 283 



tion, that about that time there is a movement in 

 nature. The croaking of frogs, the singing of larks 

 and thrushes, are distinctly suggestive of spring 

 ( the weather, too, was warm and showery, with 

 intervals of bright sunshine ) ; the grasshopper and 

 dragon-fly were characteristic of summer, and there 

 were a few swallows still flj'ing about ; the pheasants 

 and the acorns, and the putf-balls, full of minute 

 powder rising in clouds if struck, spoke of autumn ; 

 and, finall}^ the first redwing indicated winter : so 

 that all the seasons were represented together in 

 about the space of a fortnight. I do not know any 

 other period of the year which exhibits so remark- 

 able an assemblage of the representative features 

 of the four quarters : an artist might design an 

 emblematic study upon it say for a tesselated pave- 

 ment. 



In the early summer the lime-trees flower, and are 

 then visited b}' busy swarms of bees, causing a hum 

 in the air overhead. So, in like manner, on October 

 16, I passed under an old oak almost hidden by iv}', 

 and paused to listen to the loud hum made by the 

 insects that came to the iv}' blossom. They were 

 principall}^ bees, wasps, large black flies, and tiny 

 gnats. Suddenly a wasp attacked one of the largest 

 of the flies, and the two fell down on a bush, where 

 they brought up on a leaf. 



The fly was ver^^ large, of a square build, and 

 wrestled with its assailant vigorouslj'. But in a few 

 seconds, the wasp, getting the master}', brought his 

 tail round, and stung the fly twice, thrice, in rapid 

 succession in the abdomen, and then held tight. 

 Almost immediatelv the flv grew feeble : then the 



