284 Fenff-shuL 



wasp snipped off its proboscis, and next the legs. 

 Then he seized tlie fly just behind the head, and bit 

 off pieces of the wings ; these, the proboscis, and the 

 legs dropped to the ground. The fell purpose of the 

 wasp is not easily described ; he stung and snipped 

 and bit and reduced his prey to utter helplessness, 

 without the pause of a second. 



So eager was he that while catting the wings to 

 pieces, he fell off the leaf, but clung tight to the fly, 

 and, although it was nearly as big as himself, carried 

 it easil}' to another leaf. There he rolled the fly 

 round, snipped off the head, which dropped, and 

 devoured the internal part ; but slipped again and 

 recovered himself on a third leaf, and as it were 

 picked the remaining small portion. What had 

 been a great insect had almost disappeared in a few 

 minutes. 



After the arrival of the fieldfares the da^'s seem 

 to rapidl}^ shorten, till towards the end of December 

 the cocks, reversing their usual practice, crow in the 

 evening, hours before midnight. The cock-crow is 

 usuallj^ associated with the dawn, and the change of 

 habit, just when the nights are longest is interesting. 



Birds have a Feng-shui of their own — an unwrit- 

 ten and occult science of the healthy and unhealth}' 

 places of residence — and seem to select localities in 

 accordance with the laws of this magical interpre- 

 tation of nature. The sparrows, by preference, 

 choose the southern side of a house for their nests. 

 This is ver}^ noticeable on old thatched houses, where 

 one slope of the roof happens to face the north and 

 another the south. On the north side the thatch has 

 been known to last thirty years without i-enewal — 



