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THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE., 1 Ay 6 
some combs of wasps happened to be found in one of their 
nests. The combs were conveyed thither doubtless for the 
sake of the maggots or nymphs, and not for their honey, since 
none is to be found in the combs of wasps. Birds of prey 
occasionally feed on insects; thus have I seen a tame kite 
picking up the female ants full of eggs, with much satisfac- 
tion.” 
LETTER XI. 
SELBORNE, Fed. 8th, 1772. 
When I ride about in the winter, and see such prodigious 
flocks of various kinds of birds, I cannot help admiring these 
congregations, and wishing that it was in my power to account 
‘for those appearances almost peculiar to the season. The two 
great motives which regulate the proceedings of the brute 
creation are love and hunger; the former incites animals to 
perpetuate their kind; the latter induces them to preserve 
individuals : whether either of these should seem to be the 
ruling passion in the matter of congregating is to be con- 
sidered. As to love, that is out of the question at a time of 
the year when that soft passion is not indulged ; besides, 
during this season of the year such a jealousy prevails between 
the male birds that they can hardly bear to be together in the 
same hedge or field. Most of the singing and elation of spirits 
of that time seem to me to be the effect of rivalry and emula- 
tion ; and it is to this spirit of jealousy that I chiefly attribute 
the equal dispersion of birds in the spring over the face of the 
country. 
Now as to the business of food: as these animals are 
actuated by instinct to hunt for necessary food, they should 
not, one would suppose, crowd together in pursuit of sus- 
tenance at a time when it is most likely to fail; yet such 
