WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



we saw close their nests on the same day, one wedged 

 two or three pellets into the top of the hole, kicked in a 

 little dust, and then smoothed the surface over, finishing 

 it all within five minutes. This one seemed possessed 

 by a spirit of hurry and bustle, and did not believe in 

 spending time on non-essentials. The other, on the con- 

 trary, was an artist, an idealist. She worked for an hour, 

 first filling the neck of the burrow with fine earth which 

 was jammed down with much energy, this part of the 

 work being accompanied by a loud and cheerful hum- 

 ming, and next arranging the surface of the ground 

 with scrupulous care, and sweeping every particle of 

 dust to a distance. Even then she was not satisfied, but 

 went scampering around, hunting for some fitting object 

 to crown the whole. First she tried to drag a withered 

 leaf to the spot, but the long stem stuck in the ground 

 and embarrassed her. Relinquishing this, she ran along 

 a branch of the plant under which she was working and, 

 leaning over, picked up from the ground below a good- 

 sized stone ; but the effort was too much for her, and she 

 turned a somersault on to the ground. She then started 

 to bring a large lump of earth ; but this evidently did not 

 come up to her ideal, for she dropped it after a moment, 

 and seizing another dry leaf carried it successfully to 

 the spot and placed it directly over the nest. A third 



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