WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



minutes passed in wearisome toil before it was safely put 

 away. The egg having been laid, she began to bring 

 earth for closing, and we felt thankful that our task as 

 well as hers was nearly over. She worked slowly now, 

 taking ten or fifteen minutes for a trip ; but after bringing 

 in the sixth pellet she took on a livelier air, and before 

 long we were convinced that she had begun to build 

 a new cell. For two hours longer we watched her un- 

 remitting labor, and when we left her at six o'clock she 

 was flying back and forth as briskly as ever. 



Another Agenia, less ambitious, brought her spider 

 at three o'clock and then went to bed in an empty cell, 

 head in, tail sticking out. We cut away a section of the 

 door-frame that covered the spot without disturbing 

 her slumber. This one could never remember where 

 her nest was, but had a long hunt for it every time 

 she brought a pellet ; and when she had caught the 

 spider she lost herself completely on the brick wall, 

 going to the very top, and even around the corner 

 on to the side of the building. Every little while she 

 would fly back to the grass at the threshold and start 

 up afresh, and in this way she finally stumbled on 

 the right spot by accident. This seemed very stupid 

 of her, as she made many locality studies. Her be- 

 havior was in striking contrast to little Rhopalum's 



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