68 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



and Kirby and Silence, with, respect to tlie materials em- 

 ployed by the hornet for building. The latter say that it 

 employs decayed wood ; the former, that it uses the bark of 

 the ash-tree, but takes less pains to split it into fine fibres 

 than wasps do ; not, however, because it is destitute of 

 skill ; for in constructing the suspensory columns of the 

 platforms, a paste is prepared little inferior to that made 

 by wasps. We cannot, from our own observations, decide 

 which of the above statements is correct, as we have only 

 once seen a hornet procuring materials, at Compton-Bassett, 

 in Wiltshire ; and in that case it gnawed the inner bark of 

 an elm which had been felled for several months, and was, 

 consequently, dry and tough. Such materials as this would 

 account for the common yellowish-brown colour of a hornet's 

 nest. (J..E.) 



When hornets make choice of a tree for their domicile, 

 they select one which is in a state of decay, and already 

 partly hollowed; but they possess the means, in their 

 sharp and strong mandibles, of extending the excavation 

 to suit their purposes ; and Eeaumur frequently witnessed 

 their operations in mining into a decayed t]-ee, and carrying 

 off what they had gnawed. He observed, also, that in such 

 cases they did not make use of the large hole of the tree for 

 an entrance, but went to the trouble of digging a gallery, 

 sufScient for the passage of the largest hornet in the nest, 

 th-rough the living and undecayed portion of th.e tree. 

 As this is perforated in a winding direction, it is no doubt 

 intended for the purpose of protecting the nest from the 

 intrusion of depredators, who could more easily eifect 

 an entrance if there were not such a tortuous way to pass 

 through. 



One of the most remarkable of our native social-wasps 

 is the ti^ee-wasp ( Vesjm Britannica), which is not uncommon 

 in the northern, but is seldom to be met with in the 

 southern parts of the island. Instead of burrowing in the 

 ground like the common wasp ( Vespa vulgaris), or in the 

 hollows of trees like the hornet ( Vespa crahro), it boldly 

 swings its nest from the extremity of a branch, where it 



