150 THE SOLITARY WASPS. 



for skillful surgery. In point of strengtli the wasp was at a 

 disadvantage, and slie must have come off -vactor by the quick use 

 of her sting. Under these circumstances she must have struck 

 when and where she could, without any selection of a particular 

 spot. That she quite realized the power of her foe was shown 

 by her next action. With the utmost circumspection she set- 

 tled down upon the spider and made a prolonged and careful 

 examination of the mouth parts. The investigation was satis- 

 factory and without any further stinging she seized the spider 

 by one leg and, this time, really dragged it off. It was a good 

 load for her and it evidently required all of her strength to pull 

 it along. ISTot far away was a Imnp of earth and under this the 

 treasure was stowed and then began the usual hunting perform- 

 ance, which soon resulted in the discovery of another cavity 

 which had a very small opening. She crept in, remained a min- 

 ute, and then came out and brought her spider to this new 

 hiding place. The head went in easily but it took a gi^eat deal 

 of tugging to get the rest to follow. At last both spider and 

 wasp were out of sight and everything remained quiet for so 

 long that we began to think that this time we were really to see 

 the final act in the play. But no, when the little wasp came 

 creeping out it was only to start off on another extended tour 

 in which we did not attempt to follow her. She doubtless se- 

 lected another halting-place, for when she returned it was to try 

 to get the spider out of the hole by pulling at one of its hind 

 legs. The task, however, was not an easy one. She exerted 

 all her strength, so that we expected to see the poor victim dis- 

 membered before our eyes, and still it did not come. At last 

 she seemed to realize that there was more than one way to ac- 

 complish her end, and turned her attention to cutting away the 

 earth to make the opening larger. After a few moments' work 

 she tried again, and although the passage was still much too 

 small for convenience the spider was at length dragged forth, 

 looking much the worse for wear. As she moved away we 

 alarmed her by lifting some vines that prevented our keeping 



