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 



36 



