The Odyneri 



thing remarkable about them, either in con- 

 struction or in capacity; they are just cuts- 

 de-sac ending the corridors that give access 

 to them. Some are horizontal, some more 

 or less sloping; there is no fixed rule. 

 When a cell contains what it is meant to 

 contain, the egg and the provisions, the 

 Odynerus closes the entrance with a little 

 earthen lid; she then digs another near it, 

 on one side of the principal gallery. 

 Lastly, the common road to the cells is 

 blocked with earth; the tube at the entrance 

 is demolished, to furnish material for the 

 work done inside the nest; and every vestige 

 of the habitation disappears. 



The surface of the bank is of clay baked 

 in the sun; it is almost brick. I break into 

 it with difficulty, making use of a small 

 pocket-trowel. Underneath, it is much less 

 hard. 



How does the frail miner manage to 

 sink a gallery in this brick? She em- 

 ploys, I cannot doubt, the method described 

 by Reaumur. I will therefore reproduce a 

 passage from the master's writings, to give 

 my younger readers a glimpse into the 

 habits of the Odyneri, habits which my very 

 small colony did not enable me to observe in 

 all their details: 



37 



