The Mason-bees 



then there, skirting my line of pebbles, with- 

 out any noticeable deviation. 



Can one believe that odoriferous emana- 

 tions diffused along the route are going to last 

 for several days? No one would dare to 

 suggest it. It must, therefore, be sight that 

 directs the Amazons, sight assisted by its mem- 

 ory for places. And this memory is tenacious 

 enough to retain the impression until the next 

 day and later; it is scrupulously faithful, for 

 it guides the column by the same path as on 

 the day before, across the thousand Irregulari- 

 ties of the ground. 



How will the Amazon behave when the lo- 

 cality is unknown to her? Apart from topo- 

 graphical memory, which cannot serve her 

 here, the region in which I imagine her being 

 still unexplored, does the Ant possess the 

 Mason-bee's sense of direction, at least within 

 modest limits, and is she able thus to regain 

 her Ant-hill or her marching column? 



The different parts of the garden are not 

 all visited by the marauding legions to the 

 same extent : the north side is exploited by 

 preference, doubtless because the forays in 

 that direction are more productive. The 

 Amazons, therefore, generally direct their 

 148 



