The Mason-bees 



bethink herself of stopping the leakage at the 

 bottom of her jar. 



At five o'clock in the evening, the works 

 cease. They are resumed on the morrow. 

 This time, I neglect to clean out my artificial 

 orifice and leave the victuals gradually to ooze 

 out by themselves. At length, the egg is laid 

 and the door sealed up, without anything be- 

 ing done by the Bee in the matter of the dis- 

 astrous breach. And yet to plug the hole 

 were an easy matter for her : a pellet of her 

 mortar would suffice. Besides, while the cup 

 was still empty, did she not instantly close the 

 hole which I had made? Why are not those 

 early repairs of hers repeated? It clearly 

 shows the creature's inability to retrace the 

 course of its actions, however slightly. At 

 the time of the first breach, the cup was empty 

 and the insect was laying the first rows of 

 bricks. The accident produced through my 

 agency concerned that part of the work which 

 occupied the Bee at the actual moment; it was 

 a flaw in the building, such as can occur na- 

 turally in new courses of masonry, which have 

 not had time to harden. In correcting that 

 flaw, the mason did not go outside her usual 

 work. 



176 



