198 WASPS AND THEIR WAYS 



venting her feelings in a querulous 

 outcry. 



Indeed her voice during the process of 

 nest-building is a shrill, high-keyed buzz-, 

 ing not unlike the sound made by a large 

 fly when caught in a spider's web, and it 

 often leads to her detection when she is 

 building in concealed corners. 



One summer, mud-daubers' nests were 

 searched for in vain. They are always 

 common enough — until one begins to 

 look for them. Because they were wanted 

 that summer — or for some other reason — 

 they could not be found. 



The wasps themselves were abundant, 

 and were seen constantly at work in a 

 muddy place near the barn pump. But 

 where they took their pellets of mud was 

 another matter. Not a mud-nest was to 

 be found in the barn or in the attic of the 

 house. 



There seemed no solution to the mys- 

 tery until it was one day unexpectedly 



