202 WASPS AND THEIRW AYS 



The door to the shed having been left 

 open, the wasp when her work was done 

 flew out at the large opening, but she 

 never came in that way. She always ap- 

 peared at the little window, battling with 

 the wind and holding on to her precious 

 load of mud, although had she gone 

 around to the side of the shed she would 

 have found a much easier entrance. 



She brought load after load in against 

 the wind and built the walls of her oblong 

 cells, making each just the right size to 

 contain a pupa, although the wasp occu- 

 pant began as a tiny egg, and the mother 

 wasp had no experience of it in 

 any other form. She built three or 

 ifour cells side by side, then above 

 nthese she piled others, making 

 two or three tiers. Each little 

 mud cave had a round opening at one 

 end. 



Generally the pile of cells was all plas- 

 tered over into a shapeless mass before the 



