THE CARPENTERS 241 



It was not discovered what these nests 

 were provisioned with, as neither wasp 

 was caught in the act of carrying in its 

 booty, and it would have been very diffi- 

 cult to cut the nests out, as well as dis- 

 figuring to the cabin. 



Another miner wasp, with a strikingly 

 yellow-jacket-like appearance, was seen 

 later in the summer carrying something 

 into a little hole between the shingles on a 

 New England sea-shore house. 



She went in so quickly, however, that 

 it was not possible to discover the nature 

 of her victim. When she had carried in a 

 number of small insects she closed the 

 opening and went away. 



In choosing the neat little tunnel made 

 by the shingles where they did not quite 

 come together and were roofed over by 

 the shingle above, this clever wasp saved 

 herself the trouble of digging out her own 

 hole. 



16 



