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their nests, and one abandoned her burrow 

 because h'nes had been drawn in the sand 

 near it. 



Mr. Bates tells the following story of 

 the wasps at Santarem, illustrating their 

 wonderful ability to find their way back 

 to their burrows, — 



" While resting in the shade during the 

 great heat of the early hours of afternoon, 

 I used to find amusement in watching the 

 proceedings of the sand-wasps. A small 

 pale-green kind of Bembex was plentiful 

 near the Bay of Mapiri. When they are at 

 work, a number of little jets of sand are . 

 seen shooting over the surface of the slop- 

 ing bank. The little miners excavate with 

 their fore-feet, which are strongly built and 

 furnished with a fringe of stiff bristles ; 

 they work with wonderful rapidity, and 

 the sand thrown out beneath their bodies 

 issues in continuous streams. They are 

 solitary wasps, each female working on 

 her own account. 



