THE MINERS 301 



had lost something they needed very badly 

 but could not find. 



They were doubtless looking for places 

 suitable to dig in, but to the observer 



ignorant of the nicer distinctions of wasp 

 problems, they seemed to be very light- 

 headed and to be wasting a great deal of 

 time. When one had begun to dig its 

 hole it was easily frightened away by a 

 passer-by, and when it returned employed 

 somewhat the tactics of the partridge when 

 trying to conceal its young. It did not go 

 straight to its hole, but ran a long way 

 past it on one side and then on the other 

 and hunted about as if it had never started 

 a hole in the world. Then, all at once, 

 perhaps believing it had thrown any pos- 

 sible observer quite off the track, it popped 



