44 Next to the Ground 



There seemed to be no proper dauber com- 

 munity, though several darted and buzzed 

 about the nest. A mud-castle, once begun, 

 went up and forward with a rush. Still the 

 daubers made haste slowly. Mortar they got 

 most commonly out at the chicken-trough in 

 the back yard, where there was nearly always 

 water spilled over the edges. Sometimes a 

 dozen settled upon the soft earth at the margin 

 of the over-flow puddle and began to ball up 

 the soft earth. It required some minutes to 

 gather a pellet, shape it properly, and balance 

 it for flying. Before starting to the nest there 

 was a trial flight of a few inches. If the flyer 

 settled either forward or back, she at once 

 alighted and shifted her burden back or forth. 



Sometimes the puddle dried quickly, leav- 

 ing stiffish mud behind. The daubers gath- 

 ered balls of this, and crawled with them 

 cautiously to the edge of the trough so the 

 water in it might soften the balls and make 

 them spread properly. If the mud crusted all 

 over, the daubers crawled about evidently in 

 search of a wet spot. When they did not 

 find a wet spot, they flew away, either to the 

 far trough, in the edge of the orchard, or to 

 the calf-lot pond more than a hundred yards 

 off. If they took these long flights they were 

 much apter to drop their mud-balls, although 

 they rested once or twice on the way home. 



