THE BURROWERS 



out independently to seek their fortunes. On the fifth 

 of August we discovered on the island a happy family of 

 this kind, consisting of three brothers and four sisters, 

 the females, with their bright yellow faces and mandi- 

 bles, being handsomer than the males. They seemed to 

 be on the most amicable terms with each other, their 

 only trouble being that while they were all fond of look- 

 ing out, the doorway was too small to hold more than one 

 at a time. The nest was opened in the morning at about 

 nine o'clock, and during the next thirty or forty minutes 

 their comical little faces would appear, one after an- 

 other, each wasp enjoying the view for a few minutes 

 with many twitchings of the head, and then retreating 

 to make way for another, perhaps in response to some 

 hint from behind. Then one by one they would come 

 out, circle about the spot, and depart, sometimes leaving 

 one of their number to keep house all day alone. They 

 usually left the hole open; but when there was a wasp 

 within, it was soon closed from below. During this 

 playtime period they did not return until they were 

 ready to settle down for the night, the first one coming 

 home at half after two or three o'clock, and the others 

 arriving at intervals, none of them staying out later than 

 five. Most commonly they found the right spot without 

 trouble, scratched open the hole, and then either closed 

 155 



