208 THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT 



her to use the same partition for two adjoining rooms. 

 The original elegant symmetry is lost and the whole 

 now forms a cluster which, at first sight, appears to be 

 merely a clod of dry mud, sprinkled with tiny pebbles. 

 But let us examine the shapeless mass more closely and 

 we shall perceive the number of chambers composing 

 the habitation with the funneled mouths, each quite 

 distinct and each furnished with its gravel stopper set 

 in the cement. 



The Chalicodoma of the Walls employs the same 

 building methods as Eumenes Amedei: in the courses 

 of cement she fixes, on the outside, small stones of 

 minor bulk. Her work begins by being a turret of 

 rustic art, not without a certain prettiness; then, when 

 the cells are placed side by side, the whole construction 

 degenerates into a lump governed apparently by no 

 architectural rule. Moreover, the Mason-bee covers 

 her mass of cells with a thick layer of cement, which 

 conceals the original rock work edifice. The Eumenes 

 does not resort to this general coating: her building 

 is too strong to need it; she leaves the pebbly facings 

 uncovered, as well as the entrances to the cells. The 

 two sorts of nests, although constructed of similar ma- 

 terials, are therefore easily distinguished. 



The Eumenes' cupola is the work of an artist; and 

 the artist would be sorry to cover his masterpiece with 

 whitewash. I crave forgiveness for a suggestion which 

 I advance with all the reserve befitting so delicate a 

 subject. Would it not be possible for the cromlech- 

 builder to take a pride in her work, to look upon it 



