The Mason-Wasps 



quadrupeds and the overflow of the water 

 create a perpetual sheet of black mud 

 which neither the heat of July nor the 

 mighty blast of the mistral succeeds in dry- 

 ing. This bed of mire, so unpleasant for 

 the passers-by, is beloved of the Pelopaei, 

 who meet there from every part of the 

 neighbourhood. You seldom pass before 

 the noisome puddle without seeing some of 

 them gathering their pellets amid the hoofs 

 of the Mules slaking their thirst. 



The places exploited are enough in them- 

 selves to tell us that the mortar is collected 

 ready-made, fit for immediate use without 

 any further preparation than a vigorous 

 kneading which gets rid of the lumps and 

 makes the whole into a homogeneous mass. 

 Other builders in clay, the Mason-bees, for 

 instance, scrape up the dust on the highway 

 and moisten it with saliva to convert it into 

 a plastic material which will harden like 

 stone by virtue of certain chemical proper- 

 ties of the salivary fluid. They set to work 

 like the bricklayer, who mixes his mortar 

 and his plaster by adding water in small 

 quantities. The Pelopaeus does not prac- 

 tise this art; the secret of chemical action is 

 denied her; and the mud is employed just as 

 it is picked up. 



78 



