78 TROPIC DAYS 



the magics of the morn. Having butted with its highly 

 competent head the caterpillar well home, the wasp 

 selected a neatly fitting stone as a wad, and, filling the 

 shaft with earth, strewed the surface with grass frag- 

 ments, to the artistic concealment of the site. 



On the beach is another industrious winged miner 

 which has not learned the art of the rapid evacuation 

 of the spoil, but follows the slower ways of the crab, 

 carrying the sand in a pellet between the forelegs, and 

 as it backs out jerking it rearward until a tidy heap is 

 made. But it is a fussy worker, so charged with nervous 

 energy that its glittering wings quiver even while down 

 in the depths of its shaft, as you may assure yourself if 

 you hearken attentively when neither the sea nor air 

 makes competitive noises. 



