THE ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS 



71 



nice was she in her adaptation of means to ends, so busy 

 and contented in her labor of love, and so pretty in her pride 

 over her completed work. In rilling up her nest she put 

 her head down into it and bit away the loose earth from the 

 sides, letting it fall to the bottom of the burrow, and then, 

 after a quantity had accumulated, jammed it down with her 

 head. Earth was then brought from the outside and pressed 

 in, and then more was bitten from the sides. When, at last, 

 the filling was level with the ground, she brought a quantity 

 of fine grains of dirt to the spot, and, picking up a small 

 pebble in her mandibles, used it as a hammer in pounding 

 them down with rapid strokes, thus 

 making this spot as hard and firm as 

 the surrounding surface. Before we 

 could recover from our astonishment 

 at this performance she dropped her 

 stone and was bringing more earth. 

 We then threw ourselves down on the 

 ground, that not a motion might be 

 lost, and in a moment we saw her pick 

 up the pebble and again pound the 

 earth into place with it, hammering 

 now here and now there, until all was 

 level. Once more the whole process 

 was repeated, and then the little crea- 

 ture, all unconscious of the commotion 

 that she had aroused in our minds, un- 

 conscious, indeed, of our very existence, 

 and intent only on doing her work and 

 doing it well, gave one final comprehen- 

 sive glance around and flew away." 



A common North American species of solitary wasp 

 (Eume'nes frater'nus, Fig. 44) builds a pretty little jug- 

 shaped nest of clay or mud, which it attaches to vegetation 



FIG. 44. Mason- Wasp and 



Nest. Natural size 



