ANTS, WASPS, AND BEES. 2 09 



for its lining. Having fixed upon the preferred plant, 

 rose, or willow, or whatever else it may be, it alights 

 upon the leaf, and fixing itself upon the edge, it holds 

 it with three legs on each side, then, usihg its man- 

 dibles as a cutter would his scissors, this ingenious 

 little creature plies the tools it is furnished with by 

 nature. The oval, or semicircular cutting being thus 

 speedily dispatched, with the legs still clinging to the 

 surfaces, the insect biting its way backwards, the 

 piece cut off necessarily remains within the clutch of 

 the legs, and when about falling, the rejoicing labourer 

 expands her wings, and flies off with it, with a hum of 

 delighted triumph, the cutting being carried perpendi- 

 cularly to her body. When she reaches the mouth of 

 the burrow, she rolls the cutting to its requisite tubular 

 form, and thrusts it forward to the bottom of the 

 cavity. She withdraws backwards, again flies off to 

 the same plant as before, makes fresh cuttings, and so 

 continues until the lining of the burrow is complete. 

 Another duty has now to be performed, for which all 

 the previous labours have been undertaken, provision 

 for its young. Honey and pollen are gathered from 

 different kinds of thistles, and the nest is filled with it 

 to within a line of its top ; the egg is then deposited, 

 and the coating of leaves which surrounds the cell 

 secures the store from lateral absorption, although the 

 mixture is rather more fluid than usual. The cell has 

 now to be closed, and the artificer, knowing the section 

 of the cylinder is circular, again flies forth, and cuts 

 the leaf again in that form, and this process is repeated 

 three or four to five or six times. The separation 

 between the cells is consolidated, and the whole pro- 

 p 



