204 WASP STUDIES AFIELD 



ing, the wasp quickly flew out the door and escaped. A few 

 nights later, at twilight, one of this species, possibly the same 

 individual, but without her burden, was flying about the in- 

 side wall of the barn. Eventually, she settled in one of the 

 holes in the wall. Thinking that this was her nest and hop- 

 ing to get more of her story, we did not take her then. But 

 on the morrow, we sorrowfully learned that this was only her 

 sleeping-quarters and not her nest at all. One more fleeting 

 glimpse of her some days later carrying a large wheat straw 

 only tantalized us and whetted our curiosity. So when, 

 many days after, the twins came running to the house shout- 

 ing, "It's there! It's there! the wasp with a stick in its 

 mouth !," the family broke in disorder and ran to the spot. 

 Like the populace rushing forth, craning their necks sky- 

 ward, to view the first modern aircraft to appear above a 

 village, so we ran hither and thither watching the maneuvres 

 overhead of our grass carrier wasp. She wheeled and circled 

 about, and finally landed at her burrow in a log in the corn- 

 crib. It was an old carpenter-bee hole, completely stuffed 

 with grass. It seemed that the straws had all been drawn in 

 by their middle, so the ends protruded from the orifice in 

 a broom-like tuft. We removed this material, and found 

 nothing but grass. However, we could not reach to the 

 bottom of the burrow with the forceps. 



This nest was the counterpart of several which we had 

 seen about that time. All of them seemed to be old bee or 

 beetle burrows in logs or timbers, and all were similarly 

 filled with this material, tightly crammed into the hole. 

 These nests did not appear until near the end of our sojourn 

 in the country, so we did not learn, first-hand, the use or 

 purpose of these straw structures, so like a bird's nest. 



On the morning of our last day with them, we saw one 

 out gathering her grasses. She alighted on a leafless branch 





