THE YELLOW WASP 



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finished, in spite of no apparent plan or definite co-operation. 

 If you look closely at any wasp's nest you will see that the 

 alighting floor or front of the passage is all treated by this 

 sort of cementing process. The knowledge of it is not 

 specially developed to meet accidents, but is a part of the 

 equipment of the wasp's normal instinct. 



This masonic work is, of course, not at all comparable with 



WASP COMBS 



the manufacture by other wasps of the hanging paper nests. 

 It is a question whether any insect or other animal makes 

 any home, indeed makes anything, quite so light and delicate 

 as the hanging wasp's nest. The comparison is doubtless 

 unworthy, but the colour and in one aspect the consistency 

 suggest nothing so much as a very perfect cigar ash, 

 though the colour is rather more lichenous. These glaucous 

 spheres may be compared with the contour of a chaffinch's 

 nest or a long- tailed tit's, but both these are very solid 



