PEPACTON 



noticed working in the towpath, where the ground 

 was rather inclined to be dry and sandy, a large 

 yellow hornet-like insect. It made a hole the size 

 of one's little finger in the hard, gravelly path beside 

 the roadbed. When disturbed, it alighted on the 

 dirt and sand in the middle of the road. I had 

 noticed in my walks some small bullet-like holes 

 in the field that had piqued my curiosity, and I 

 determined to keep an eye on these insects of the 

 roadside. I explored their holes, and found them 

 quite shallow, and no mystery at the bottom of 

 them. One morning in the latter part of July, walk- 

 ing that way, I was quickly attracted by the sight 

 of a row of little mounds of fine, freshly dug earth 

 resting upon the grass beside the road, a foot or 

 more beneath the path. " What is this ? " I said. 

 " Mice, or squirrels, or snakes," said my neighbor. 

 But I connected it at once with the strange insect 

 I had seen. Neither mice nor squirrels work like 

 that, and snakes do not dig. Abgve each mound 

 of earth was a hole the size of one's largest finger, 

 leading into the bank. While speculating about 

 the phenomenon, I saw one of the large yellow 

 hornets I had observed quickly enter one of the 

 holes. That settled the query. While spade and 

 hoe were being brought to dig him out, another 

 hornet appeared, heavy-laden with some prey, and 

 flew humming up and down and around the place 

 where I was standing. I withdrew a little, when 

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