PEPACTON 



roll them down into the mouth of the disputed pas- 

 sage. This caused the besieged hornet to withdraw 

 farther into her hole, when the other came down 

 and thrust in her head, but hesitated to enter. After 

 more manoeuvring, the aggressor withdrew, and 

 began to bore a hole about a foot from the one she 

 had tried to possess herself of by force. 



Besides the cicada, the sand hornet captures 

 grasshoppers and other large insects. I have never 

 met with it before the present summer (1879), but 

 this year I have heard of its appearance at several 

 points along the Hudson. 



THE SOLITARY BEE 



If you " leave no stone unturned " in your walks 

 through the fields, you may perchance discover the 

 abode of one of our solitary bees. Indeed, I have 

 often thought what a chapter of natural history 

 might be written on " Life under a Stone," so many 

 of our smaller creatures take refuge there, ants, 

 crickets, spiders, wasps, bumblebees, the solitary 

 bee, mice, toads, snakes, and newts. What do these 

 things do in a country where there are no stones ? 

 A stone makes a good roof, a good shield; it is 

 water-proof and fire-proof, and, until the season 

 becomes too rigorous, frost-proof, too. The field 

 mouse wants no better place to nest than beneath 

 a large, flat stone, and the bumblebee is entirely 

 satisfied if she can get possession of his old or aban- 

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