Mason-Sees. 45 



materials to form its nest ; and though the plank was as 

 uniform in the qualities of its surface, nay, probably more 

 so than the sand could be, the wasp fidgeted about, nibbling 

 a fibre from one, and a fibre from another portion, till 

 enough was procured for one load. In the same way, the 

 whole tribe of wasps and bees flit restlessly from flower to 

 flower, not unfrequently revisiting the same blossom, again 

 and again, within a few seconds. It appears to us, indeed, 

 to be far from improbable, that this very restlessness and 

 irritability may be one of the springs of their unceasing 

 industry. 



By observing, with some care, the bees which we found 

 digging the clay, we discovered one of them (Osmia bicornis) 

 at work upon a nest, about a gunshot from the bank. The 

 place it had chosen was the inner wall of a coal-house, 

 facing the south-west, the brick-work of which was but 

 roughly finished. In an upright interstice of half an inch 

 in width, between two of the bricks, we found the little 

 architect assiduously building its walls. The bricklayer's 

 mortar had either partly fallen out, or been removed by the 

 bee, who had commenced building at the lower end, and 

 did not build downwards, as the social wasps construct 

 their cells. 



The very different behaviour of the insect here, and at 

 the quarry, struck us as not a little remarkable. When 

 digging and preparing the clay, our approach, however 

 near, produced no alarm ; the work went on as if we had 

 been at a distance ; and though we were standing close to 

 the hole, this did not scare away any of the bees upon their 

 arrival to procure a fresh load. But if we stood near the 

 nest, or even in the way by which the bee flew to it, she 

 turned back or made a wide circuit immediately, as if afraid 

 to betray the site of her domicile. We even observed her 

 turning back, when we were so distant that it could not 

 reasonably be supposed she was jealous of us ; but probably 

 she had detected some prowling insect depredator, tracking 

 her flight with designs upon her provision for her future 

 progeny. We imagined we could perceive not a little art 



