30 CONVERSATIONS ON 



they may learn from each other; and the 

 wisest are not ashamed to acknowledge their 

 ignorance of some things ; and I believe they 

 take very little pleasure in puzzling. It is 

 our duty to learn all that we can, and to be 

 always willing at a proper time to teach 

 others what we know." 



" Thank you, dear Uncle Philip, for your 

 advice. We did not mean to triumph over 

 y&u, if you had not been able to tell us of 

 tailors among the animals. But we see that 

 you are right. We might get a foolish habit, 

 which would do us harm." 



" Exactly what I meant, boys ; and now 

 let us begin. And first we will talk of the 

 cutting out, as the tailor always does that be- 

 fore he sews. There is a kind of bee* which, 

 like some of the insects we have already 

 spoken of, is furnished with a borer. With 

 this she forms a round hole, like that made 

 with an auger or gimlet, in a hard-trodden 

 path, or sometimes in a piece of soft decayed 

 wood. It is in making her nest in this hole 

 that she plays the part of a tailor, for the nest 

 is made of leaves, sometimes taken from the 

 rose, at others from the birch, ash, or other 



* Megachilo centunculari*. 



