202 NATURE'S STORY OF THE YEAR 



is heavy enough to tax her energies, for it is as 

 large as her head, and, of course, much heavier. 

 Following, we see her alight on the face of a wall, 

 the side of a house, corner of a window-ledge, or 

 similar situation, but probably at no great distance, 

 for she has sense enough to build near the spot 

 whence the materials are obtained. She alights on 

 what looks like a patch of mud on the wall. But 

 this mud is her home ; she has built it up gradually, 

 and it contains her eggs and the food for the 

 future grubs, which will not hatch out till her 

 life's work is done, and her sting useless to protect 

 them. 



She may not watch them growing to maturity, 

 as may the common wasp ; but she may build 

 their home ; and this she does with great care 

 and some skill. If the observer move cautiously 

 the wasp will continue her labours, even when 

 watched from the distance of a foot. She will 

 slowly raise, bit by bit, the walls of a cell or tube 

 of about two-thirds of an inch in depth. In doing 

 this she seems to be directed by her own ideas, 

 her genius. Precipitate in nothing, she appears to 

 act with foresight and deliberation. The adult 



