CHAPTER X 



COMMON WASPS 

 I 



THEIR CLEVERNESS AND STUPIDITY 



WISHING to observe a Wasp's nest I go out, one 

 day in September, with my little son Paul, who 

 helps me with his good sight and his undivided 

 attention. We look with interest at the edges 

 of the footpaths. 



Suddenly Paul cries : ' A Wasp's nest ! A Wasp's nest, 

 as sure as anything ! ' For, twenty yards away, he has 

 seen rising from the ground, shooting up and flying away, 

 now one and then another swiftly moving object, as though 

 some tiny crater in the grass were hurling them forth. 



We approach the spot with caution, fearing to attract 

 the attention of the fierce creatures. At the entrance-door 

 of their dwelling, a round opening large enough to admit a 

 man's thumb, the inmates come and go, busily passing one 

 another as they fly in opposite directions. Burr ! A shudder 

 runs through me at the thought of the unpleasant time we 

 should have, did we incite these irritable warriors to attack 

 us by inspecting them too closely. Without further investi- 

 gation, which might cost us too dear, we mark the spot, and 

 resolve to return at nightfall. By that time all the inhabitants 

 of the nest will have come home from the fields. 



The conquest of a nest of Common Wasps would be rather 

 a serious undertaking if one did not act with a certain amount 

 of prudence. Half a pint of petrol, a reed-stump nine inches 

 long, and a good-sized lump of clay or loam, kneaded to the 



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