276 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Operations of the female. 



structed of a kind of mortar, of which sand is to 

 be the basis. She is very curious in her choice 

 of this, selecting it with her jaws grain by grain. 

 To shorten her labour, before she transports it 

 for use, she glues together, by means of a viscid 

 saliva from her body, as many grains as she can 

 carry : these form a little mass, about the size of 

 a small shot. Taking this up in her jaws, she 

 conveys it to the place she has fixed upon for the 

 site of her house. She labours incessantly till 

 her whole work is completed, which usually oc- 

 cupies five or six days. The number of cells ini 

 one nest are from three to fifteen : these are all 

 similar, and nearly equal in dimensions, each 

 being about an inch high, half an inch diameter; 

 and, before its orifice is closed, resembling a 

 thimble in shape. When a cell is raised to 

 somewhat more than half its height, our little 

 mason lays up in it a store of pollen, seasoned 

 with honey, for the sustenance of its future in- 

 habitant. This being done, she deposits her 

 egg, finishes and covers her cell, and then pro- 

 ceeds to the erection of a second, which she fur- 

 nishes and finishes in the same manner; and so 

 on till the work is completed. These cells are 

 not placed in any regular order : some are paral- 

 lel with the wall, others perpendicular to it, and 

 others are inclined to it at different angles. This 

 occasions many empty spaces between the cells, 

 which the laborious architect -fills up with the 

 same kind of cement, and then bestows on the 



