The Eumenes 



ish, if the builder be wholly absorbed in the 

 solidity of her work? 



Here is another detail: among the bits 

 of gravel employed for the outer covering 

 of the cupola, grains of quartz predominate. 

 They are polished and translucent; they 

 glitter slightly and please the eye. Why 

 are these little pebbles preferred to chips of 

 limestone, when both materials exist in 

 equal abundance around the nest? 



A yet more remarkable feature: we find 

 pretty often, encrusted on the dome, a few 

 tiny empty Snail-shells, bleached by the sun. 

 The species usually selected by the 

 Eumenes is one of the smaller Helices, 

 Helix strigata, frequent on our parched 

 slopes. I have seen nests where this Helix 

 took the place of pebbles almost entirely. 

 They were like boxes made of shells, the 

 work of a patient hand. 



A comparison suggests itself. Certain 

 Australian birds, notably the Bower-birds, 

 build themselves covered walks or arbours 

 with interwoven twigs and decorate the two 

 entrances to the portico by strewing the 

 threshold with anything that they can find in 

 the shape of glittering, polished or bright- 

 coloured objects. Every doorsill is a cab- 



