Aberrations of Instinct 



egg? She will do precisely what we have 

 already seen in the Mason-bee of the Sheds, 

 but under less striking conditions: she will 

 act absurdly and wear herself out uselessly. 



What she does is to bring a second 

 Spider, whom she stores away with the same 

 cheerful zeal as though nothing untoward 

 had occurred; she brings a third, a fourth 

 and others still, each of whom I remove 

 during her absence, so that every time that 

 she returns from the chase the warehouse 

 is found empty. For two days the 

 Pelopaeus' obstinacy in seeking to fill the 

 insatiable jar persisted; for two days my 

 patience in emptying the pot as she stocked 

 it was equally unflagging. With the 

 twentieth victim, persuaded, perhaps, by the 

 fatigue of expeditions repeated beyond all 

 measure, the huntress considered that the 

 game-bag was sufficiently supplied; and she 

 began most conscientiously to close the cell 

 which contained absolutely nothing. 



The Mason-bees whose cups I used to 

 empty as and when they brushed off the pol- 

 len-dust and disgorged the honey-paste gave 

 proof of similar inconsistencies: I would 

 see them laying the egg in the empty cell 

 and then closing the cell as though the pro- 

 vision^ were still there. One point alone 



