The Osmiae 



use of the two ends, where the reeds lie trun- 

 cated and open. 



There are other quarters that suit the 

 Three-horned Osmia, who is not particular, 

 it seems to me, and will make shift with any 

 hiding-place, so long as it has the requisite 

 conditions of diameter, solidity, sanitation and 

 kindly darkness. The most original dwellings 

 that I know her to occupy are disused Snail- 

 shells, especially the house of the Common 

 Snail {Helix aspersa) . Let us go to the slope 

 of the hills thick with olive-trees and inspect 

 the little supporting-walls which are built of 

 dry stones and face the south. In the crevices 

 of this insecure masonry, we shall reap a har- 

 vest of old Snail-shells, plugged with earth 

 right up to the orifice. The family of the 

 Three-horned Osmia is settled in the spiral of 

 these shells, which is subdivided into cham- 

 bers by mud partitions. 



Let us inspect the stone-heaps, especially 

 those which come from the quarry-works. 

 Here we often find the Field-mouse sitting on 

 a grass mattress, nibbling acorns, almonds, 

 olive-stones and apricot-stones. The Rodent 

 varies his diet: to oily and farinaceous foods 

 he adds the Snail. When he is gone, he has 



57 



