Bramble-bees and Others 



the attempt was not Imitated; I never saw an- 

 other Installation of the kind. There is one 

 definite conclusion to be drawn from my two 

 discoveries. Despite the oddity of their struc- 

 ture, which is unparalleled among the local' 

 flora, the two American importations did not 

 compel the insect to go through an apprentice- 

 ship of groping and hesitation. The one 

 which found Itself in the presence of those 

 novel growths and v/hich was perhaps the 

 first of its race to do so took possession of 

 their lobes and stalks just as it would have 

 done of a familiar site. From the start, the 

 fleshy plants from the New World suited it 

 quite as well as the trunk of a native tree. 



The Mason-bee of the Pebbles {Chali- 

 codoma parietina) has none of this elasticity 

 In the choice of a site. In her case, the smooth 

 stone of the parched uplands is the almost in- 

 variable foundation of her structures. Else- 

 where, under a less clement sky, she prefers 

 the support of a wall, which protects the nest 

 against the prolonged snows. Lastly, the 

 Mason-bee of the Shrubs (C. rufcscens, 

 Perez) fixes her ball of clay to a twig of any 

 ligneous plant, from the thyme, the rock-rose 

 and the heath to the oak, the elm and the 



204 



