The Leaf-cutters 



terous snip of the scissors, generally furnish 

 the various layers of the barricade; the little 

 robinia-leaves, with their fine texture and their 

 unbroken edges, are better suited to the more 

 delicate work of the cells. 



A rampart at the back of the Earth-worm's 

 shaft is a wise precaution and the Leaf-cutter 

 deserves all credit for it; only it is a pity for 

 the Megachiles' reputation that this protect- 

 ive barrier often protects nothing at all. 

 Here we see, under a new guise, that aberra- 

 tion of instinct of which I gave some exam- 

 ples in an earlier chapter. My notes contain 

 memoranda of various galleries crammed 

 with pieces of leaves right up to the orifice, 

 which is on a level with the ground, and en- 

 tirely devoid of cells, even of an unfinished 

 one. These were ridiculous fortifications, of 

 no use whatever; and yet the Bee treated the 

 matter with the utmost seriousness and took 

 infinite pains over her futile task. One of 

 these uselessly barricaded galleries furnished 

 me with some hundred pieces of leaves ar- 

 ranged like a stack of wafers; another gave 

 mc as many as a hundred and fifty. For the 

 defence of a tenanted nest, two dozen and 

 even fewer arc ample. Then what was the 



245 



