The Cotton-bees 



the Anthidla's cotton purses. In the case of 

 other artists who handle delicate things that 

 require protection, I do not hesitate to as- 

 sume the existence of a ready-made home. 

 Thus Reaumur tells us of the Upholsterer- 

 bee, Authocopa ptipmeris, who fashions her 

 cells with poppy petals. I do not know the 

 flower-cutter, I have never seen her; but her 

 art informs me plainly enough that she must 

 establish herself in some gallery wrought by 

 others, as, for instance, in an Earth-worm's 

 burrow. 



We have but to see the nest of a Cotton- 

 bee to convince ourselves that its builder can- 

 not at the same time be an indefatigable 

 navvy. When newly-felted and not yet made 

 sticky with honey, the wadded purse is quite 

 the most elegant specimen of entomological 

 ncst-building, especially where the cotton Is 

 of a dazzling white, as is frequently the case 

 in the manufactures of the Girdled An- 

 thidium. No bird's-nest, however deserving 

 of our admiration, can vie in fineness of flock, 

 in gracefulness of form, in delicacy of felting 

 with this wonderful bag, which our fingers, 

 even with the aid of tools, could hardly imi- 

 tate, for all their dexterity. I abandon the 



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