Bramble-bees and Others 



catch one of these in the neighbourhood of 

 the summer burrows. How well the rascals 

 know their trade! How well -aware are they 

 of the guard who keeps watch at the Halictus' 

 door! There is no foul deed possible now- 

 adays; and the result is that no Fly puts in an 

 appearance and the tribulations of last spring 

 are not repeated. 



The grandmother who, dispensed by age 

 from maternal bothers, mounts guard at the 

 entrance of the home and watches over the 

 safety of the family tells us that in the gene- 

 sis of the instincts sudden births occur; she 

 shows us the existence of a spontaneous apti- 

 tude which nothing, either in her own past 

 conduct or in the actions of her daughters, 

 could have led us to suspect. Timorous in 

 her prime, in the month of May, when she 

 lived alone in the burrow of her making, she 

 has become gifted, in her decline, with a su- 

 perb contempt of danger and dares in her 

 impotence what she never dared do in her 

 strength. 



Formerly, when her tyrant, the Gnat, en- 

 tered the house in her presence, or, more 

 often, stood face to face with her at the en- 

 trance, the silly Bee did not stir, did not even 



412 



