THE MUD WASP. 



479 



derful home. As is always the case witli pensile nests, the foun- 

 dation is laid at the top, thus carrying out Dean Swift's sugges- 

 tion for a new patent in architecture. A large quantity of clay 

 is worked round the chosen branch, and made very strong, in or- 

 der to sustain the heavy weight which will be suspended from it. 

 This clay foundation is wonderfully hard, though very brittle, 

 this latter quality being probably due to the long residence in a 

 room which is always kept warm and dry by artificial means. 

 In the open air, and in the ever-damp, though hot atmosphere of 

 tropical America, the clay would probably be much tougher, 

 without losing the necessary hardness. 



Mud Wasp. 



The combs are not fiat, like those of an ordinary wasp-nest, but 

 are very much curved, so that when the nest is laid open they al- 

 most follow the curve of the walls. This peculiar form of the 

 comb is shown in the illustration. The cells are not very large, 



