312 The Hunting JVasps 



once alights upon the stone and tries, for an 

 instant, to dig into it, not at random but at a 

 spot corresponding with the opening of the 

 burrow. The hardness of the obstacle soon dis- 

 suades her from her enterprise. She then runs 

 about the stone in every direction, goes all 

 round it, slips underneath and begins to dig in 

 the exact direction of her dwelling. 



The fiat stone is not enough to mislead our 

 wide-awake friend ; we must find something 

 better. To cut things short, I do not allow the 

 Bembex to continue her excavations, which, I 

 can see, will soon prove successful ; I drive her 

 off with my handkerchief. The fairly long 

 absence of the frightened insect will give me 

 time to prepare my snares at leisure. What 

 materials shall I employ now ? In these im- 

 provised experiments we must know how to 

 turn everything to use. Not far off, on the high- 

 road, are the fresh droppings of some beast of 

 burden. The very thing ! The droppings are 

 collected, broken up, crumbled and then spread 

 in a layer at least an inch thick on the threshold 

 of the burrow and all around, covering about 

 a quarter of a square yard. This certainly is 

 a house-front the like of which no Bembex 

 ever knew. The colouring, the nature of the 

 materials, the stercoral effluvia all combine to 

 mystify the Wasp. Will she take all this — that 



