126 DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



pointed. In order to see them to greatest ad- 

 vantage I got right down on my hands and 

 knees, and much of the time held my face and 

 magnifying-glass within a few inches of the 

 openings of the burrows. 



I soon succeeded in locating among the cloud 

 of diligent bees one that was trying to find a 

 site for her nest. In making this determination 

 she was aided by her antennae, with which she 

 was stroking the adamantine earth. She seemed 

 restless, and often made circling flights above 

 the place she was inspecting. When once she 

 had decided upon a site, she began immediate 

 operations on the burrow by squirting saliva 

 from her proboscis upon the ground in much the 

 same fashion that a Chinaman squirts water 

 from his mouth when sprinkling clothes at the 

 laundry. This gave her a sort of human look 

 that was most amusing. With the aid of the 

 dexterous mandibles she took up the soil, 

 quickly made it into small pellets, and then 

 clawed these out with the forefeet. Again she 

 squirted saliva — several jets of it — and more 

 earth was scraped out. 



The work of throwing out the earthen pellets 



