164 DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



"Gold," said an old prospector, when asked 

 by an inquisitor where one might locate it, "is 

 where you find it; that's where it is." 'And 

 so one must say of the interesting phenomena 

 and incidents of Nature's programme. Some- 

 times one must travel for hours or even days 

 before seeing anything unusual. Then again 

 there will come days which seem crowded with 

 spectacular and interesting sights; as though 

 Dame Nature had turned generous, and hur- 

 ried the events of the weeks into a single day. 

 But whichever way the tide turns, the nature- 

 lover is content, knowing that what does not 

 come to him to-day will come on another. If 

 he watches long enough, he will always see 

 something worth his while. 



On the evening when first I saw the mason 

 bees at work, I said to myself while going home : 

 "This is plunder sufficient for any day." You 

 may imagine my mingled surprise and delight 

 when there was staged before my eyes, in addi- 

 tion, the unusual reptilian battle described in 

 this sketch. 



The sun had already been down half an hour 

 and the lingering reflected rays of daylight 



