102 WAYS OF THE SIX-FOOTED 



house laid with more mortar than cobblestones. It is 

 interesting to note that this small mason understands 

 the value of hair as a strengthening ingredient in her 

 mortar and so uses every stray hair she can find. She 

 makes her walls in layers and is most careful to pre- 

 serve the symmetry of her building as she proceeds. 



When finished, 

 the nest is 

 globular in 

 shape, with an 

 opening at the 

 top that flares 

 gracefully at 

 the rim ; the 

 whole looks 

 very much like 

 a minute olla 



Fig. 34. The Jug Builder and her Nests. , , 



or JMexican 

 water jug. While this little cobblestone dwelling is 

 necessarily somewhat rough outside it is very smooth 

 inside and apparently silk lined. Just how the wasp 

 makes this lining we do not know, for the adult wasp is 

 supposed to have no means of spinning silk. Some en- 

 tomologists have suggested that the larva lines the nest, 

 but no one who has examined with a lens the walls of 

 this little dwelling could but believe that the smooth 



