73 



A (wlouy of tbese bees hud covered the stems of a spacies 

 of AselepiaSf overgrovving the face of a high cliff; and it 

 took a sharp eye to distingnisb their nests from clusters of 

 the withered leaves of the climber. Composed of chips of 

 leaves glued together, they were protected from the rain by 

 a projecting roof, which for the purpose of conccalraent was 

 cunniugly shaped like the foliage of the plant itself. There 



NEirr OF THE ZKTULa cvjiNoiTEnra, 



was quite a crowd of them, and as they circled abont, their 

 dark wings flashing in the sun as they darted out and into 

 their nests, they reminded me of swallows about a chnrch 

 window. 



Less ohtnisivc, more destnictive, hut full of interest, are the 

 operations of the various colonies of termites or AVhite-ants. 

 It is impossible to observe the habits of those that bore in the 



