THE OUTDOOR WORLD 
87 
An Eleven Inch Wasp Nest. 
BY FRAN’CIS ROLT-WHEELER, BEE TREE P. 0., 
NORTH CAROLINA. 
I send you herewith a small box con- 
taining chambers of the nest of a mud 
dauber of the wasp family. It was 
built on the door of my bungalow. The 
chambers forwarded contain, in the 
upper one, a larva beginning the pupa 
stage ; in the lower, larva in the larval 
form. You will notice also several 
specimens of a spider, apparently 
pierced in the ganglion or, as Fabre 
suggests, in the body only, and para- 
lyzed as is the manner of certain wasps 
preparing a food supply for carnivor- 
ous larvae. 
The nest was approximately eleven 
inches in length but this morning, pos- 
sibly because of an unwitting violent 
closing of the door, one-half of the nest 
was found fallen on the ground. The 
spiders were in the state forwarded. 
Some were clearly dead, others as clear- 
ly alive but unable to move, yet others 
able to make slight movements. We 
have closely observed this wasp build- 
ing her nest, yet have never observed 
her bringing in any such spiders. 
Butterflies and the Droppings of Birds. 
From Dr. Francis Rolt-Wheeler, Bee 
Tree P. O.. North Carolina, comes this 
interesting note on butterflies : 
We have observed many butterflies 
here which nourish themselves mainly 
on the droppings of birds, softening 
them with liquid excrement. These but- 
terflies are attracted by anything white, 
such as a small morsel of paper or a 
piece of broken china. They are seen 
here in great numbers. 
Heard the Piping Note of a Worker 
Bee. 
In a personal letter, Mr. Frank B. 
Hopkins, Esparto, California, makes 
note of the following astonishing ob- 
servation : 
“Have you ever been able to locate 
a laying worker? Mr. Ralph Benton, 
son of Frank Benton, was conducting 
classes in bee culture at Ontario this 
summer. One day while inserting a 
frame of queen cells we were able to 
locate a worker by her piping note. 
Such plaintive evidence of anxiety and 
distress I have seldom heard from a 
lowly creature. There was an appeal 
in it to me, as though the poor thing 
recognized the end of her usefulness 
and was singing like the wives of old 
before their sacrifice on the pyre.” 
Not all of 11s who have worked ex- 
tensively with honeybees have heard 
even the piping of the queen, much less 
the piping of a worker bee. 1 his is an 
unusual observation by a trustworthy 
observer. 
A Brave Nuthatch. 
New Haven, Connecticut. 
To the Editor: 
The other day a nuthatch came to 
an elm tree in front of my home. A 
pair of English sparrows were on the 
ground near by and one of them flew 
on to the tree very near the nuthatch 
intending to drive it away. But instead 
of leaving the sparrow in possession 
the nuthatch raised his wings, spread 
them out as wide as possible and made 
a whirring sound. The sparrow flew 
over to his mate on the ground and 
after a short consultation they both 
flew to the tree, one on each side of 
the nuthatch, determined to drive him 
away. But no! the brave little bird re- 
peated his first performance with the 
result that both sparrows were fright- 
ened away, and so long as I was able 
to observe they did not have the 
courage to return. 
Sincerely yours, 
May F. Fifield. 
A November Bit. 
Merely a woodland pool 
Upon whose surface floats 
A handful of autumn leaves, 
Like little fairy boats. 
Bare are the trees around, 
For summer has passed us by; 
But beauty lingers still 
For the nature-loving eye. 
— Emma Peirce. 
Little Mary came into the house be- 
draggled and weeping. 
“My goodness,” cried her mother ; 
“what a sight you are! How did it 
happen ?” 
“I am s-sorry, mamma, but I fell 
into a mud-puddle.” 
“What ! with your best new dress 
on ?” 
“Y-y-yess, I didn’t have time to 
change it.” — Central Wesleyan Star. 
