170 
Psyche 
[September 
ones then lay about, which showed that their season was 
practically over, and the remaining few had not long to live. 
The first of the bees were active on the clay bank (fig. 2) 
on July 12th; by the 16th, about twenty-five were present in 
a state of agitation but doing nothing definite ; most of them 
were in a group at the extreme south end of the bank. 
Fig. 8. A view in profile of the turrets made by Anthophora abrupta. 
Occasionally some of them would get into the empty holes 
and quietly remain there, but the great majority spent their 
time buzzing and fussing about one another, often quarreling. 
One shallow burrow and its occupant attracted particular 
attention ; the bee was within with its head to the wall and 
the tip of its abdomen near the orifice. This bee was the 
object of much conflict; often five or six bees would crowd 
about the opening and attempt to drag it out by main force ; 
when one would attempt to get the inmate out, and had par- 
tially succeeded, then two or three would actually fight 
furiously in the doorway to get its place in the cell. They 
w T ould grasp one another by the legs, and often a pair locked 
in combat would roll down the embankment and struggle in 
battle on the ground, holding a tight grip of one another's 
legs with their mandibles. Sometimes the one in possession 
