372 
STRANGE DWELLINGS \ 
wash to pieces any nest whereon the falling drops could make 
a lodgment. The surface is therefore as smooth as that of the 
various pasteboard wasps which build in the forests of tropical 
America. 
The upper surface being convex, it naturally follows that the 
under surface is concave, inasmuch as the cells are of tolerably 
equal length. In fact, the nests somewhat resemble very shallow 
basins with very thick sides, and bear an almost startling 
resemblance to the cap of a very large and very well-shaped 
mushroom, the central specimen being so fungus-like in form 
that, if it were laid on the ground in a waste and moist spot, it 
would soon be picked up as a veritable mushroom. The colour, 
too, is yellowish brown, and the surface has a kind of semi- 
polish that increases the resemblance. 
In the nests of our common wasp, or hornet, the sheets of 
paper which form the exterior show plainly where each suc- 
cessive flake has been deposited, and the sweep of the insect’s 
jaws is marked distinctly upon the yielding material. Even in 
the case of the few British species which build pensile nests in 
the open air, the separate flakes can be distinguished, though 
they are not so clearly marked as in those homes which are 
defended from the weather by earth or wood. Our temperate 
region knows no such sudden vicissitudes of weather as take 
place near the equator, and there is no need for insect habita- 
tions to possess very great strength or powers of resisting water. 
But in these nests the cover is so beautifully uniform, that no 
trace of a jaw can be detected upon it. 
Agreeing in general appearance, the nests vary somewhat in 
colour. Oi the eight specimens, the generality are of the mush- 
room-like hue which has already been mentioned. Others, how- 
ever, rather vary in this respect, and the uniform yellowish 
brown is pleasingly diversified by patches of red. One of the 
nests, however, boldly departs from the general uniformity, the 
surface being not only reddish brown over its whole extent, but 
as rough as if made of sand-paper, or from the skin of a dogfish. 
One or two, again, are much darker than the others ; while one 
is almost white, with only a tinge of grey. 
