114 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATURAL [April, 1887, 
to the starting point, and repeated this short flight several times 
we should conclude that they were not waiting to gather a load, 
but that they were confused and did not know what direction to 
take. 
On August 10 we placed a wire cage having a hole in the bot¬ 
tom over the opening of nest number two and caught 63 wasps 
(workers). These we carried two hundred yards to the west to 
top of a hill, within sight of their nest. Placing the cage on a 
stump we opened the door a little way and allowed 10 wasps to 
go out, marking them with a spot of blue paint as they passed 
through the aperture. They flew oflFin all directions, not choos¬ 
ing the east, toward their nest, oftener than the other points of 
the compass. Three wasps, after circling about over head, re¬ 
turned to the stump and settled, but, after some hesifation, again 
started off. We then moved one hundred yards down the other 
side of the hill to a spot three hundred yards from the nest 
which was now entirely out of sight, and stopping in the woods 
opened the cage and marked 7 escaping wasps green. All of 
these flew in directions away from the nest; 3 returned, after a 
lew seconds, to take a new start. 
\ e now rowed out on to the lake with our captive wasps. 
The nest with which we were esperimenting was looted .boot 
twenty feet from the water, and a little to one side of the center 
of a bay about a half a mile in width. We went out a third of 
arnde tea spot slightly nerthef the nest. Quito. b™» ™ 
“Z d 8 T; ! 7 th “ ” Uth 0f the ”«*• w. marked 10 
wasps dark red and allowed them, in company with ten on- 
direeUoiTof th •‘TZ Cige ' »U Hew in tbs 
direction of the wind, toward their nest 
(JZSZJZw bZhZd°“ in 
from the nest, where we set them free °1,£ e ‘ h '‘. 'Z 7 “‘d 
their nest. They took different dirt'»,„d blew toward 
island in a direction opposite to Iheirtes t‘ ’ In “dT^ 
boat and seemed loathe to |,„ e . Z' f 
after starting, seemed to change t.J Ua y dld 80; * evera1 ’ 
courses. ° leir mi nds and altered their 
