270 HYMENOPIERA. 
to use them. Very different from that of 
the mason bee is the mode of construct- 
ing its nest adopted by the le(if-cutter 
bee, apis ceniuncularh*, but executed 
with full as much address. She excavates 
a hole in the ground, about the size of a 
large quill, and there forms six or seven 
cells, of pieces of green leaves, which she 
rolls up, and fits so accurately as to re- 
tain the store of honey for her progeny ; 
these cells are somewhat wider at the 
mouth than at the inner end, and being 
inserted into each other they resemble 
a succession of small thimbles. As 
each cell is finished, the due allowance 
of food is put in, the egg is deposited, 
and the orifice is closed with three cir- 
cular pieces of leaf. 
Lucy, What ingenuity this little ani- 
mal must have ! 
Mother. Yes, Lucy, and I will give 
you another proof of it : as the innermost 
* Plate XX. 
