. My studio neighbors. Natural history. DOOR-STEP NEIGHBORS 71 cle of ceremony, she instantly retreats, dragging her helpless burden after her. Both wasp and spider arc soon out of sight, and so remain per- haps for a space of two minutes, when the tips of the nervous antennae appear at the doorway and the wasp emerges. What now follows is most curious and interesting. With an energy and di- rectness in striking contrast to her previous proceedings, she pro- ceeds to fill the cavity, bit- ing the earth with her man- dibles, and with her spiked legs kicking and shoving in the loose soil thus co
. My studio neighbors. Natural history. DOOR-STEP NEIGHBORS 71 cle of ceremony, she instantly retreats, dragging her helpless burden after her. Both wasp and spider arc soon out of sight, and so remain per- haps for a space of two minutes, when the tips of the nervous antennae appear at the doorway and the wasp emerges. What now follows is most curious and interesting. With an energy and di- rectness in striking contrast to her previous proceedings, she pro- ceeds to fill the cavity, bit- ing the earth with her man- dibles, and with her spiked legs kicking and shoving in the loose soil thus col- lected, ever and anon back- ing up to the hole and insert- ing the tip of her tail to force down the mass. As the filling is nearly completed, with the "" fore feet and jaws the surround- ing earth is scraped for material, which she imme- diately proceeds to pack by a rhythmic tamping motion of the tail, until, at the end of five min- utes, perhaps, the ground-level is finally reached, the surface smoothed, and no sign remains to mark the grave of the stupefied spider victim. Not an hour after this episode I was treated to. ' ?>" <, i'iJa*'. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Gibson, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton), 1850-1896. New York and London, Harper & Brothers
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
