The middle legs place a relatively small amount of pollen directly upon the pollen masses in the corbiculæ. This is accomplished when the brushes of the middle legs are used to pat down the pollen masses and to render them more compact. (See fig. 6.) The legs are used for this purpose quite often during the process of Loading the baskets, and a small amount of pollen is incidentally added to the masses when the brushes come into contact with them. A misinterpretation of this action has led some observers into the erroneous belief that all or nearly all of the corbicular pollen is scraped from the middle-leg brushes by the hairs which fringe the sides of the baskets. The middle legs do not scrape across the baskets, but merely pat downward upon the pollen which is there accumulating. It is also possible that, in transferring pollen from the middle leg of one side to the planta of the opposite hind leg, the middle-leg brush may touch and rub over the pecten of the hind leg and thus directly place some of its pollen behind the pecten spines. Such a result is, however, very doubtful. ACTION OF THE HIND LEGS. The middle legs contribute the major portion of the pollen which reaches the hind legs, and all of it in cases where all of the pollen first reaches the bee in the region of the mouth. However, when much pollen falls upon the body of the bee the hind legs collect a little of it directly, for it falls upon their brushes and is collected upon them when these legs execute cleansing movements to remove it from the ventral surface and sides of the abdomen. All of the pollen which reaches the corbiculæ, with the exception of the small amount placed there by the middle legs when they pat down the pollen masses, passes first to the pollen combs of the plantæ. When in the act of loading pollen from the plantar brushes to the corbiculæ the two hind legs hang beneath the abdomen with the tibio-femoral joints well drawn up toward the body. (See fig. 7.) The two plantæ lie close together with their inner surfaces nearly parallel to each other, but not quite, since they diverge slightly at their distal ends. The pollen combs of one leg are in contact with the pecten comb of the opposite leg. If pollen is to be transferred from the right planta to the left basket, the right planta is drawn upward in such a manner that the pollen combs of the right leg scrape over the pecten spines of the left. By this action some of the pollen is removed from the right plantar combs and is caught upon the outer surfaces of the pecten spines of the left leg.