1>1 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1890. 



ferirly direct line. After depositing the sugar she was* out again in a 

 few seconds, made her way back to the island, took another grain of 

 sugar (she usually selected the largest), then back to the nest. I 

 watched about a dozen journeys, and after the first two her track 

 was as near a straight line to the sugar as could be. A few workers 

 came out from her nest and stood about the entrance, but she took 

 no notice of them. I do not know how many journeys she made 

 that day, as I had to leave for the evening drive. 



The next Sunday I arranged the sugar island in the same place. 

 There were a good many ants of different species walking about, but 

 none found the way to the sugar. In about an hour out came my 

 marked ant, and after a little wandering about found the bridge, and 

 then followed the rapid journeys to and fro with the sugar. She 

 never appeared to eat any herself, her great desire being to get all 

 she could stored in her nest. 



The next Sunday the same process went on, but with this slight 

 difference : this time some of her own fellow-workers seemed inclined 

 to follow her and watch her movements, and my marked ant, after 

 going one or two direct journeys, then altered her mode of travelling 

 to a very irregular and zigzag course, and generally assumed a casual 

 and uncertain air. I watched her closely, and am quite certain she 

 wished to bamboozle her friends, and keep all the credit and "kudos" 

 of bringing home the treasure to herself. She kept up these round- 

 about journeys to and from the island until I left for the usual drive. 



I carried on these experiments for many successive Sundays, but 



no other ants from this nest found out the island. A small species 



of Tapinoma did, and came in numbers every Sunday, and at last a 



worker of vagans from another nest at the other end of my verandah, 



distant about 50 ft., found out the bridge, I think by accident, but 



had the enterprise to cross, seize a piece of sugar, and off to her nest. 



After this I always had a marked ant going backwards and forwards 



with sugar on the left side, and an unmarked ant doing the same on 



the right side, and little Taphioma swarming all over the place with 



the grains, but no other ants found out the sugar island. Sometimes 



the two workers of vagans met on the brick or bridge, but never took 



any notice of each other ; they were too much wrapt up in their work 



for that. 



