A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



with him his domestic animals — there is not an insect left in it ; even 

 the most carefully hidden bugs are dragged out of hiding, and the 

 very last flea captured, and the planter contentedly returns to a 

 scavenged house. 



Just as a company of raiding lions is followed by vultures, so 

 when the Taocas march through the forest the "Ant-birds" gather 

 from all directions. With its red eyes the "Papa taoca" or "Fire-eye'* 

 gazes down from its perch upon the passing multitude, and catches 

 the insects that escape to the right and the left; so that many a 

 locust who deems himself already safe is seized by the bird and 

 borne away through the air (Plate 28, 23). Most of the "Ant-birds" 

 appear to be interested only in the prey of the Taocas, but there 

 are some that eat the ants themselves, when the robber is himself 

 a victim. 



Some species of Migratory Ant confine their attacks to other ants. 

 Bates watched the small Legion Taoca fall upon a nest of Timber- 

 ants; in two hours the nest was cleared of all its contents — ants, 

 larvae and eggs; all were dissected and carried off. Sometimes, of 

 course, the ants thus attacked defend themselves, and then there 

 are terrible battles, whose severity is revealed by a battle-field of 

 mutilated corpses. One observer witnessed an attack upon a nest 

 whose defenders boldly rushed upon the foe and pressed the Taocas 

 into the ground with their feet ; a method of defence which appears 

 to have been successful. 



It is the scent of the leaders that guides the following army. If 

 one throws a little sand on the trail, the ants coming up swarm to the 

 right and the left, but soon gather together again, and, when they 

 have recovered the scent, go forward with renewed confidence. The 

 Taocas have been seen to make living bridges. Difficult crossings 

 are effected as follows : the ants pile themselves up on one another 

 in several layers, and the rest pass across this living wall. Even 

 running water is covered in a similar fashion. The foremost ants 

 are swept away by the hostile element, but those that follow, as soon 

 as they lose their footing, seize one another with their long legs, 

 which are furnished with strong claws, until at last a long chain 

 is formed, which is carried away by the current, but is at last able 

 to anchor itself somewhere. If the two sides of the watercourse can 

 be joined by such means, the whole army crosses this living bridge. 

 In the case of inundations the Driver Ants are said to save themselves 

 by forming themselves into balls, which float on the water, the brood 

 and the sexual forms being safe in the interior of the ball, where not 



314 



