NONSUCH 



lowable — tiny worms, Crustacea, eggs (often their 

 own), bits of seaweed with attached organisms, dia- 

 toms and unnamable larvae. But insects are the 

 favorite, and probably few are blown or fall off 

 the cliffs or rocks which escape the sharp eyes of the 

 Little Arrows. On Nonsuch an introduced species 

 of European ant is found in myriads. Nowhere in 

 the tropics have I found ants more abundant as 

 individuals. During a southwest wind I have seined 

 on opposite sides of the island and found only two 

 ants in a dozen stomachs of fish taken on the wind- 

 ward side, while the tiny silvery maws of those on 

 the northeastern or leeward side, were crammed 

 with workers of the ants. I am quite sure that, given 

 a single specimen taken close inshore on Nonsuch, 

 from the contents of its stomach I could deduce the 

 direction of the prevailing wind and the location of 

 the school. 



It is a dangerous thing to read human names of 

 emotions or intentions into the actions of animals, 

 but if it is done with deliberate desire only to point 

 the fact, it is harmless. Fear and terror indeed, are 

 responses which can safely be said to be common 

 both to human beings and to animals. I lie and 

 watch my school of Silversides, and test them in 

 many ways. There is no question of the dominance 

 of eyes in their life. A pebble dropped, as I have 

 said, cuts a temporary notch or bores a hole in the 

 school. A bit of wood thrown across the little bay 

 causes the hundreds to dodge down several inches 

 toward the bottom. But another sense — corre- 



246 



