June, i9i6.] WhEELER : SlAVE-RaiDS OF AMAZON AnT. 109 



Price, the genial ornithologist and proprietor of Fallen Leaf Lodge:- 

 July 26. At 4.10 P. M. I discovered the nest of a very large 

 breviceps colony under a small flat stone near the mouth of the 

 canyon through which the stream runs from Glen Alpine Springs to 

 Fallen Leaf Lake. The army of several hundred workers was just 

 emerging and congregating around the three nest orifices in prep- 

 aration for a foray. The ants very soon hurried off in great ex- 

 citement down the canyon to a fusca nest at least 70 feet distant. 

 The trail was difficult, as the insects had to cross a very dusty road, 

 climb over a pile of rough boulders, creep under a lot of low bushes 

 and then traverse many feet of rocky soil. The first individuals, 

 however, reached the fusca nest at 4.30 P. M. and at once en- 

 tered it through several openings so small and so much obstructed 

 with pellets of earth that I should not have found the nest with- 

 out the guidance of the amazons. The fusca workers offered no re- 

 sistance, but fled in all directions. A few managed, to escape with 

 larvae in their jaws. The amazons poured into the nest entrances and 

 soon emerged with the first pup?e, nearly all of which were naked 

 (/. e., not enclosed in cocoons) at 4.40 P. M. and at once started for 

 home. The vanguard of the returning army, nearly every worker 

 of which was carrying a pupa, reached the nest at 4.55 P. M. and the 

 last stragglers had arrived by 5.10 P. M. The foray was therefore 

 completed in an hour. It was accompanied by an unusual perform- 

 ance — a partial marriage flight. About 20 winged female amazons 

 and a greater number of males left the nest with the army of workers 

 and while some of the couples lingered behind and mated on the 

 ground or low vegetation and several of the males flew away without 

 mating with their sisters, several of the females accompanied the 

 workers and even entered the fusca nest. None, however, was seen 

 to return with the pupa-laden workers. A few, which had mated, 

 tore off their wings and ran about over the ground. They probably 

 returned to the nest after I had left the spot. 



July 2y. I visited the amazon nest at 3.35 P. M. and found that 

 the army had just departed. It took a more northerly direction than 

 on the preceding day, and after covering a distance of about 75 feet, 

 stopped and began to hunt about among the stones and sparse vege- 

 tation. After several minutes devoted to this search, the greater por- 

 tion of the army moved on but the remainder discovered a small 



