The Mason-bees 



an Ant-hill, the vanguard halts and deploys 

 in a swarming throng, which is increased by 

 the others as they come up hurriedly. Scouts 

 are sent out ; the Amazons recognize that they 

 are on a wrong track; and the column forms 

 again. It resumes its march, crosses the 

 garden-paths, disappears from sight in the 

 grass, reappears farther on, threads its way 

 through the heaps of dead leaves, comes out 

 again and continues its search. At last, a nest 

 of Black Ants is discovered. The Red Ants 

 hasten down to the dormitories where the 

 nymphs lie and soon emerge with their booty. 

 Then we have, at the gates of the under- 

 ground city, a bewildering scrimmage between 

 the defending blacks and the attacking reds. 

 The struggle is too unequal to remain Inde- 

 cisive. Victory falls to the reds, who race 

 back to their abode, each with her prize, a 

 swaddled nymph, dangling from her mandi- 

 bles. The reader who is not acquainted with 

 these slave-raiding habits would be greatly in- 

 terested in the story of the Amazons. I re- 

 linquish it, with much regret : it would take us 

 too far from our subject, namely, the return 

 to the nest. 



The distance covered by the nymph- 

 134 



