WITH THE PUCERONS. 235 
there with their larva; they transported 
them in a hurry, to the upper part of the 
cylinder, which had not been injured. 
It was here they kept at their disposal, 
their joint stock of pucerons, and here 
they nourished their little ones. 
In another spot, several stems of a 
thistle, loaded with pucerons, rose from 
the very centre of an ant-hill, inhabited 
by Brown Ants, who, availing themselves 
of the particular disposition of the leaves 
of this plant, had constructed around the 
branches, several little oblong houses, 
where they came to procure their food. 
On my destroying one of these houses, 
the ants carried off immediately into 
their nest the little animals they so much 
valued. A few days after, I saw it 
repaired, and the cattle brought back to 
their paddock. ‘These houses are not 
always constructed close to the ground : 
I saw one once five feet above the sur- 
face, which merits being described ; it 
consisted of a short blackish tunnel, 
which surrounded a small branch of a 
