^^^l'] proceedings op^ the nationai. museujf. 503 



Those familiar with Mr. Thomas Belt's ••' Naturalist in Xiearagua," 

 have no doubt been imjiressed with his accounts of tlie habits of the 

 various species of ants, and his observations on the Ant Thrushes and 

 other birds usually found with the Escitons, or army ants. My experi- 

 ence with the Ant Thrushes habitually attending- armies of ants leads 

 me to disagree with the following statement in this book (p. 20) inso- 

 much as it bears on the food of these birds: " Several species of ant- 

 thrushes always accompany the army ants in the forest. They do not, 

 however, feed on the ants, but on the insects they distm^b. Besides 

 the ant- thrushes, trogons, creepers, and a A'ariety of other birds are 

 often seen on the branches of trees above where an ant army is forag- 

 ing below, pursuing and catching the insects that fly up." 



I did not examine the stomachs of any of these birds, a circumstance 

 I now regret very much, but ants were found in the mouths of some 

 birds shot, which, while not proving positively that they were intended 

 as food, strengthens a belief in that direction, esjiecially when backed 

 by other observations to the same effect. 



In traveling through the woods one becomes aware of the proximity 

 of hordes of ants, either by walking into their midst and receiving the 

 information direct from the ants themselves, or by the medley of bird 

 notes proceeding from the scene of activity. If the birds are ap- 

 proached quietly they will be found mostly close to the ground, and, 

 as far as the Ant Thrushes are concerned, hidden in the thick bushes, 

 on which and the ground the ants are swarming. On being discovered 

 the various species make oft' through the underbrush in a guilty way, 

 the Creepers begin an industrious search for insects on the trunks of 

 neighboring trees, and each bird calls in its own peculiar manner, as if 

 to disclaim any responsibility in the affair. The Creepers, or Euby- 

 crowned Tanagers {Ph(cnico1hratij>is), if present, are usually the first 

 to notice an intruder and give the alarm. Various species of forest 

 birds, hardly ta be expected in these assemblages, are often found, 

 joining in the scolding, and giving one the impression that they have 

 been drawn into a discussion without knowing why. These latter birds 

 do not appear, in most cases, to feed on the ants, but on the insects in 

 the bushes and trees overhead. Four species of Ant Thrushes I inva- 

 riably found with these columns of ants, Gymnocichla chiroleuca, Phlo- 

 (jopsiia macleannani, Hypocnemh na'vioidca, and Gymnopitliys olivascens, 

 named in the order of their abundance. Senor Alfaro, director of the 

 Museo Nacional, San Jose, Costa Kica, tells me that he has examined 

 the stomachs of these birds and found them to contain ants. 



Occasionally another species of ant is met with in the forest ; this 

 one travels in a narrow trail from 4 to G inches wide, instead of 20 or 

 more feet, as in the case of the other, and, moreover, the trail is bare 

 of everj-thing, all obstructions having been removed. Birds accom- 

 panying these ants can not be feeding on insects disturbed by the lat- 

 ter, for none are started from the path ; yet I have found the four spe- 



