222 RIVERSIDE LETTERS xxvm 



could be after ; I went out in a boat after- 

 wards with my boys, and we noticed a num- 

 ber of little winged ants flying over the waves, 

 some fallen into the water too. The wind 

 was from off the shore and it was a very hot 

 day, and no doubt there must have been some 

 ant-swarming going on amongst the sandy 

 pine-woods from which these winged ants 

 had got carried out to sea. The sand-martins 

 every now and then took dips in the water ; I 

 at first thought that they did this to clean 

 themselves from vermin, preparatory to their 

 long flight, but I am convinced now that they 

 were really after the little flies which they 

 snapped up from the surface at times. 



