ANTS AND ANT-THRUSHES 149 



been put in too scantily in places, yet in about forty 

 hours, if the humidity has been properly regulated, it is 

 all evenly covered with a mantle, as of very fine snow. 

 It is this fungus they eat, and with small portions of it 

 the workers feed the larvae. 



The habits of another species of ant (Eciton) which 

 may be observed in the vicinity of the clearing, present a 

 striking contrast to those of the agriculturist CEcodoma 

 cephalotes, although exhibiting a similarly high develop- 

 ment in the direction of organisation. I could always 

 tell by the sharp contented chirp of the ant-thrushes,^ 

 whether the hunting ants were out foraging. Of these 

 ant-thrushes, I think one of the most conspicuous is 

 the white-crested Pi^/j.T/s albifrons, a bird common enough, 

 but rarely seen except when the hunting ants happen to 

 be abroad. 



It is interesting to sit on some log close to the living 

 stream of destruction as it hurries along and observe the 

 doings of these hunting ants and of the birds who have 

 learnt to take advantage of their foraging expeditions to 

 procure food for themselves. No leaf is left unturned, no 

 crevice unexplored, by these terrible hmiters. For yards 

 in advance of the invading army the ground is alive with 

 crickets, moths, lizards — in fact, with every creature whose 

 home is the rotting leaves and damp earth of the forest. 

 Few living things escape. Those not overtaken by the 

 ants fall a prey to the birds accompanying them. Now 

 and again the army throws out battalions from the sides 

 which hurry forward and meet ahead, enclosing a number 

 of victims for whom there is no escape. All the time 

 the ant-thrushes display great activity, flying rapidly 

 down to the ground to return almost immediately and 

 ' Formicariidae. 



