1 86 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



of save the baby and let house property take its 

 chance. 



Two days later, when I next inspected the scene 

 of the wreck, the work of restoration was com- 

 plete ; the earthen roof of the nest was tolerably 

 level amidst the grass stubble, and a number of 

 small round holes were visible leading into an 

 interior. Ants were moving about in all direc- 

 tions. 



But there was a disappointing want, in the 

 appearance of things, of that orderly industry and 

 high intellectuality of which one finds so much 

 in the books about ants. The vast majority of 

 the ants were wandering about in a seemingly 

 aimless fashion, and a map of the course of any, 

 one of them would resemble a fallen thread. 



Altogether, watching ants was such an unevent- 

 ful work that I resolved to try the experimental 

 method, so captured a caterpillar and dropped it 

 where the crowd was thickest. Then the play 

 brightened up. The first ant that touched the 

 caterpillar tried to taste of it, whereupon the reptile 

 a green with black stripes and slightly hairy 

 grub from a cabbage turned sharply and tried 

 to retaliate with its jaws. It got one of the ant's, 

 legs in its mouth, and was having distinctly the 

 better of the fight when a second ant took a taste 

 in the neighbourhood of its tail, and the caterpillar 

 turned with a convulsive jerk to inspect the new 

 sore place. Then the first assailant attacked it 

 again. Soon a dozen or more ants were engaged 

 fiercely in the assault, and the contortions of their 

 large prey indicated that even a caterpillar can 



