122 



THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 



In accord with the character of the peat-like deposits out of which they are excavated, 

 these ant-hills are of a black or dark ash-grey tint. A very prominent feature 

 of these Laura Valley Meridian Ant nests is their highly ornate structural type. 

 They consist, as 

 shown in the 

 accompanying 

 photographs, of 

 a congeries of 

 slender pin- 

 nacles erected 

 in the same 

 straight line 

 close to one 

 another, which 

 are subsequent- 

 ly amalgamated. 

 Upon these, 

 again, numerous 

 subsidiary pin- 

 nacles are usu- 

 ally constructed. 

 Some of the 

 larger and wider 

 of these termi- 

 taries, when 

 viewed end on, 

 as shown in 

 Plate XX., pre- 

 sent, with their 

 ciosely crowded 

 spires and pin- 

 nacles, a not 

 unremote resem- 

 blance to the 

 architectural 



W. Sarille-i'ent, Photo. 



BROADSIDE VIEW OF LAURA VALLEY MERIDIAN ANTS' NKST. 



