226 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



insects of any description in the thickets ; but at the distance of eighty or 

 a hundred yards I came upon the same army, engaged evidently on a raz- 

 zia of a similar kind to that of the previous evening ; but requiring other 

 resources of their instinct, owing to the nature of the ground. They were 

 eagerly occupied on the face of an inclined bank of light earth in excavat- 

 ing mines, whence, from a depth of eight or ten inches, they were extracting 

 the bodies of a bulky species of ant of the genus Formica. It was curious 

 to see them crowding around the orifices of the mines, some assisting their 

 comrades to lift out the bodies of the Formicas, and others tearing them in 

 pieces, on account of their weight being too great for a single Eciton ; a 

 number of carriers seizing each a fragment, and carrying it off down the 

 slope. On digging into the earth with a small trowel near the entrances 

 of the mines, I found the nests of the Formicas, with grubs and cocoons, 

 which the Ecitons were thus invading, at a depth of about eight inches 

 from the surface. The eager freebooters rushed in as fast as I excavated, 

 and seized the ants in my fingers as I picked them out, so that I had some 

 difficulty in rescuing a few entire for specimens. In digging the numerous 

 mines to get at their prey, the little Ecitons seemed to be divided into two 

 parties, one set excavating, and another set carrying away the grains of 

 sand. When the" shafts became rather deep, the mining parties had to 

 climb up the sides each time they wished to cast out a pellet of earth ; but 

 their work was lightened for them by comrades, who stationed themselves 

 at the mouth of the shaft, and relieved them of their burdens, carrying the 

 particles, with an appearance of foresight which quite staggered me, a suf- 

 ficient distance from the edge of the hole to prevent them from rolling in 

 again. . . . ' Referring to two other species, he continues as follows : — 



" When the pedestrian falls in with a train of these ants, the first 

 signal given him is a twittering and restless movements of small flocks 

 of plain-colored birds (ant-thrushes) in the jungle. If this be disregarded 

 until he advances a few steps farther, he is sure to fall into trouble, and 

 find himself suddenly attacked by numbers of the ferocious little creatures. 

 They swarm up his legs with incredible rapidity, each one driving its 

 pincer-like jaws into the skin, and with the purchase thus obtained, dou- 

 bling its tail, and stinging with all its might. There is no course left but 

 to run for it ; if he is accompanied by natives, they will be sure to give 

 the alarm, crying, ' Tauoca ! ' and scampering at full speed to the other 

 end of the column of ants. The tenacious creatures who have secured 

 themselves to his legs then have to be plucked off one by one, a task 

 which is generally not accomplished without pulling them in twain, and 

 leaving heads and jaws sticking in the wounds. 



" The errand of the vast ant^armies is plunder. . . . Wlierever they 



