MY HOUSE AND GARDEN 25 



work of considerable labour, and, as it subsequently 

 appeared, of labour entirely thrown away. 



It was shortly after this last proceeding of the 

 ants that I made the acquaintance of those deadly 

 enemies to the smaller members of their species, the 

 ant-lions. 



Close by the house — indeed, only just on the other 

 side of the carriage drive — there is an extremely bare 

 and dusty patch of ground, perhaps the very barest and 

 dustiest in the whole garden. One morning, on return- 

 ing from my drive, I happened to pass by this patch. 

 As I did so I noticed that the surface was thickly dotted 

 over with little circular, funnel-shaped pits. These little 

 pits were so many and so close together that there was 

 hardly a square foot of the ground that did not contain 

 two or three. I recognized them as the pits of the ant- 

 lion. 



While I was standing looking, a dozen or so very 

 small ants appeared on the patch. They were wandering 

 seemingly aimlessly about, as is the habit of these small 

 ants. One of the ants in the course of his wanderings 

 happened to pass close by one of the many pits. It ap- 

 parently excited his curiosity. He stopped, looked, and 

 then advanced cautiously to the extreme edge of the 

 pit, and bent his head as if gazing down it. As he did 

 so the loose sandy soil gave way, and the ant commenced 

 to slide down the side of the little abyss. In the course 

 of his descent he managed, however, to turn, and then 

 made frantic efforts to reascend. His struggles loosened 

 more of the sand ; a whole quantity began to roll down. 



Immediately on this in the narrow bottom of the pit 



