4 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



theless completely covered with ants going out and 

 returning. The track, I now found, led from the nest 

 to one of those clumps of pampas grass I have above 

 alluded to. Here it widened out and ended, and the 

 ants dispersed themselves among the grass and weeds 

 to gather their seeds. 



Having collected their seeds, the ants returned to 

 the nest, each ant, as I imagined, carrying a single 

 seed. It was a scene of peaceful industry most 

 interesting to behold, so interesting that, notwith- 

 standing the heat, I sent for a chair and sat down 

 to observe it. I am sorry to say that I had not looked 

 long before I became aware that the ants were neither 

 so peaceful nor so industrious as I had at first supposed. 

 Although the seeds were abundant, not one ant in six 

 took the trouble to gather any. Many of the ants, 

 indeed, never proceeded to the clumps at all. Instead, 

 they lay in wait in different places along the track, and 

 robbed of their seeds the industrious of their comrades 

 who had been there and were returning laden. 



If the industrious ant was much the smallest, he 

 usually accepted the situation. He dropped his seed, 

 turned, and with wonderful patience went back to the 

 grass clumps to gather another. If the ants were at all 

 of equal size, the affair generally ended by both convey- 

 ing on the seed together. Sometimes, though rarely, 

 the small ant would hold on to his seed so resolutely 

 that the larger, robber ant had to drag him along with 

 it to the nest. 



I had supposed at first that, as the ants were foraging 

 among the grass clumps, it was the seed of the grass 



