94 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



females carefully. They fly about rapidly, and finally 

 settle on the ground ; then, in less time than it takes me to 

 write it, they lift up the centre leg and break off their wings, 

 first on one side, then on the other ; after this they crawl 

 about, seeking a spot to burrow in they sometimes wander 

 backwards and forwards for a quarter of an hour before 

 deciding. When settled, they cut away the grass all 

 round, carefully removing it, and then begin to dig out the 

 earth with their jaws. When an ant had thus settled, 

 supporting itself sometimes on two hind legs, sometimes 

 on four, and excavating with its mandibles, the fore legs 

 kneaded the earth into pellets, or else scraped out the 

 powdery dust When it had formed a pellet, it always 

 backed out of its burrow with the lump of earth in its jaws, 

 and then, turning round, deposited it about two inches from 

 the burrow on the down side of the hill, so that the rain 

 could not wash it back again. The insects dug some four 

 or five inches deep in every case. This is the extent of 

 my observations, but I am told that if you dig in January, 

 you will find her in the burrow surrounded by her young 

 progeny. 



The same evening I had another display of interest, 

 this time inanimate nature. We had a superb sunset ; the 

 sun sank just before six, and then, from a wondrous golden 

 horizon, rays of bright crimson darted forth into the pale 

 blue sky overhead, lighting up the sides of our forest-clad 

 clough, which runs E.N.E. into the broad fertile valley 

 of the Rio Camapuao, with a warm glow, the profile of the 

 high ground on the other side of the valley fading into 

 the outlines of the successive ranges of gently undulating 

 hills of a deep purple, the furthest group standing in bold 

 relief against the golden sky. Turning round, we saw the 

 forest, the red soil, the tufted grass, and bushes all lit up 



