THE ANIMALS OF THE FOREST. 103 



in another sand-flies. And then the ants. They 

 are everywhere. They crawl about under his 

 clothes, nip him about the neck and arms and 

 ankles, get into his food, perhaps carry away his 

 sugar grain by grain in a night, and altogether 

 are most annoying. All these things, however, 

 help to make the bush most fascinating to a 

 naturalist ; he is no longer a looker-on at the 

 show, but an actor in the midst of it. At every 

 fresh visit he finds something new something to 

 think of when he returns home some problem 

 to be inquired into on another excursion. No 

 matter that he rarely succeeds in solving it the 

 eager desire and hope keep up the interest. 



But we are wandering off into that maze which 

 is so interminable, and must come back to the 

 animals of the forest. However rare and difficult 

 to find may be those which live on the ground, 

 still they are to be seen by the naturalist and 

 skilled huntsman ; but when we come to the others 

 the great majority that abide in the canopy 

 above and rarely descend to earth observation 

 is almost impossible. Had we the wings of a 

 bird we might hover above the tree tops and see 

 their inhabitants living and enjoying life, as beauti- 

 fully fitted to their environment as the others ; 

 without such appendages we must be content to 



