334 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. X. 



of their own nest, and furiously attacking their baffled 

 enemy. This seemed very extraordinary, for these 

 little courageous creatures were not more than half the 

 size of their adversaries. Yet it was astonishing to see 

 the determination, and even fury, with which they fell 

 upon them : they got hold of some part of their body, 

 their head, Jrat principally their legs ; keeping their 

 grasp, notwithstanding the disproportionate size of their 

 adversary. I did not remark that any were left dead 

 upon the field at the time; but, on tracing the first 

 species (the invaders) to the hole from whence they 

 had at first issued, I observed a great many of them 

 most wofully mutilated. Heads, legs, and bodies were 

 scattered promiscuously along their line of march. The 

 vitality of such as were maimed and wounded was 

 really astonishing ; for I observed many, which had 

 actually lost their bodies, still endeavouring to follow 

 the retreating army ; while others, which had lost all 

 their legs but two, still tried to hobble after their com- 

 rades. The invaders had obviously been beaten off, al- 

 though several of them carried ofF the uninjured bodies 

 of the red species ; and I observed that these latter were 

 all of a larger size than those which fought at the en- 

 trance of their nest } few or none of which were killed. 

 After these little heroes had thus fairly gained the 

 victory, and driven off their enemies, they began to 

 block up the holes, by which they had entered, with 

 tempered clay, and in a quarter of an hour not an 

 orifice was to be seen. Leaving these, I again turned 

 to watch the movements of the retreating army, which, 

 I observed, had begun another march, entering into 

 every little hole they met with in their road, probably 

 with the wish of discovering some other nest, which 

 they might attack and pillage with more success." .... 

 " In another part of the premises I observed, the same 

 morning, another numerous army, of the same species, 

 inarching in the same order through some flower beds ; 

 but these were conveying their young, apparently just 

 hatchedy carefully between their mandibles, and were 



