342 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X. 



ploys every moment, by day and night,, almost without 

 intermission, unless hindered by excessive rains." 

 Either Mr. Kirby or Mr. Spence confirm this fact by 

 personal observations. " Having, in the day, noticed 

 some Aphides upon a thistle, I examined it again in 

 the night at about eleven o'clock, and found my ants 

 busy milking their cows, which did not, for the sake of 

 repose, intermit their suction. At the same hour, on 

 another night, I observed the little negro ant (Formica 

 fusca) engaged in the same employment upon an elder 

 tree. About two miles from my residence was a nest of 

 Gould's hill ant (Formica rufa}, which, according to 

 M. Huber, shut their gates, or rather barricade them, 

 every night, and remain at home. Desirous of ascer- 

 taining this, I visited the nest one morning at two 

 o'clock, and, to my surprise, found the ants at work ; 

 some were engaged, as usual, in carrying burdens into 

 their nest, others going out of it, and several were 

 climbing the neighbouring oaks, doubtless to milk their 

 Aphides. The number of comers and goers at that 

 hour, however, was nothing compared with the myriads 

 seen during the day. It so happened, that the moon 

 was very bright ; so that whether this species is equally 

 active on dark nights, is uncertain. To the red ant it 

 is perfectly indifferent whether the moon shines or not, 

 for numbers of these labour in the night. It is pro- 

 bable that these night workers repose at all hours in- 

 differently, for it cannot be supposed that they are em- 

 ployed day and night without rest." 



(344.) On the roads and trackways of these insects 

 we must say a few words. Every one must have ob- 

 served that certain species pursue their course in a re- 

 gular and beaten path, even above ground, from which 

 they do not wander, except upon extraordinary occa- 

 sions. Some of these, from their width, may be termed 

 their high roads ; while others, diverging in different 

 directions, resemble our lanes or foot-paths. Gould 

 asserts that several of the high roads made by the 

 Formica fuliginos'j, (fig. 84.) frequently extend to a 



