A SHARP LOOKOUT 7 



seen hawking very high it is a good indication; the 

 insects upon which they feed venture up there only 

 in the most auspicious weather. Yet bees will 

 continue to leave the hive when a storm is immi- 

 nent. I am told that one of the most reliable 

 weather signs they have down in Texas is afforded 

 by the ants. The ants bring their eggs up out of 

 their underground retreats and expose them to the 

 warmth of the sun to be hatched. When they are 

 seen carrying them in again in great haste, though 

 there be not a cloud in the sky, your walk or your 

 drive must be postponed: a storm is at hand. 

 There is a passage in Virgil that is doubtless in- 

 tended to embody a similar observation, though 

 none of his translators seem to have hit its meaning 

 accurately : — 



" Saepius et tectis penetralibus extulit ova 

 Angustum formica terens iter: " 



"Often also has the pismire making a narrow road- 



brought forth her eggs out of the hidden recesses " 



is the literal translation of old John Martyn. 



" Also the ant, incessantly traveling 

 The same straight way with the eggs of her hidden store,*' 



is one of the latest metrical translations. Dryden 



has it : — 



" The careful ant her secret cell forsakes 

 And drags her eggs along the narrow tracks," 



which comes nearer to the fact. When a storm is 

 coming, Virgil also makes his swallows skim low 

 about the lake, which agrees with the observation 

 above. 



