THE IIARVESTISG-ANTS OF FLORIDA. 85 



east winds by dense, low shrubbery. On 

 sunny days, even with a cool wind from the 

 north, when taking my seat in this shelter- 

 ed spot, I would soon become uncomfortably 

 warm. This hill was always active when- 

 ever I visited it, while in other localities 

 the ants would often be all housed. Around 

 this active nest I stuck stems of millet eigh- 

 teen inches high, surmounted by the close- 

 packed heads. The ants climbed the stems, 

 loosened and secured the seeds, and stored 

 them within the nest. They worked vigor- 

 ously, sometimes twenty or more on one 

 head pulling away at the seeds. In my ar- 

 tificial formicary they did not mount the 

 stems, even when the heads were not more 

 than three or four inches from the ground, 

 but seeds that I scattered in the jar were 

 always taken below. 



I threw down a handful of apple -seeds 

 near the entrance of the active hill on the 

 barrens. This immediately attracted a large 

 number of excited ants. They rushed to 

 the seeds in a warlike attitude, and began 

 carrying them off, depositing them two or 

 three feet away. But as soon as the excite- 

 ment caused by the sudden pouring down 

 of the seeds had subsided, they seemed to 

 comprehend that they had been throwing 



