222 ANTS. Chap. XL 



taking some earth away, but I was not able to see 

 this with my magnifying glass. I tliought also that 

 they might be throwing some moisture in order to 

 dampen th.e soil where the walls were to be built, 

 there again my magnifying glass failed me. The 

 worker ants would then come in and apply their 

 mouths intently to the bottom of the cells in the 

 places where the mud had been ejected by the others, 

 and this was done so frequently that it appeared a 

 regular occurrence. It was interesting to watch the 

 regularity with which the ants worked, in compact 

 rows, side by side, until the chambers were covered 

 in. Before building, they carried away the little 

 pieces of clay which had been broken off, and which 

 were in their way. The material they used for 

 building seemedl to me almost the snme as that of the 

 mushroom-building ants. After having disposed of 

 their loads, tha ants disappeared, and others took 

 their jilaces ; what I wanted to iind out was whether 

 the same ants came ngain, but, as in the case of the 

 mushroom-building ants, I was not able to settle this 

 point. The head men were hr less numerous in pro- 

 portion to the total population of the community 

 than in the mushroom hives. The ants of this 

 species only once rebuilt their hive in its original 

 shape, after I had broken it. When I again de- 

 stroyed part of it they only closed the open cells. 



In this kind of building the slanting roof jjre- 

 vented the rain from getting in ; but in the niush- 

 room hives, if the damage had not been entirely 

 repaired, the rain would have penetrated the struc- 

 ture. 



