Idle Days. 139 



minute fungus ; this the ant industriously gathers 

 and stores for use, and when the artificial bed is 

 exhausted the withered leaves are carried out to 

 make room for a layer of fresh ones. Thus the 

 fficodoma literally grows its own food, and in this 

 respect appears to have reached a stage beyond the 

 most highly developed ant communities hitherto 

 described. Another interesting fact is that, al- 

 though the leaf-cutters have a ^^eaceful disposition, 

 never showing resentment except when gratuitously 

 interfered with, they are just as courageous as any 

 purely predatory species, only their angry emotions 

 and warlike qualities always appear to be dominated 

 by reason and the public good. Occasionally a 

 community of leaf-cutters goes to war with a neigh- 

 bouring colony of ants of some other species ; in 

 this, as in everything else, the}' seem to act with a 

 definite purpose and great deliberation. Wars are 

 infrequent, but in all those I have witnessed — and I 

 have known this species from childhood — the fate 

 of the nation is decided in one great pitched battle. 

 A spacious bare level spot of ground is chosen, 

 where the contending armies meet, the fight raging 

 for several hours at a stretch, to be renewed on 

 several consecutive days. The combatants, equally 

 sprinkled over a wide area, are seen engaged in 

 single combat or in small groups, while others, non- 

 fighters, run briskly about removing the dead and 

 disabled warriors from the field of battle. 



Perhaps some reader, who has made the acquaint- 

 ance of nature in a London square, will smile at my 



