138 LIdle Days in Patagonia. 
tumble over as if shot, dive down incontinently, 
then reappearing, pause not to look about them, but 
spring away with all that marvellous flutter and 
splutter of which coots alone are capable; the 
wings beating rapidly, the long legs and lobed feet 
sprawling behind or striking the surface, away they 
scud, flying and tumbling over the water, spreading 
needless alarm through flocks of pin-tails, shrill- 
voiced widgeons, and stately black-necked swans, 
but never pausing until the opposite shore of the 
river is reached. 
Pleased with the success of my experiment, I quit 
the precipice, to the great relief of the blue pigeons 
and of the little hawks; these last having viewed 
my proceedings with great jealousy, for they have 
already taken possession of a hole in the rock with 
a view to nidification. 
Further on in my rambles I discover a nest of the 
large black leaf-cutting ant (Gicodoma) found over 
the entire South American continent—and a leading 
member of that social tribe of insects of which it 
has been said that they rank intellectually next to 
ourselves. Certainly this ant, in its actions, simu- 
lates man’s intellect very closely, and not in the 
unpleasant manner of species having warrior castes 
and slaves. The leaf-cutter is exclusively agricul- 
tural in its habits, and constructs subterranean 
galleries, in which it stores fresh leaves in amazing 
quantities. The leaves are not eaten, but are cut 
up into small pieces and arranged in beds: these 
beds quickly become frosted over with a growth of 
