4056 Insects — Birds. 



have lately transmitted a series to Berlin, for examination by Dr. Schaum and 

 M. Kraatz, by whom it was altogether unknown. — Id. 



White Ant in India. — I have just received the following in a letter from a near 

 relative, in the Horse Artillery, at Bangalore : — " Some time ago, T think in 1853, an 

 order of Government directed all the white ants' nests within fifty or a hundred yards 

 of the public buildings to be rooted out. Tn doing so, numbers of queen ants were 

 found, and, strange to relate, in one nest no less than three queens were discovered, and 

 not merely in one nest, but actually and truly in one cell! In several nests two queens 

 were found. These are curious facts, are they not ? Let me know if this has been 

 discovered before. In my opinion there must be two kinds of queen, as at Secun- 

 derabad I made a coloured sketch of one from nature, and made another officer com- 

 pare the sketch with the insect: well, on coming down here to Bangalore, and showing 

 the sketch to a naturalist, he said I had evidently made a mistake in copying it, as he 

 had never seen a queen like it, and assured me they were not of the same kind at this 

 place, as he had seen numbers of queens when they were dug up by reason of 

 the same Government order. I will, however, (D. V.) manage to get one and compare 

 it with my sketch, which I know is correct. I watched the one from which my sketch 

 was taken for hours, and highly amused was I in so doing. I had unfortunately at 

 that time no large magnifying- glass, but could see with the naked eye that there were 

 four or five different kinds of small ants performing their relative duties around their 

 queen ; one kind apparently cleaning her ; a second polishing the shields on her back ; 

 a third evidently carrying away the dirt or dust swept off her; a fourth kind, with very 

 strong mandibles, superintending and certainly correcting the lazy ones ; still, a fifth 

 kind carrying away the eggs. All the time I could plainly distinguish a drumming 

 noise proceeding from the bunch of them, accompanied by the champing of the man- 

 dibles I spoke of (even of a night in your room where the ants are working you can 

 hear the latter very plainly) ; I watched and watched, until the queen (literally a great 

 piece of moving fat) actually made me sick. She is, without exception, the nastiest 

 looking creature I ever beheld. As soon as I have obtained a Bangalore queen (if 

 there is any difference between the two) I will send you the coloured sketches. I have 

 never yet seen a proper sketch of a queen white ant ; the woodcuts seen in books are 

 absurd, and no more like the original than the moon is like cream-cheese. I know (as 

 I told you before) my sketch is right, as several of us compared it closely with the ori- 

 ginal." — J. M. Jones ; 3, Garden Court, Temple, March 6, 1855. 



Memorandum on the Habits of the Jack Snipe. 

 By the Rev. J. C. Atkinson, M.A. 



The jack snipe, says Mr. Yarrell (vol. ii. p. 612) "when not search- 

 ing for food chooses sheltered situations among strong rushes or coarse 

 long grass, and the luxuriant vegetation common to moist grounds. 

 In such places it is remarkable for its sluggishness, seldom taking 

 wing till almost trodden upon, which has induced French naturalists 

 to call this species Becassine Sourde, as though it were deaf to the 



