224 
ANIMAL CURIOSITIES 
in captivity, it appears that they do not thrust 
their mouths above water when shooting at 
an object, but rest in an oblique position with 
the tip of the mouth held just below the surface. 
They also have the curious habit of swimming 
backwards as well as forwards, the Russian 
naturalist Zolotnitsky stating that he has often 
seen them progress in the former direction for 
several minutes on end. 
But for the soldier-like qualities of courage 
and the readiness to give fight in offence and 
defence, we have in the warrior-ants (Formica 
sanguinea) and the Amazon ants (Formica 
rufescens) examples that not only form them¬ 
selves into veritable armies and give battle to 
rival colonies, but also take up the vocation 
of slave-dealers, raiding the nests of other ants 
and carrying off the pupae to their own homes, 
where they are hatched, reared and brought 
up to work and fight for their captors. 
The warrior-ants are larger than the Amazon 
ants, and are said to exhibit more intelligence 
when indulging in their slave-capturing expedi¬ 
tions, for, unlike the latter which make a 
headlong rush upon their victims, they lay 
siege to and surround the nest they intend to 
rob. It sometimes happens that a colony of 
warrior-ants meets a rival party of Amazons, 
with the result that a pitched battle often 
