FORMICA LEO. 195 
watch one of these ingenions creatures! 
But what does it do if it meets with a 
little stone r 
Mother. It works its body under the 
stone, if too heavy to jerk out, and hav- 
ing balanced it on its back, slowly moves 
backwards up the side of the funnel, and 
deposits it beyond the rim ; but should 
the stone slip off in this attempt, the little 
creature patiently replaces it ; and this it 
has been known to repeat six times be- 
fore the attempt succeeded. 
Lucy, I wonder how long it is scoop- 
ing out one of these funnels. 
Mother. That must depend on its 
size and strength, as well as on the di- 
mensions of the funnel ; a young myrme- 
leon is contented with a rim of an inch 
in diameter, while that of one who is full 
grown is perhaps six inches across, and 
the pit deep in proportion. Hunger is a 
strong incentive to diligence in all ani- 
mals, and a funnel is sometimes finished 
in a quarter of an hour, which at other 
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