end of the bower. Mr. Gould mentions that the bird places the heaviest stones so as to keep the twigs in their places, and that it will even bring the skulls and bones of the small mammalia to aid in the decoration of its bower.

These birds are allied to the common starling, and belong to a small group of that family which have gained the name of Glossy Starlings on account of their satin-like plumage.

The color of the Spotted Bower Bird is warm brown, profusely spotted with buff, and upon the back of the neck there is a kind of falling ruff or collar of long feathers which shine like spun glass, and are of a lovely rose-pink color. The generic name "Chlamydera" literally signifies "cloak-necked," and is given to the bird on account of this peculiarity. The classical reader will remember that the chlamys was a short cloak or scarf, that could be thrown round the neck or over the shoulder at the convenience of the wearer.

CHAPTER XVIII.

BUILDING INSECTS.

The TERMITE, or WHITE ANT.-General Habits of the Insect.-African Termites and their Homes.-Termites as Articles of Food.-Indian Termites.-Account of their Proceedings.-American Termites.-Mr. Bates's Account of their Habits.-European Termites.-Their Ravages in France and Spain.-M. de Quatrefages and his History of the Termites of Rochefort and La Rochelle.-The EUMENES and its mud-built Nest.--The TRYPOXYLON of South America.--The PELOPEUS and its curious Nest.--The MUD-DAUBER WASP.-Mr. Goss's Account of its Habits.-The MELIPONA of America.--Mr. Stone's Wasp Nests and their History. Difference of Material.-The FORAGING ANTS of South America and their various Species.--Nests and Habits of the Foraging Ants.—The AGRICULTURAL ANT of Texas.--Dr. Lincecum's Accounts of its Habits.

WE now pass to the many insects which may be classed among the Builders. The reader will probably notice that several of the true builders are omitted in this department, but will find them under the head of Social Insects.

Or the Building insects, the TERMITE, or WHITE ANT, as it is popularly and wrongly called, is the acknowledged head and chief. There are certain other insects which erect habitations which are truly wonderful, but there is not one that approaches the Termite in the size of its building or the stone-like solidity of the

structure.

If the reader will refer to the large illustration, he will see that the Termite of Southern Africa can erect nests of very great size. Three of these structures are shown, and a human being has been introduced by one of them in order to show their average height.

The history of the Termites is so complicated, and so full of incident, that I might occupy several hundred pages of this work in describing them and their nests, and yet not have exhausted the subject. I shall therefore give a general sketch of the Termites and their habits, and then relate a few details concerning the species which are found in Africa, Asia, America, and Europe.

In the first place, the reader must understand that the Termite is not an ant at all, but belongs to a totally different order of insect, and is allied to the dragon-flies, the ant-lions, the May-flies, and the beautiful Lace-wing flies.

The Termites are social, and, like other social insects, are di vided into several grades, such as workers, males, and females, the two latter of which are winged when they reach maturity. The body is oblong and flat, the antennæ short, and the mandibles flattened and toothed, and in most cases extremely long and formidable. Each colony is founded by a single pair, popularly called the king and queen, and the rest of the population consists of developed males and females, which are intended to perpetuate the species and found fresh colonies, and of undeveloped individuals, or neuters, of both sexes. The neuter males are termed soldiers, and are armed with powerful jaws proceeding from enormous heads, and the neuter females are termed workers, and are very small.

There are now before me some specimens of African Termites, the soldiers of which are five or six times as large as the workers. They are formidable creatures, but they can do little harm beyond inflicting a severe bite, as they are not furnished with stings nor even with poison glands. They can bite through the clothes of a European, and when they swarm upon the bare limbs of the Negro they inflict almost unbearable tortures. The chief duty of the soldier seems to be the defense of the nest; for, whenever the walls are broken down, the soldiers come trooping out to attack the invader, and, being quite unconscious of fear, they will seize on the first strange object that happens to come in their way. There are comparatively few soldiers, their proportion to the workers being only one per cent.

When a pair of developed Termites have settled themselves to

form a colony, they share the fate of certain Oriental potentates, and never move out of their royal cell. When the queen is fairly settled, she increases in size so rapidly, that, even if she were set at liberty, she could not crawl an inch. While the head, thorax, and legs retain their original dimensions, the abdomen swells until it is more than two inches long and about three quarters of an inch in width. Thus developed, she produces eggs by the thousand, which are immediately carried off by the workers, who have reserved certain apertures in the royal apartment through which they can easily pass. When the eggs are hatched, the young are carefully watched and tended until they are at last developed into males, females, or neuters, and themselves are able to take part in the manual work.

A full-sized nest of the African Termite is a wonderful structure. Although made merely of clay, the walls are nearly as hard as stone, and quite as hard as the brick of which villa residences are usually built. The form of the nest is essentially conical, a large cone occupying the centre, and smaller cones being grouped round it, like pinnacles round a Gothic spire.

In Andersson's valuable work, "Lake Ngami," there are many detached accounts of the African Termite. He states that he has seen nests which were full twenty feet in height, and had a circumference of a hundred feet, and that when the insects were developed and obtained their wings, they issued forth in such hosts that the air seemed as if it were filled with dense and white snowflakes. So strong is the instinct for rushing into the air, that they can scarcely be retained within the nest, and will even pass through fire in order to gain their end.

The nests are always interesting objects, even from the exterior. The walls are so hard that hunters are accustomed to mount upon them for the purpose of looking out for game, and the wild buffalo has a similar habit, the structure being strong enough even to support the weight of so large an animal. The daily labors of the architects can easily be traced, on account of the dampness of the recent clay, so that an approximation can be formed as to the length of time which is occupied in erecting one of the nests. The traveler is always glad to see a large Termite nest, because he is nearly sure to find the surface studded with mushrooms, which are larger and better flavored than those which our fields produce.

The natives have another motive for looking after the Termite