ought, perhaps, to be called "covered ways" rather than galler

ies.

I HAVE intentionally reserved the last place among the builders for an insect which is certainly the most wonderful of them all; not only raising an edifice, but clearing a space around, and preparing it for a garden. This insect is called by Dr. Lincecum, the discoverer of its habits, the AGRICULTURAL ANT, and its scientific name is Atta malefaciens. As the reader will perceive, it is allied to the parasol ant, which has been already described.

This remarkable insect is a native of Texas, and, until a few years ago, its singular habits were unknown. Dr. Lincecum, however, wrote a long and detailed account to Mr. Darwin, who made an abstract of it, and read the paper before the Linnæan Society, April 18th, 1861. This abstract may be found in the Journal of that Society, and is as follows:

"The species which I have named 'Agricultural' is a large brownish ant. It dwells in what may be termed paved cities, and, like a thrifty, diligent, provident farmer, makes suitable and timely arrangements for the changing seasons. It is, in short, endowed with skill, ingenuity, and untiring patience, sufficient to enable it successfully to contend with the varying exigencies which it may have to encounter in the life-conflict.

"When it has selected a situation for its habitation, if on ordinary dry ground, it bores a hole, around which it raises the surface three and sometimes six inches, forming a low circular mound, having a very gentle inclination from the centre to the outer border, which on an average is three or four feet from the entrance. But if the location is chosen on low, flat, wet land, liable to inundation, though the ground may be perfectly dry at the time the ant sets to work, it nevertheless elevates the mound, in the form of a pretty sharp cone, to the height of fifteen to twenty inches or more, and makes the entrance near the summit. Around the mound, in either case, the ant clears the ground of all obstructions, and levels and smooths the surface to the distance of three or four feet from the gate of the city, giving the space the appearance of a handsome pavement, as it really is.

"Within this paved area not a blade of any green thing is allowed to grow, except a single species of grain-bearing grass. Having planted this crop in a circle around, and two or three feet from the centre of the mound, the insect tends and cultivates it

with constant care, cutting away all other grasses and weeds that may spring up among it, and all around outside the farm-circle to the extent of one or two feet more. The cultivated grass grows luxuriantly, and produces a heavy crop of small, white, flinty seeds, which, under the microscope, very closely resemble ordinary rice. When ripe it is carefully harvested, and carried by the workers, chaff and all, into the granary cells, where it is divested of the chaff and packed away. The chaff is taken out and thrown beyond the limits of the paved area.

"During protracted wet weather, it sometimes happens that the provision-stores become damp, and are liable to sprout and spoil. In this case, on the first fine day, the ants bring out the damp and damaged grain, and expose it to the sun till it is dry, when they carry it back and pack away all the sound seeds, leaving those that had sprouted to waste.

"In a peach orchard not far from my house is a considerable elevation, on which is an extensive bed of rock. In the sandbeds overlying portions of this rock are fine cities of the Agricultural Ants, evidently very ancient. My observations on their manners and customs have been limited to the last twelve years, during which time the inclosure surrounding the orchard has prevented the approach of cattle to the ant-farms. The cities which are outside the inclosure, as well as those protected in it, are at the proper season invariably planted with the ant-rice. The crop may accordingly always be seen springing up within the circle about the 1st of November every year. Of late years, however, since the number of farms and cattle has greatly increased, and the latter are eating off the grass much closer than formerly, thus preventing the ripening of the seeds, I notice that the Agricultural Ant is placing its cities along the turn-rows in the fields, walks in gardens, inside about the gates, etc., where they can cultivate their farms without molestation from the cattle.

"There can be no doubt that the particular species of grainbearing grass mentioned above is intentionally planted. In farmer-like manner, the ground upon which it stands is carefully divested of all other grasses and weeds during the time it is growing. When it is ripe the grain is taken care of, the dry stubble cut away and carried off, the paved area being left unencumbered until the ensuing autumn, when the same 'ant - rice' reappears within the same circle, and receives the same agricultural attention as was bestowed upon the previous crop; and so on, year

after year, as I know to be the case, in all situations where the Ants' settlements are protected from graminivorous animals."

After receiving this account, Mr. Darwin wrote to Dr. Lincecum, asking him whether he thought that the Ants planted seed for the next year's crop, and received the following answer: "I have not the slightest doubt of it; and my conclusions have not been arrived at from hasty or careless observation, nor from seeing the Ants do something that looked a little like it, and then guessing the results. I have at all times watched the same antcities during the last twelve years, and I know that what I stated in my former letter is true. I visited the same cities yesterday, and found the crop of ant-rice growing finely, and exhibiting also the signs of high cultivation, and not a blade of any other kind of grass or seed was to be seen within twelve inches of the circular row of ant-rice."

CHAPTER XIX.

SUB-AQUATIC NESTS. VERTEBRATES.

Fishes as Architects.-The STICKLEBACKS and their general Habits.-The FRESHWATER STICKLEBACKS.—A jealous Proprietor.-Punishment of Trespassers.— Form and Materials of the Nest.-Use of the Nest.-Cannibalistic Propensities. -The FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK and its Form.-Its curious Nest.-Mr. Couch's description of a Nest in a Rope's End.-Fishes of Guiana.-The HASSAR or HARDBACK, and its place in Zoology.-Nest of the Hassar.-Parental Watchfulness. Singular Position of the Nest.-Habits of the Hassar.

As a rule, FISHES display but little architectural genius, their anatomical construction debarring them from raising any but the simplest edifice. A fish has but one tool, its mouth, and even this instrument is of very limited capacity. Still, although the nest which a fish can make is necessarily of a slight and rude character, there are some members of that class which construct homes which deserve the name.

The best instances of architecture among the Fishes are those which are produced by the STICKLEBACKS (Gasterosteus), those well-known little beings whose spiny bodies, brilliant colors, and dashing courage make them such favorites with all who study nature. There are several species of British Sticklebacks, but as the fresh-water species all make their nests in a very similar manner, there will be no need of describing each species separately.

These fishes make their nests of the delicate vegetation that is found in fresh water, and will carry materials from some little distance in order to complete the home. They do not, however, range to any great extent, because they would intrude upon the preserve of some other fish, and be ruthlessly driven away.

When the male Stickleback has fixed upon a spot for his nest, he seems to consider a certain area around as his own especial property, and will not suffer any other fish to intrude within its limits. His boldness is astonishing, for he will dash at a fish of ten times his size, and, by dint of his fierce onset and his bristling spears, drive the enemy away. Even if a stick be placed within. the sacred circle, he will dart at it, repeating the assault as often as the stick may trespass upon his domains. Within this limit, therefore, he must seek materials for his nest, as he can hardly move for six inches beyond it without intruding upon the grounds of another fish. This right of property only seems to extend along the banks and a few inches outward, the centre of the stream or ditch being common property. Along the bank, however, where vegetation is most luxuriant, there is scarcely a foot of space that is not occupied by some Stickleback, and jealously guarded by him.

Although the nests of the Stickleback are plentiful enough, they are not so familiar to the public as might be expected, principally because they are very conspicuous, and few of the uninitiated would know what they were, even if they were pointed out. Being of such very delicate materials, and but loosely hung together, they will not retain their form when they are removed from the water, but fall together in an undistinguishable mass, like a coil of tangled thread that had been soaked in water for a few weeks.

The materials of which the nest is made are extremely variable, but they are always constructed so as to harmonize with the surrounding objects, and thus to escape ordinary observation. Sometimes it is made of bits of grass which have been blown into the river, sometimes of straws, and sometimes of growing plants. The object of the nest is evident enough when the habits of the Stickleback are considered. As is the case with many other fish, there are no more determined destroyers of Stickleback eggs than the Sticklebacks themselves, and the nests are evidently constructed for the purpose of affording a resting-place for the eggs until they are hatched. If a few of these nests be removed from the

water in a net, and the eggs thrown into the stream, the Sticklebacks rush at them from all sides, and fight for them like boys scrambling for halfpence. The eggs are very small, barely the size of dust-shot, and are yellow when first placed in the nest, but deepen in color as they approach maturity.

THERE is a well-known marine species of this group, called the FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK (Gasterosteus spinachia), a longbodied, long-snouted fish, with a slightly projecting lower jaw, and a row of fifteen short and sharp spines along the back. This creature makes its nest of the smaller algæ, such as the corallines, and the delicate green and purple sea-weeds which fringe our

coasts.

Sometimes, indeed, it becomes rather eccentric in its architecture, and builds in very curious situations. Mr. Couch, the wellknown ichthyologist, mentions a case where a pair of Sticklebacks had made their nest "in the loose end of a rope, from which the separated strands hung out about a yard from the surface, over a depth of four or five fathoms, and to which the materials could only have been brought, of course, in the mouth of the fish, from the distance of about thirty feet. They were formed of the usual aggregation of the finer sorts of green and red sea-weed, but they were so matted together in the hollow formed by the untwisted strands of the rope that the mass constituted an oblong ball of nearly the size of the fist, in which had been deposited the scattered assemblage of spawn, and which was bound into shape with a thread of animal substance, which was passed through and through in various directions, while the rope itself formed an outside covering to the whole."

THIS is not the only fish that is known to construct a nest. In the fresh waters of tropical America there is a genus of fish belonging to the Siluridæ, and named Callichthys, from the beauty of the species. The fishes of this genus have four very long barbules hanging from the upper lip and pointing backward, and are all mailed except part of the belly. Their general color is greenbrown, and they do not reach to any great size, eight inches being their usual length. They are generally very fat, and are much valued by the natives of Guiana, who live so much upon fish. The native name for this fish is HASSAR, and the European residents call it the HARDBACK, in allusion to its coat of shining mail.