neighbourhood, and frequently find that the missing article is doing duty as decoration to the edifice.

This species is more plentiful than another Bower Bird which will presently be described. As is the case with many birds, the adult male is very different from the young male and the female in his colouring. His plumage is a rich, deep purple, so deep indeed as to appear black when the bird is standing in the shade. It is of a close texture, and glossy as if made of satin, presenting a lovely appearance when the bird runs about in the sunbeams. The specific name, holosericeus, is composed of two Greek words signifying all silken, and is very appropriate to the species. The female is not in the least like the male, her plumage being almost uniform olive green, and the young male is coloured in a similar manner.

ANOTHER species of Bower Bird inhabits New South Wales, and on account of its variegated plumage is called the SPOTTED BOWER BIRD (Chlamydera maculata).

The bower which is built by this bird is of very great comparative size, being sometimes a full yard in length, and the arches higher than those of the previous species. Long grass is plentifully interwoven among the twigs, and the decorations of stones, shells, and feathers extend to a considerable distance from either 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 colour 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 colour. 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 XVII.

BUILDING INSECTS.

The TERMITE, or WHITE ANT-General habits of the insect-African Termite and their homes-Termites as articles of food-Indian Termites-Account o their proceedings-American Termites-Mr. Bates' account of their habitsEuropean 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 PELOPŒUS 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 historyDifference 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.

Of 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 divided 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 an 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 defence 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