imb tremblingly down and accept what fate has
sent. His ninety and nine fellows have met death in almost as many
ways.

With the exception of these strange inmates there are very few tenants
or guests in the nests of the Attas. Unlike the termites and Ecitons,
who harbor a host of weird boarders, the leaf-cutters are able to keep
their nest free from undesirables.

Once, far down in the nest, I came upon three young queens, recently
emerged, slow and stupid, with wings dull and glazed, who crawled with
awkward haste back into darkness. And again twelve winged females were
grouped in one small chamber, restless and confused. This was the only
glimpse I ever had of Atta royalty at home.

Good fortune was with me, however, on a memorable fifth of May, when
returning from a monkey hunt in high jungle. As I came out into the
edge of a clearing, a low humming attracted my attention. It was
ventriloquial, and my ear refused to trace it. It sounded exactly like
a great aerodrome far in the distance, with a score or more of planes
tuning up. I chanced to see a large bee-like insect rising through
the branches, and following back along its path, I suddenly perceived
the rarest of sights--an Atta nest entrance boiling with the
excitement of a flight of winged kings and queens. So engrossed were
the ants that they paid no attention to me, and I was able to creep up
close and kneel within two feet of the hole. The main nest was twenty
feet away, and this was a special exit made for the occasion--a
triumphal gateway erected far away from the humdrum leaf traffic.

The two-inch, arched hole led obliquely down into darkness, while
brilliant sunshine illumined the earthen take-off and the surrounding
mass of pink Mazaruni primroses. Up this corridor was coming, slowly,
with dignity, as befitted the occasion, a pageant of royalty. The king
males were more active, as they were smaller in size than the females,
but they were veritable giants in comparison with the workers. The
queens seemed like beings of another race, with their great bowed
thorax supporting the folded wings, heads correspondingly large, with
less jaw development, but greatly increased keenness of vision. In
comparison with the Minims, these queens were as a human being one
hundred feet in height.

I selected one large queen as she appeared and watched her closely.
Slowly and with great effort she climbed the steep ascent into the
blazing sunlight. Five tiny Minims