cks which so constantly crop up on hill
sides. Even the brilliant blue of the Kingfisher, which in a museum
renders it so conspicuous, in its native haunts, on the contrary, makes
it difficult to distinguish from a flash of light upon the water; and
the richly-coloured Woodpecker wears the genuine dress of a
Forester--the green coat and crimson cap.

It has been found that some brilliantly coloured and conspicuous animals
are either nauseous or poisonous. In these cases the brilliant colour
is doubtless a protection by rendering them more unmistakable.

COMMUNITIES

Some animals may delight us especially by their beauty, such as birds or
butterflies; others may surprise us by their size, as Elephants and
Whales, or the still more marvellous monsters of ancient times; may
fascinate us by their exquisite forms, such as many microscopic shells;
or compel our reluctant attention by their similarity to us in
structure; but none offer more points of interest than those which live
in communities. I do not allude to the temporary assemblages of
Starlings, Swallows, and other birds at certain times of year, nor even
to the permanent associations of animals brought together by common
wants in suitable localities, but to regular and more or less organised
associations. Such colonies as those of Rooks and Beavers have no doubt
interesting revelations and surprises in store for us, but they have not
been as yet so much studied as those of some insects. Among these the
Hive Bees, from the beauty and regularity of their cells, from their
utility to man, and from the debt we owe them for their unconscious
agency in the improvement of flowers, hold a very high place; but they
are probably less intelligent, and their relations with other animals
and with one another are less complex than in the case of Ants, which
have been so well studied by Gould, Huber, Forel, M'Cook, and other
naturalists.

The subject is a wide one, for there are at least a thousand species of
Ants, no two of which have the same habits. In this country we have
rather more than thirty, most of which I have kept in confinement. Their
life is comparatively long: I have had working Ants which were seven
years old, and a Queen Ant lived in one of my nests for fifteen years.
The community consists, in addition to the young, of males, which do no
work, of wingless workers, and one or more Queen mothers, who have at
first wings, which, however, after one Marriage flig