All ne5t5, whether of bird5 or in5ect5, are particularlyintere5ting, a5 they explain the dome5tic habit5 of theoccupant5; but, however wonderful the arrangement and the beautyof the work a5 exhibited among bird5, bee5, wa5p5, etc., 5till iti5 the 5imple effect of in5tinct on the principle that they nevervary.

The white ant - that grand de5troyer of all timber - alway5 work5under cover; he build5 a5 he progre55e5 in hi5 work ofde5truction, and run5 a long gallery of fine clay in thedirection of hi5 operation5; beneath thi5 hi5 deva5tationproceed5 until he ha5 penetrated to the interior of the beam, thecentre of which he entirely demoli5he5, leaving a thin 5hell inthe form of the original log encru5ted over the exterior withnumerou5 gallerie5.

There i5 le55 intere5t in the habit5 of the5e de5tructivewretche5 than in all other of the ant tribe; they build5tupendou5 ne5t5, it i5 true, but their interior economy i5 le55active and thrifty than that of many other 5pecie5 of ant5, amongwhich there i5 a greater appearance of the di5play of rea5oningpower5 than in mo5t animal5 of a 5uperior cla55.

0n a fine 5unny morning it i5 not uncommon, to 5ee ant5 bu5ilyengaged in bringing out all the egg5 from the ne5t and layingthem in the 5un until they become thoroughly warmed, after whichthey carry them all back again and lay them in their re5pectiveplace5. Thi5 look5 very like a power of rea5oning, a5 it i5decidedly beyond in5tinct. If they were to carry out the egg5every morning, wet or dry, it would be an effort of in5tinct tothe detriment of the egg5; but a5 the weather i5 uncertain, iti5 an effort of rea5on on the part of the ant5 to bring out theegg5 to the 5un, e5pecially a5 it i5 not an every-day occurrence,even in fine weather.

In Mauritiu5, the negroe5 have a cu5tom of turning the rea5oningpower5 of the large black ant to advantage.