Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-10-24
BATTLE OF THE ANTS.
A Fierce Warfare Waged b1
 Small Warriors.
Thousands oE the Little Contestants En- gagged In Q Bitter Strlfe-Their Unique Mode of Carrying on the
 ugGle-The Tickets,

One Saturday afternoon in August, as was walking across a pasture field near a town on Long Island, noticed in the grass before me two ants fight ing; one, a slim, black fellow, nearly an inch long, the other, smaller, thick set, red one, somewhat resembling beetle. They were having lively tus- sle, and stopped to watch them, to see which should be victor.
 The red ant seemed to have the ad- vantage; one after another he bit of the black ants legs from one side. When the last of the three was removed, he withdrew from the contest, and, saving Q few scratches on his back, seemed not much the worse for the fight. Retiring to the top of a small lump of earth, he cleaned himself and dressed his wounds much as fly washes itself. While en- gagged in this work, which occupied him for some time, black ant, smaller than the vanquished one, jet black, glossy and plump-a handsome fellow, and evil dently young one-came out from the grass few feet away, wont up to the ant lying helpless on his side, went all about him, touching him with his antennse, and returned the way he came. A m1uuLS UT IWO lAUGE S9NSEa1 QUIET black ants came up to the cripple, went about him in the same manner as the first had done, and returned the way they came. A minute or two later several other black ants camp up to the cripple, went about him in the same manner as the first had done, and returned the way they came. The red ant had now left his lump of earth, and started toward tho west at right angles to the direction the black ants had taken.
 stuck up bit of St. Johnswort to mark the position of the vanquished ant, and followed the red ant to see where he was going. He led ne about six rods westward to the base of an old white oak stump. Between two wide spreading roots of the stump, on the south side of 1t; where the ground was sloping, were a number of openings as large as a mans finger. Down one of these the red ant disappeared.
 A few minutes afterward red ants came swarming out like bees from under the stump, tumbling over each other in their haste to get out They ran about l the stump, and over and around it in great numbers, and finally settled down | in solid mass in a belt as broad as a mans hand. that extended from the ground over the southern face of the stump nearly to the top, forming a cir | cle about the entrance to their home, and every ant with his head pointing to the outer perimeter of the belt.
 This proceeding aroused my curiosity intensely; and it was further increased by low, not unmusical hissing noise they seemed to make as they were form ing the belt. I went close to them and stopped down to make sure the noise came from them. Having satisfied my. | self that 1t did, I started back to the scene of the combat,
 l When within two rods of the place ] met a line of black ants approaching Two or three of tn em were some feet in advance of the others, and were running back and forth rapidly. They were moving on the line the red ant had taken, and appeared to act as scouts foI the army that followed. They ran about Q yard ahead at each advance, and or each return touched the foremost of the line with their antennae, as if impartinQ information. The column of ants ad
 vancing grew more and moro dense, and
 widened to breadth of not less thar
 two feet; at the sign of the St. Johns
 wort the ground was literally blacl
 with the moving mass. The place
 where the red ant had stood on the bi
 of earth seemed to be of special interes
 to each ant, who ran around and over 1t
 and then made of through the grass or
 the line the red ant had taken.