THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1866, 26 August 1887, Page 35

THE NATURALIST.

"\ flow. Ants Livbi In spite of the multifarious duties and tasks that are imposed on these tiny burghers, they still find time to clean and adorn their worthy little persons. ' No spot, no atom of dust or anything, else uncleanly, will they tolerate, on their t bodies. The get rid of the dirt with the brushy tufts on their' feet 'or with their tongues. , They . ,act like domestic cats when they clean and lick themselves, and they assist one another at the toilet like monkeys. Their sense of cleanliness 'goes so far that the 'naturalist often finds," to his Tinpleasant surprise, the coloured marks that he had applied- with so much- care to' his "trial ants" removed by their dirt-hating-friends. They keep their dwellings just as £ cleanly. But the conveying away of their dead brethern, whose bodies' they appear to regard with the greatest antipathy, giv^s them more trouble than anything else." When some members of an ant community' which Mr Cook kept in prison died, and could not be removed, the survivers seemed affected with the greatest horror. For days they ran about seeking a way out, and ceased only when completely exhausted. The ants belonging to the camponorous species seized the dead and threw them into the water- 1 pail, which they converted into a sepulchre. Ordinarily, ants are said to treat their dead with more reverence. They even have their' own graveyards, which lie in the vicinity of their nests. They convey their dead thither, where they lay them down in orderly little heaps. It is only the corpses of their fellows, however, that they treat in this way: < Dead strangers they throw out like something un*' clean, or tear their bodies in pieces. Even' between the master and slaves of the ' same community, Miss Trent says that she hris pb-' served a dissimilar mode of burial.' ' Whiie' masters find their last repose in a special graveyard, side by side, the slaves lie like heaped up refuse near the nest, despised' in death as in life. The ant cemeteries' are often thickly populated, for insect life is short. We are informed that the male's' live only through the summer, the females 'live somewhat longer, and the workers die of old. age in the eighth or tenth year.

A Clever California Dog. The most intelligent hunting dog in this or any other State is the Gordon setter Dorr, the property of Fred A. Taft, of Truckee' in Nevada County. What this dog does not know is not worth bothering about, and what he does not do is simply what he has no in- | clination to. Dorr comes naturally by his smartness, having been born in Yankeeland when his master used to live at Dedham, j Mass. His bearing of the name Dorr has, shed additional lustre upon the distinguished | New England family of that name. He has i been a success, whether on the bench at dog shows, in field trials, or out hunting. Dorr first saw the light in April 1876, and sine© that time he has been of the most chfterf ul disposition imaginable. He is of Scottish descent, his father, Dorr, and his mother,. Lady, having been imported from Tutiimtarvach by Ellerton L. Dorr, of Boston, in 1872. ' , ' , Dorr doesn't try to do anything easy ; his hobby is to tackle everything that is difficult. He 1 has a way when Mr Taft is talking dog • of coming in with a candlestick containing a lighted candle in his mouth and trying to induce his master to be lighted' up to bed/ When Mr Taft 'was at the field trials at Hanfoid last winter Dorr was a nine-day wonder. Every night the hotel barroom was crowded , with ranchers who came miles see him perform. After being only one day in town he went regularly every evening, to the, post office for his master's mail, and to the railway station for the newspaper. He did whatever he was told to do. The most difficult tasks were set him by those who came to 'see him, 'and he persevered until he accomplished them.

One night Dorr was asked to retrieve a 10-cent piece ' thrown into a stable pail full to the brim with water. Ho stuck his head under the water and kopt it there 41sec t( when he succeeded in getting the coin between his teeth. Afterwards, without being told, he went out of doors to shake himself. The same evening he took a needle out of a pailful of water, and oarried the pail, without spilling a drop, out to the barn. When he came back he waltzed with one hind leg and his tail in his mouth, and afterwards took his forepaw in his mouth and jumped over every chair in the roon?, without letting the paw go. Dorr leads his master's horse by the htilter when Mr Taf t tries to sneak up on a flock of ducks. He 'will also tow Mr Taft's gunning .boat for miles by the painter. He has a wonderful nose,, but doesn't point birds except for his owner. No cripple,' whether snipe or swan, can get away from him. He is not older to-day than many dogs' of halt his age. His affection fox his master is most pleasant to contemplate, When Mr Taft was riding around at the field trials and hi? boot slipped off, Dorr picked it up and carried it for miles before Mr Taft discovered his loss. Owing to Mr Taft being one of the three distinguished judges at the Pacific Coast field trials, Dorr was not entered for competition, but he went along in a waggon all the same, and made more points and backs between the driver's legs than all the other dogs present. Don- was trained by Mr Taft.—Sacramento Correspondent New York 1 Sun.

Thkush's Nest upon a Hat-peg.— [n the village of High kegh, in Cheshire, a thrush has built her nest upon a hat-peg in the little rustic pavilion belonging to the local cricket club. Except on Saturdays, when a match is usually played against some one of the neighbouring clubs, this pavilion is generally kept locked, with the window left open for ventilation. Through this window the eccentric bird must have found her way.