The snail (_H. pomatia_) likewise has its moments of relaxation and amusement. The following instance of play may be considered to be gallantry by some, but I do not believe that I am mistaken, however, when I consider it an example of animal pastime. Two snails approached each other, and, when immediately opposite, began slowly to wave their heads from side to side. They then bowed several times in courtly salutation. This performance they kept up for quite a while and then moved away in different directions. At no time did they come in contact, and careful observation failed to reveal any excitement in the genitalia. I have witnessed the embraces of snails, and the performance described above does not resemble, in the slightest degree, the manoeuvres executed at such times by mating individuals. Swarms of Diptera may be seen on any bright day dancing in the sunlight. Naturalists have heretofore considered this swarming to be a mating of the two sexes. This is not the case, however, in many instances. On numerous occasions, and at different seasons of the year, I have captured dozens of these insects in my net and have examined them microscopically. I found them all to be unimpregnated females; I have never yet discovered a male among them. In some of the Diptera the males emerge from the pupa state after the females; I therefore believe that the females await the presence of the males, and, while waiting, pass the time away in aërial gambols. Forel, Lubbock, Kirby, Spence, and other naturalists have declared that ants, on certain occasions, indulge in pastimes and amusements. Huber says that he saw a colony of _pratensis_, one fine day, "assembled on the surface of their nest, and behaving in a way that he could only explain as simulating festival sports or other games."[67] On the 27th of September last, the males and females of a colony of _Lasius flavus_ emerged from their nest; I saw these young kings and queens congregate about the entrance of the nest and engage in playful antics until driven away by the workers. The workers would nip their legs with their mandibles until the royal offspring were forced to fly in order to escape being bitten. The inciting cause of these movements may have been sexual in character, but I hardly think so. [67] Büchner, _Geistesleben der Thiere_, p. 163; quoted also by Romanes, _loc. cit. ante_, pp. 87, 88. On the 19th of July, 1894, I saw several _Lasius niger_ come out of their nest accompanied by a minute beetle (_Claviger foveolatus_); the ants caressed and played with this little insect for some time, and then conducted it back into the nest.[68] [68] On one occasion several years ago, I saw a number of young ants of _L. niger_ brought out of the nest by five or six old ants, which watched over the young and kept them from straying away. The young ants played about the nest entrance for some time, and were then conducted back into the hive by the old ants.--W.