vii THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS 129 



to Neger the dried seeds, of some Leguminous plants for 

 instance, are then taken back into the nest and chewed 

 into dough. This is dried once again in the sun in the 

 form of little biscuits, which are eventually put into the 

 cupboard. It is probable that different kinds of seeds 

 receive different treatment, and in some cases it seems 

 that the stored material is not eaten after all, but is 

 used as a culture for moulds (e.g. Aspergillus niger) of 

 which the ants are very fond. 



Among backboned animals it is difficult to find con- 

 vincing instances of storing until we come to birds and 

 mammals. Apart from the numerous birds that store 

 food in their crops, sometimes so exuberantly that they 

 cannot fly, there are some that may be said to lay up 

 nutritive savings outside of themselves. The large 

 Eagle Owl, which occasionally visits Britain, often 

 gathers a huge superfluity of food (including hares and 

 rabbits, poultry and pigeons) for his mate and offspring ; 

 and peasants have been known to utilise him as Elijah 

 his ravens. There is an old tale that ptarmigan make 

 stores of buds and berries beneath the snow, but there 

 is no doubt that at least two species of woodpeckers 

 store acorns, sticking them firmly into holes which are 

 bored " for the purpose " in the tree stems. This is all 

 the more interesting if it be true that what the wood- 

 peckers really eat is not the acorn but a kind of grub 

 that develops inside it. 



Not a few mammals are in the habit of hiding away 

 surplus food, and it is easy to imagine how this might 

 lead on to a more definite storing instinct such as squirrels 

 exhibit. In a number of different hoards the squirrel 

 hides hazel-nuts, beech-nuts and acorns, and these may 

 be a stand-by in the hard times of winter when the 

 beautiful creature, who is not a true hibernator, is un- 

 able to sleep away its hunger, or when the young ones, 

 who remain for a long time in the company of their 

 parents, plead for food. In some mild parts of the 

 country the squirrel's storing instinct seems to remain 

 undeveloped. There are other mammals, such as the 

 marmots, who make their burrows comfortable w r ith 



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