16 HABITS OF WORMS. Chap. I. 



pots in the house ; so that by looking down 

 into their burrows, their heads could just be 

 seen. If the ejected earth or rubbish over 

 the barrows be suddenly removed, the end 

 of the worm's body may very often be seen 

 rapidly retreating. This habit of lying near 

 the surface leads to their destruction to an 

 immense extent. Every morning during cer- 

 tain seasons of the year, the thrushes and 

 blackbirds on all the lawns throughout the 

 country draw out of their holes an astonishing 

 number of worms ; and this they could not 

 do, unless they lay close to the surface. It 

 is not probable that worms behave in this 

 manner for the sake of breathing fresh air, 

 for we have seen that they can live for a 

 long time under water. I believe that they lie 

 near the surface for the sake of warmth, es- 

 pecially in the morning ; and we shall here- 

 after find that they often coat the mouths 

 of their burrows with leaves, apparently to 

 prevent their bodies from coming into close 

 contact with the cold damp earth. It is said 

 that they completely close their burrows 

 during the winter. 



Structure. — A few remarks must be made 

 on this subject. The body of a large worm 



