MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 879 



No. XLIl.— HABITS OF EARTHWORMS. 



At Naini Tal on 5th June 1917 while coming up along the Khairna road 

 after a heavy shower of rain 1 found, all the way up to the top of St. Loo 

 gorge, the whole ground strewn with quantities of worms all migrating up 

 hill. They were coming from the lower side of the pathway and making their 

 way up hill. All stretched out at full length they looked in places like a 

 lot of scattered " spillikins." A week later I was coming up the same 

 way — also after recent heavy rain— and the worms were still on the move. 

 I watched some even climbing up the tree trunks which were often quite 

 perpendicular. Their efforts to get up the steep bank on the upper side 

 of the path often resulted in their tumbling down again. In the sunshine 

 they showed in some lights a beautiful purplish colouring. I presume these 

 worms thought it time to move higher up for fear of being flooded out. 



G. O. ALLEN, I c.s. 

 Dehra Dun, 9th March 1919. 



