118 Transactions. — Zoology. 



and under moist cakes of cow-manure, Lumbricus tcrrestris, 

 Linn., is common everywhere, and the curious species Allurus 

 tctraedrus occurs in the stiller pools of the Ashburton Eiver 

 and in the moist sand along their banks. The aquatic Tubifex 

 rividorum also occurs in millions on the bottom of shallow, 

 slow-flowing streams, their red colour resembling large masses 

 of coagulated blood. The habits of this aquatic annelid are 

 thus described by Beddard : "It lives associated in great num- 

 bers, and partially imbedded in mud at the bottom of streams, 

 &c. ; the head-end is fixed in the mud, while the tail waves 

 freely about in the water. These worms form exceedingly 

 conspicuous red patches, which must attract ground-feeding 

 fish. The colour is due to a substance termed haemoglobin 

 dissolved in the blood. This substance is also found in the 

 blood of the higher animals, and it plays the chief part in 

 respiration ; it is able to absorb from the air, and readily give 

 up to the tissues, oxygen." * 



Eef erring briefly to the occurrence of cocoons of introduced 

 earthworms, I may mention a few items of interest regarding 

 them which I have ascertained. The cocoons of native worms 

 living in solid ground are invariably deposited in moist cham- 

 bers at distances varying from Jin. to liin. from the walls of 

 their burrows. In gardens where exotic worms are generally 

 abundant the cocoons are deposited promiscuously in the loose 

 soil. They occur at various depths, and frequently, in moist 

 weather, they lie within an inch of the surface. Such species 

 as Allolobopkora fcetidus , A. rubicunda,A. turgidus, will deposit 

 their cocoons under flat stones, slabs of wood, or old bags 

 lying on the surface of the soil. If the bags be spread out and 

 slightly covered with some soil or litter, and kept moist, it is a 

 simple matter to procure cocoons from the month of August to 

 December. 



The formation of the cocoon-chambers of indigenous worms 

 is not effected at any particular part of their burrows : they 

 are formed at all parts of the latter, from the bottom turn to 

 within l-|in. of the surface. I have found as many as three 

 cocoons of various ages attached to one burrow, and two occur 

 commonly. These remarks apply only to the burrows of the 

 various species of Acanthodrilus which I have examined. I, 

 however, found two cocoons in the burrows of Perichaita 

 dorsalis, Fl., an Australian species. The chambers are 

 doubtless formed by the worms swallowing the soil while 

 excavating them. Their interior is smooth, and the short 

 channels leading to them are tightly packed with voided 

 earth. 



* " Animal Coloration," p. 6 (1892). 



