Smith. — Notes on New Zealand Earth-worms. 127 



that had been well rolled in the morning. Some days more are 

 tlirown up than others. On those days they are ejecting mould, 

 birds can often be seen flying on to lawns and drawing worms 

 from their burrows. 



Some curious sections can be seen on some of the low flats 

 of some Canterbury rivers, notably at the Eakaia, Hakatere, 

 and Tungawai. They consist of thin alternate layers of fine 

 sand and mould. After the deposition of the thin layer of sand, 

 the worms appear to have thrown up a few inches of mould, 

 when another layer of sand was again and again deposited over 

 it. Heavy rains also wash down quantities of fine silt and clay 

 from the clay-banks or "facings" at Albury, and deposit them 

 over the flats below. The worms in a short time throw up 

 abundance of castings ; the clay soon becomes perfectly mixed 

 with the mould, and forms land of great depth and good quality. 



The cold and wet season of 1884 was specially suited to 

 the actions of earth-worms. Many English grass paddocks 

 adjoining the Haketere or Ashburton Kiver, and broken up 

 eleven years, were daily closely covered with fresh castings. In 

 some parts the whole surface had the appearance of having 

 been covered with a thin covering of dark mould. Many of the 

 castings were of considerable size, and measured in height from 

 J to 1^ inches. Owing to the continuous wet weather, it was 

 impossible to collect and weigh them accurately from a measured 

 space, but the amount of mould thrown up must have been 

 considerable, compared to other seasons. On the low undis- 

 turbed land, elevated only a few feet above the river, fresh 

 castings were numerous, some portions covered with a fine layer 

 of sand had also a sprinkhng of them on the surface. 



Worms living in gardens, in cold weather, often cluster 

 together into any piece of rank, loose, or half-decayed manure 

 buried in the soil. Such no doubt is warmer and more pleasant 

 to their bodies ; it is also more porous, and allows the wet to 

 percolate through. In rich well - worked gardens, EndriJus 

 annulatus and E. campestris attain their largest size: both species 

 often assume a blackish hue ; the former in colour, when 

 inhabiting pastures, is whitish-pink ; the latter is generally 

 brownish-red. Both species, Avitli Endrilm levis, are often 

 found between the outer leaves of cabbages and lettuce, 

 and consume much of the softer parts. They cling in 

 great numbers around the stems of blanched celery, and 

 nibble at the more tender parts, often proving very destruc- 

 tive. Although A. uli(jinosus is found in gardens, they prefer the 

 shelter of large trees in the orchard, or strawberry-beds, to the 

 more cultivated parts, and are not so numerous as the three 

 last-named species, which certainly are the commonest garden 

 worms. They do much injury in flower-pots, and impede the 

 growth of plants by boring or burrowing through the mould, 



