40 The Field Nahiralisfs Quarte7'ly Feb. 



The opinion long obtained that no particular selection of a 

 hibernaculum was made, but from my own observations I 

 am inclined to consider this too sweeping a statement. 



The very grass and herbage we so heedlessly pace are 

 most affected by all kinds of insects, because therein they 

 find greater cover than elsewhere ; and of these plants the 

 best beloved is the tuft grass called Ccespitosa. This choice 

 is a proof of the instinct of insects. The roots of this weed 

 are stouter than those of the usual meadow grass, and so 

 constitute a better breastwork to shield them from roaming 

 moles and birds ; they are also less closely placed than the 

 roots of rushes, which grow so thick and stout that to force 

 a passage through them would be lost labour, since so great 

 a quantity of dampness is exhaled by these Junci that their 

 inhabitants would be prone to die of that most fatal of insect 

 winter scourges — mildew. Mildew destroys far more of 

 them than frost, snow, voles, or parasites, and so it is that 

 following a mild, damp winter far fewer insects are abroad 

 than after a season of hard cold and ice. 



When searching tufts of grass it is no very easy matter to 

 dislodge their occupants, and two good ways of proceeding 

 may be mentioned. The first, and generally most useful, is 

 to cut the tuft off low down and shake the gathered bunch 

 above a paper or an umbrella, piece by piece. In this way 

 crowds of spiders, woodlice, centipedes, and other loathsome 

 vermin will drop out, as well as the more desirable quarry 

 sought. The second method is to pull the roots up bodily 

 and cast them into an adjacent pond or stream. Bubbles 

 rise, and with them our little friends, who, feeling air again, 

 at once strike out straightly for the nearest shore or raft, 

 their knowledge of that most easily attainable being won- 

 drous to behold. In a limited locality, however, this 

 especial kind of tuft is looked upon with jealousy, as 

 affording greater prizes than all others, and it is well not 

 to destroy the roots which will in the second year have 

 put forth a new young forest of sheltering shoots. 



The debris lying scattered about the base of hay-stacks, 

 and bracken stacks in woods and on the moor, yields most 

 unlooked-for prizes, which are best obtained, since often of 

 .minutest size, by carrying the debris home in linen bags 



