LOCAL HABITATS. 
63 
and when brought home immersed in scalding 
water. The bags should be left to dry, and 
the rubbish examined at leisure, by shaking a 
little at a time over a sheet of white paper. By 
this plan, insects may be obtained in profu- 
sion. 
Animals, &c. Living animals, birds, fish, 
and even insects, should undergo a minute 
search when opportunity offers, for the parasitic 
insects which infest them. Birds in particular 
are subject to these pests, and almost every 
species has a parasite peculiar to itself. The 
examination of birds must be made while they 
are still warm, as the insects leave the body 
soon after it becomes cold. When the bird is 
almost cold, if it be placed on a warm white 
plate, or white paper covering a warm coloured 
plate, they will be easily discovered. They 
may be put into quills, and killed by dipping 
the quills in hot water. The insects may be 
then gummed on small wedges of stiff paper. 
The name of the bird or animal on which they 
are found should be attached to them. 
Mushrooms and Toadstools {Fungi and 
Boleti) are found on the ground in meadows, 
commons, and parks ; and also on trees. They 
occasionally contain rare beetles. Yponomeuta 
bifasciella has been reared from one species. 
