/IDarcb 



5 1 



Ants' eggs are collected and dried, and can always 

 be purchased throughout the year, and these afford a 

 useful food for many species of birds, although I have not 

 found them always approved of by my own special pets. 



Raw meat is another resource, but it is troublesome 

 to prepare, and very difficult to keep fresh in hot 

 weather. The one item that seems indispensable in 

 bird-keeping is the mealworm, and, as many people 

 have asked me, ' What is a mealworm ? ' I will take it 

 for my subject to-day. If my readers will refer to 



MEALWORM BEETLE. 

 Magnified about six limes larger than life. 



the illustration, they will see a long sort of caterpillar, 

 which is the aforesaid mealworm, the larva of the 

 mealworm beetle. 



Instead of being soft, like an ordinary grub, it is 

 hard and polished, of a brownish yellow colour, and 

 in all respects extremely like the destructive pest 

 called by gardeners the wireworm. The latter, how- 

 ever, is the larva of a different species of beetle which 

 feeds on plant roots. 



The mealworm beetle is always to be found in 



