THE NIGHTINGALE. 13 



It was all plain sailing after that: no more hard- 

 boiled egg and biscuit for my Nightingale, and, after 

 another little while, no more flesh meat, but instead 

 ants' eggs ad libititm, and as many fresh insects as 

 could be obtained in addition to his regular course of 

 black-beetles and mealworms. Snails, when quite young, 

 he was very fond of, and would bolt whole with 

 immense satisfaction, but their eggs were his special 

 treat: I really believe Joey would have swallowed his 

 own weight of them if they could only have been 

 found in such quantity. 



Mealworms are not altogether satisfactory insects, 

 but 'are apt sometimes to disagree with birds that 

 partake of them too freely, on account, I imagine, of 

 their tough skin. They are unsatisfactory too as 

 regards breeding them, my own experience being that 

 it is better to buy them from the importers, who retail 

 them at an average price of from three to four shil- 

 lings per thousand. 



One cause of the difficulty in keeping them is that 

 they are liable to the attacks of a minute species of 

 acarus, invisible to the naked eye, but clearly dis- 

 cernible when massed together in myriads, as they 

 soon are in any receptacle devoted to the culture of 

 the mealworm. I do not think this minute pest 

 actually preys on the larger insects, but simply starves 

 them by eating up their provisions. 



Heat is essential for the development of Tcncbrio 



