170 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [15:5— May, 1919 



soil light from recent rain to allow the worm eas}^ passage from his 

 subterranenan home into the summer night. To the angler, the 

 ways of the wary worm can be nothing new, but to one uninitiated 

 in that gentle art they make a good lesson in nature-study. 



A bucket containing moist earth, a flash light, and strong quick 

 fingers are all the equipment necessary. On the first night, being 

 untutored in worming, I strode into the garden and cast the light 

 about; to my amazement a dozen Jimmie meals shot back into 

 their holes like lightning. Catching worms was obviously some- 

 thing more than picking them off the ground. One must sneak up 

 on them with a stealthy tread, for they are very sensitive to the 

 vibration caused by the footfall. One must be careful also not to 

 flash the light directly on the worm he would capture, for his moist, 

 shiny surface is quick to sense the light. And lastly one must 

 observe sharply which end is which and grasp the victim where he 

 emerges from the ground ; for the wise worm never quite leaves his 

 snug little hole but keeps his caudal end safely inside, so that he 

 can draw himself back the instant he feels danger. The worm 

 seeker experiences a foolish feeling when he deftly pinches the 

 wrong end, and the worm eludes him entirely or leaves him but a 

 few segments! With swift and noiseless manoeuvering, however, 

 we could easily bag from one to two hundred in an hour's hunt so 

 that the bucket became quite densely populated, and we returned 

 with a feeling of relief knowing that we had enough to keep 

 Jimmie quiet for a while. 



But only for a while; he always took three or four, and sometimes 

 as many as seven, large worms at a feeding; a young robin, it is 

 said, requires his weight in earth worms every day in order to grow, 

 and Jimmie seemed no less voracious. Many pet crows die from 

 starvation because their owners do not realize their tremendous 

 capacity for food. They should be fed every time they yell. This 

 may be discouraging, but by using worms caught at night when 

 they are plentiful, it is a simple matter to keep the pet crow satisfied 

 or at least sufficiently so to insure its normal development. Worms 

 were, therefore, the mainstay of Jimraie's diet but he was given 

 bread and milk also and all sorts of scraps, for crows are omnivor- 

 ous and worms alone would not be a balanced ration, even for 

 a crow. Grain was the only food he could not digest as a 

 nestling. At this age he did not discriminate at all but swallowed 

 greedily anything dropped into his mouth. If offered a finger he 



