214 



THE ANGLER'S SOUVENIR. 



bones forming the actual nest was at least an inch 

 in depth of former dejecta. This under layer was 

 also very dark in colour, and very lively, whilst 

 that portion nearest the walls of the chamber was 

 quite dry, and caked into the surrounding soil. 

 Amongst the half-digested portions of bone, I 

 particularly noticed the remains of beetle-cases, 

 and one large fragment of a water-beetle (notonecta), 

 with the claws complete ; but all these substances 

 were confined exclusively to the nesting-chamber, 

 and were not scattered about the passage leading 

 thereto, nor was there a single atom of grass, 

 straw, or such-like material to be seen anywhere. 

 Wishing to preserve, not only the eggs, but the 

 strange bed on which they were placed, the whole 

 mass, on our reaching home, was turned into a 

 muslin bag, and by placing that in a colander, 

 and allowing water to run freely through it for 

 some time, all the earthy particles were soon dis- 

 posed of ; and the maggots were as effectively 

 dastroyed by a single immersion in boiling water. 

 The bones, thus thoroughly cleansed and sifted, 

 were next turned out upon a sheet of blotting- 

 paper, and then laid on a wire sieve to strain and 

 dry, till in a few hours the entire heap looked as 

 white and free from all impurities as the portion 

 on which the eggs had been first seen. On weighing 

 these bones, thus freed from all foreign particles, 

 I found they amounted to exactly 1,080 grains, or 

 two ounces and a quarter and thirty grains." 



