208 Trans. Acad, Sci. of St. Louis 
Phoebe bird. 
Among the vertebrates which were at home at the clay 
bank was a phoebe bird and her annual family.’ The 
nest, on one of the posts, was removed each winter, and 
each spring a new nest appeared in the same place. One 
year I noted two broods of young in the nest. Whenever 
I was at work at the clay bank, the mother bird went 
afar for her food, but often when I came suddenly upon 
the scene, I saw her quickly fly away from among the old 
lumber on top of the bank. From this I suspected that 
she lost no opportunity to get her insect food near at 
hand when she was not disturbed. 
Red bird. 
A red bird nested in the rambler bushes in front of the 
bank, during the summer of 1920, but in so far as I 
could see had no influence on the insect colony. 
Ground mole. 
There were a few rodent tunnels under the ground at 
the foot of the bank, and one year there were two distinct 
openings, but whether the moles or field mice affected 
the insect life of the bank I cannot say. 
Man. 
The human inhabitants of the dwelling whose porch 
covered the bank were not in the least a factor modifying 
this unit; further than the first construction of the site, 
no relationship existed. The house was almost always 
vacant except at week-ends, and even then none of this 
biped fauna came near enough to the bank to influence 
the life, since they mistook the inhabitants for bumble- 
