Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-07-24
rycw York Evening rosJ


insects that he has found win ants, ana
Gge hundred and forty o. them were beC-
tics. The study o. The e leSls that make up
| This happy family would Last a lie
time"
"alc You sure that Il is happy ilmi-
W." q kcd the visitor. - have seen
monkey In . so-csllcd happy family swim.
ing It's colleague, q cat, about by the tll.'
Jn9ouMcdly," said the collector,
"mauy Of these visitors are not welcome
such q. the parasitic mites that prey 'ipon
tis ants. and smali black Gy Of the lr1ai
Phora. 'hat lays IL egg on them. Bur the
majority OF insects are. rs a ruie. nc ,cpia-
bic. Here is one. observed by lubbock
the II ckic-.Aa; rjlGs aLout in the net IN
cicGt numbers. busting among the an' g.
pusniD" thCm one side, Jut never noticed
by them. Another. the Whit,-wood iou.t.
IL very conspicuous IN the hest, and i
never noltetcd bv IT, hosts. These two
are blind from living so long in The dark.
Some O. the bind inmates. rs tie beetle
clayicCr, are 50 dependent upon their host
tliut. according to Muller, they feed them
as careful as You would bind friend or
relative.
"in al exhibitions OF animals" con-
in ued the insect man. tie happy tamil &,
which sometimes proves "a very unhappy
one. forms a promiucntfcGturc. cats, dogs,
morLcys. and All kinds OF animals that are
from Tie very nature o. thing, gull"Oni>tic
10 each other, are confined together, and
oithCT forced 20 agree, or from continued
a.soci4,.cn become haUitu3tod 80 their sur
round.ncs. Al. this seems unnatural and
even cruel. hut. strangely enough, similar
state q thing is found iD nature, where
animals oi ihc most opposite kinds tax" MP
a ar BONES together and live on terms o.
the closest Intimacy.
'|Somc time ago - vessel stopped at the
ISLANDS called The Chickens on the NaW
England coast. The crew went ashore to
see n ;ny one lived there, and found tac
pr nciIal Inhabitants 10 De birds, lizards,
and crabs, and, cUri)u>lg enough, living
together. In walking over the sod short
distance from shore, the sailor, heard sharp
cries. followed Ly q variety OF noise, and,
on listening. il was evident that several
different kinds Of animals were under
ground. Soon after nUmHc; oil holes
were discovered, auJUt ,iN inches IN
diameter, and iy thru,iing in q 5Ja'-
hook. and, liking the LuIloW. its cqg.Jas
inhcb.;lG,a we're exposed. The tunnel iei
mo the sgi ground several feet. ta.H
rose and formed q platform tlJ' Was
divided INTO $50 rooms, all carefully lined
with grass. In one room Nas q p-,rd
with her young, while ia tie room on The
other side Tas q curious, lizard called the
SpicH0oca, and In the passage were
number Of large land-crib.--a queer
as~Cmhlagc. indeed. Ia nearly all the bur
rows The same tenants were found. ald il
was aitCTWard, discovered That the entire
work WIS doug by tie birds. They made
Inc bunow aud lined it with grass, auI
iofmcd tie cucst.chambcr for tlc nZlri,
who, like prince Of boardcrs, rarely
yniGrtd out Of his room except al night,
living chiefly upon The food that the
motl.cr petrol brought in for h1r h.t.c
ones. Their dinner was also shared by tla
hungry laud-crahs that lived along the
pass 1eWay
lin thc iar north the little au.: often
forms q singular friendship with TIE haze
or rabbit Thc latter build, s. bufroW.
carving i'm bits OF grass and weed, and
preparing IFS nest that is ultimately shared
NV Tie aUts, who take possession aad rear
tleir your@ ~ .ac same warm home Of the
littlC rabbits.
I'm Siberia similar association is seen
between On owl and q ground squirrel thit
forms the buTrow In the first place. Toe
owl, taking fancy to it, cnnrgrs a., 80 that
she can pass in and out Wi.h perfect fire
dom. ana finally takes possession OF tae
squirrels soft, d0wny nest and re1rs her
frowsy brood among the young squirrels,
AL growing up together.
4 South American owl (iMCRe cntCH.
lOr'd) is also a boGr5cr. On the Pamp1s
are found great numbers Of small animals
fr.
colonies, forming burrows ana homes
underground much after the manner OF
our pIairit-dog. and are often seen sitting
on their launches over Their nests. The
Hi2maza first receives as a b0ardcr another
animal. the Agouti. ana ncXtfhe little owl,
the three all seemingly agreeing 10 share
the home in peace aBd qnieincsS. To show
how very lazy these animals are, At Blanca
the AgOuti forms its Own burroW, there
being no BiznaZa TO DO tue wo-k for It,
Also at Banda Oriental, where neither 81
tie two former animals are found, tie owi,
being deprived Of its digger, goes to work
and makes buTrow for itself. Like many
higher animals, they live upon the labor of
others as long Is they eau. only building
for themselves when no one else cln be
found to do il for them.
"The hurrowing owls Of the West,
rather than make nest, often submit TO
great indignlueS. On tie prliries there
are many settlements OF the sO-caled praI-
rie-dogs that live in communities OF several
hundred. A burrow is made. the
earth taken out being iiled up aud forming
a structure upon which the animals stand
upon their hnd-legs and survey the sur
rounding country. The opening deSccnds
at a sharp angle, and then suddenly en-
larges into a room that Is ioored with dry
grass and made comfortable for the little
ones. One OF the iirst boarders to investi-
gate the new home is the rattlesnake, that
generally hndS II so inviting that he takes
up his permanent residence there. feeding
not upon the food carried in by the
rightiUl owner, as in the ease OF the lizard
in New Zealand, but upon the young
prairie-dogs. Probably they are taken 50
quietly by this terrible guest that the loss
Is not noticed; at least the prairie-dog does
not give up its home on this account.
Another boarder shares the nest, one OF the
burrowng owls, whose young may also
serve to replenish the larder OF the rattle
snake. In some nests two rattlesnakes, an
owl with three young, prairie-dog, and
five young Ones have been found, making
a family OF twelve individuals strangely
assorted. and not happy family.
"ln the burrOw OF the common wild
rabbit snakes and land.turtles are often
found, not 10 speak Of the various snails
that creep in out of the glare OF the sun.
"In the Farce islands vast numbers OF
pufins liye--curious little fellows with
shsrr-banded bills. To protect their young
from the large predatory birds they burrow
long tunnels underground. But IN these
localities there are also numbers OF rabbits
that object to digging when putin will
do the work for them, so the rabbit pro-
ceeds TO take possession, and for while a
general warfare Is the result, the larger
animals often getting worsted, but finally
establishing themselves and rearing their
young among the pufiins.
"On Goose Island, on the North Austria
lian coast, putin Is found that forms long
burrows that are In turn taken possession
OF by the Australian olack snake (Acaatho-
pis), that not only devours the young but
Is extremely poisonous, often attacking
sailors and Others, who, In walking over