The timid earthworm has no legs with which to chase his food, no claws to catch and hold it. He has no teeth. What's more, he must find his food among the grass and fallen leaves on the ground and down in the dark, crumbly soil where he lives. Nevertheless, he is well fed and his tummy is always full.

If you poke around in the dewy grass, you may find clues to tell you something about the earthworm’s feeding habits. A crumpled leaf, old and moldy, partly stuffed into the ground can tell you that

Mr. Pinky has been shopping for groceries, When he plans to dine at home, the earthworm often grabs a leaf in his mouth and drags it part way down his burrow.

Most of his food is vegetation, though he is not as fussy as we are about the crisp, fresh greens we put into a salad. Mr. Piney does not mind if his greenery is somewhat old or rotted with decay. There is also a little meat on his diet, for the earthworm is not a strict vegetarian. He eats insect eggs and scraps of decaying meat he finds in the soil.

If you are tending a captive worm, perhaps to study him, feed him blades of dewy grass, plus a few fallen leaves. And once in a while be sure to offer him small scraps of fat and meat.

Mr. Pinky goes shopping for food in the dim hours before davm and after sunset. His sensitive skin forces him to shun the bright, sunny daylight, Besides, his pink skin is very noticeable against the dark earth and his world is full of sharp eyed robins and ocher hungry foes,

The little fellow finds his fallen leaves and other morsels as he prowls over the ground.

But he does not have to come outdoors to eat at a11. As a rule, he can find plenty of food safe underground   and he finds it simply by adding an extension to his home.

He lives, as everyone knows, in a burrow and he digs his burrow by eating his way through the soil. The soil, of course, is a mixture of powdered rock and scraps of decaying waste materials from plants and animals. Pinky swallows the entire mixture and his wonderful digestive system separates the stuff with food value. The useless minerals are sent out of his body in a curly coil called a worm casting. Though the worm eats soil, he does not digest it.

Each bite of food is moistened with saliva and swallowed down into the worms crop. Then it goes to his tiny tummy wheve his gizzard pounds it to pulp. The gizzard is helped by gritty grains of sand which the worm swallows along with his food.