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 NC STATE UNIVERSmO.H HILL LIBRARY 
 
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 DATE 
 
 18 D '26 
 
 
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' '^ '" •' '~^^^vgy ana hntomoiogy 
 
HANDBOOK OF 
 
 NATURE-STUDY 
 
 For Teachers and Parents 
 
 Based on the Cornell Nature-Study Leaflets, with Much 
 Additional Material and Many New Illustrations 
 
 By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK, B. S. 
 
 Lecturer in Nature-Study in Cornell University; Author of How to Keep Bees, and Ways 
 
 of the Six-Footed; Illustrator and Engraver for Manual for the 
 
 Study of Insects and for Insect Life 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 
 VOL. I 
 
 INCLUDING PARTS I AND II 
 
 ITHACA, N. Y. 
 
 COMSTOCK PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 1912 
 
COPYRIGHT 191 1 
 BY ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK 
 
 Press of W. F. Humphrey 
 Geneva, N. Y. 
 
TO 
 
 LIBERTY HYDE BAILEY 
 
 UNDER WHOSE WISE, STAUNCH AND INSPIRING LEADERSHIP THE 
 
 NATURE-STUDY WORK AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED 
 
 AND TO MY CO-WORKER 
 
 JOHN WALTON SPENCER 
 
 WHOSE COURAGE, RESOURCEFULNESS AND UNTIRING ZEAL 
 
 WERE POTENT FACTORS IN THE SUCCESS 
 
 OF THE CAUSE 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 
 
 QU 
 
 1968t 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The Cornell University Nature-Study propaganda was essentially an 
 agricultural movement in its inception and its aims ; it was inaugurated as 
 a direct aid to better methods of agriculture in New York State. During 
 the years of agricultural depression 1891-1893, the Charities of New York 
 City found it necessary to help many people who had come from the rural 
 districts — a condition hitherto unknown. The philanthropists managing 
 the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor asked, 
 "What is the matter with the land of New York State that it cannot 
 support its own population?" A conference was caUed to consider the 
 situation to which many people from different parts of the State were 
 invited; among them was the author of this book, who little realized that 
 in attending that meeting the whole trend of her activities would be thereby 
 changed. Mr. George T. Powell, who had been a most efficient Director 
 of Farmers' Institutes of New York State was invited to the conference as 
 an expert to explain conditions and give advice as to remedies. The 
 situation seemed so serious that a Committee for the Promotion of Agricul- 
 ture in New York State was appointed. Of this committee the Honorable 
 Abram S. Hewitt was Chairman, Mr. R. Fulton Cutting, Treasurer, Mr. 
 Wm. H. Tolman, Secretary. The other members were Walter L. Suydam, 
 Wm. E. Dodge, Jacob H. Schiff, George T. Powell, G. Howard Davidson, 
 Howard Townsend, Professor I. P. Roberts, C. McNamee, Mrs. J. R. 
 Lowell, and Mrs. A. B. Comstock. Mr. George T. Powell was made 
 Director of the Department of Agricultural Education. 
 
 At the first meeting of this committee Mr. Powell made a strong plea 
 for interesting the children of the country in farming as a remedial measure, 
 and maintained that the first step toward agriculture was nature-study. 
 It had been Mr. Powell's custom to give simple agricultural and nature- 
 study instruction to the school children of every town where he was con- 
 ducting a fanners' institute, and his opinion was, therefore, based upon 
 experience. The committee desired to see for itself the value of this idea, 
 and experimental work was suggested, using the schools of Westchester 
 County as a laboratory. Mr. R. Fulton Cutting generously furnished the 
 funds for this experiment, and work was done that year in the Westchester 
 schools, which satisfied the committee of the soundness of the project. 
 
 The committee naturally concluded that such a fundamental mo\'cment 
 must be a public rather than a private enterprise ; and Mr. Frederick Nixon 
 then Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the Assembly, 
 was invited to meet with the committee at Mr. Hewitt's home. Mr. 
 Nixon had been from the beginning of his public career deeply interested 
 in improving the farming conditions of the State. In 1894, it was through 
 
VI 
 
 Handbook of Naiure-Siudy 
 
 his influence and the support given him by the Chautauqua Horticultural 
 Society under the leadership of Mr. John W. Spencer, that an appropriation 
 had been given to Cornell University for promoting the horticultural inter- 
 ests of the western counties of the State. In addition to other work done 
 through this appropriation, horticultural schools were conducted under 
 the direction of Professor L. H. Bailey with the aid of other Cornell 
 instructors and especially of Mr. E. G. Lodeman ; these schools had proved 
 to be most useful and were well attended. Therefore, Mr. Nixon was open- 
 minded toward an educational movement. He Hstened to the plan of the 
 committee and after due consideration declared that if this new measure 
 would surely help the farmers of the State, the money would be forth- 
 coming. The committee unanimously decided that if an appropriation 
 were made for this purpose it should be given to the Cornell College of 
 Agriculture; and that year eight thousand dollars was added to the Cornell 
 University Fund, for Extension Teaching and inaugurating this work. The 
 work was begun under Professor LP. Roberts; after one year Professor 
 Roberts placed it under the supervision of Professor L. H. Bailey, who for 
 the fifteen years since has been the inspiring leader of the movement, as well 
 as the official head. 
 
 In 1896, Mr. John W. Spencer, a fruit grower in Chautauqua County, 
 
 became identified with the enterprise; he had lived in niral communities 
 
 and he knew their needs. He it was who first saw clearly that the first step 
 
 in the great work was to help the teacher through simply written leaflets; 
 
 and later he originated the great plan of organizing the children in the 
 
 schools of the State into Junior NaturaHsts Clubs, which developed a 
 
 remarkable phase of the movement. The members of these clubs paid 
 
 their dues by writing letters about their nature observations to Mr. Spencer, 
 
 who speedily became their beloved "Uncle John;" a button and charter 
 
 were given for continued and earnest work. Some years, 30,000 children 
 
 were thus brought into direct communication with Cornell University 
 
 through Mr. Spencer. A monthly leaflet for Junior Naturalists followed; 
 
 and it was to help in this enterprise that Miss Alice G. McCloskey, the able 
 
 Editor of the present Rural School Leaflet, was brought into the work. 
 
 Later, Mr. Spencer organized the children's garden movement by forming 
 
 the children of the State into junior gardeners; at one time he had 25,000 
 
 school pupils working in gardens and reporting to him. 
 
 In 1899, Mrs.; Mary Rogers Miller, who had proven a most efficient 
 teacher when representing Cornell nature-study in the State Teachers' 
 Institutes, planned and started the Home Nature-Study Course Leaflets 
 for the purpose of helping the teachers by correspondence, a work which 
 fell to the author in 1 903 when Mrs. Miller was called to other fields. 
 
 For the many years during which New York State has intrusted this 
 important work to Cornell University, the teaching of nature-study has 
 
Preface VII 
 
 gone steadily on in the University, in teachers' institutes, in State summer 
 schools, through various publications and in correspondence courses. 
 Many have assisted in this work, notably Dr. W. C. Thro, Dr. A. A. Allen, 
 and Miss Ada Georgia. The New York Education Department with 
 Charles R. Skinner as Commissioner of Education and Dr. Isaac Stout as 
 the Director of Teachers' Institutes co-operated heartily with the move- 
 ment from the first. Later with the co-operation of Dr. Andrew Draper, as 
 Commissioner of Education, many of the Cornell leaflets have been written 
 with the special purpose of aiding in carrying out the New York State 
 Syllabus in Nature-Study and Agriculture. 
 
 The leaflets upon which this volume is based were published in the 
 Home Nature-Study Course during the years 1 903-191 1, in limited editions 
 and were soon out of print. It is to make these lessons available to the 
 general public that this volume has been compiled. While the subject 
 matter of the lessons herein given is essentially the same as in the leaflets, 
 the lessons have all been rewritten for the sake of consistency, and many 
 new lessons have been added to bridge gaps and make a coherent whole. 
 
 Because the lessons were written during a period of so many years, each 
 lesson has been prepared as if it were the only one, and without reference to 
 others. If there is any uniformity of plan in the lessons, it is due to the 
 inherent qualities of the subjects, and not to a type plan in the mind of the 
 writer; for, in her opinion, each subject should be treated individually in 
 nature-study ; and in her long experience as a nature-study teacher she has 
 never been able to give a lesson twice ahke on a certain topic or secure 
 exactly the same results twice in succession. It should also be stated that 
 it is not because the author undervalues physics nature-study that it has 
 been left out of these lessons, but because her own work has been always 
 along biological lines. 
 
 The reason why nature-study has not yet accomplished its mission, as 
 thought-core for much of the required work in our public schools, is that 
 the teachers are as a whole untrained in the subject. The children are 
 eager for it, unless it is spoiled in the teaching; and whenever we find a 
 teacher with an understanding of out-of-door life and a love for it, there we 
 find nature-study in the school is an inspiration and a joy to pupils and 
 teacher. It is because of the author's sympathy with the untrained teacher 
 and her full comprehension of her difficulties and helplessness that this book 
 has been written. These difficulties are chiefly three-fold: The teacher 
 does not know what there is to see in studying a plant or animal ; she knows 
 little of the Hterature that might help her; and because she knows so little 
 of the subject, she has no interest in giving a lesson about it. As a matter 
 of fact, the Hterature concerning our common animals and plants is so 
 scattered that a teacher would need a large library and almost unHmited 
 time to prepare lessons for an extended nature-study course. 
 
VIII Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The writer's special work for fifteen years in Extension teaching has been 
 the helping of the untrained teacher through personal instruction and 
 through leaflets. Many methods were tried and finally there was evolved 
 the method followed in this volume : All the facts available and pertinent 
 concerning each topic have been assembled in the "Teacher's story" to make 
 her acquainted with the subject; this is followed by an outline for observa- 
 tion on the part of the pupils while studying the object. It would seem 
 that with the teacher's story before the eyes of the teacher, and the subject 
 of the lesson before the eyes of the pupils with a number of questions leading 
 them to see the essential characteristics of the object, there should result a 
 wider knowledge of nature than is given in this or any other book. 
 
 That the lessons are given in a very informal manner, and that the style 
 of writing is often colloquial, result from the fact that the leaflets upon 
 which the book is based were written for a correspondence course in which 
 the communications were naturally informal and chatty. That the book 
 is meant for those untrained in science accounts for the rather loose termin- 
 ology employed; as, for instance, the use of the word seed in the popular 
 sense whether it be a drupe, an akene, or other form of fruit; or the use of 
 the word pod for almost any seed envelope, and many Hke instances. Also, 
 it is very Hkely, that in teaching quite incidentally the rudiments of the 
 principles of evolution, the results may often seem to be confused with an 
 idea of purpose, which is quite unscientific. But let the critic labor for 
 fifteen years to interest the untrained adult mind in nature's ways, before he 
 casts any stones ! And it should be always borne in mind that if the author 
 has not dipped deep in the wells of science, she has used only a child's cup. 
 For many years requests have been frequent from parents who have 
 wished to give their children nature interests during vacations in the coun- 
 try. They have been borne in mind in planning this volume; the lessons 
 are especially fitted for field work, even though schoolroom methods are 
 so often suggested. 
 
 The author feels apologetic that the book is so large. However, it does 
 not contain more than any intelligent country child of twelve should know 
 of his environment; things that he should know naturally and without 
 effort, although it might take him half his hfe-time to learn so much if he 
 should not begin before the age of twenty. That there are inconsistencies, 
 inaccuracies, and even blunders in the volume is quite inevitable. The 
 only excuse to be offered is that, if through its use, the children of our land 
 learn early to read nature's truths with their own eyes, it will matter little 
 to them what is written in books. 
 
 The author wishes to make grateful acknowledgment to the following 
 people: To Professor Wilford M. Wilson for his chapter on the weather; 
 to Miss Mary E. Hill for the lessons on mould, bacteria, the minerals, and 
 reading the weather maps; to Miss Catherine Straith for the lessons on 
 
Preface IX 
 
 the earthworm and the soil; to Miss Ada Georgia for much valuable 
 assistance in preparing the original leaflets on which these lessons are based; 
 to Dean L. H. Bailey and to Dr. David S. Jordan for permission to quote 
 their writings; to Mr. John W. Spencer for the use of his story on the 
 movements of the sun; to Dr. Grove Karl Gilbert, Dr. A. C. Gill, Dr. 
 Benjamin Duggar, Professor S. H. Gage and Dr. J. G. Needham for 
 reading and criticizing parts of the manuscript ; to Miss Eliza Tonks for 
 reading the proof ; to the Director of the College of Agriculture for use of 
 the engravings made for the original leaflets; to Miss Martha Van Rens- 
 selaer for the use of many pictures from Boys and Girls; to Professor 
 Cyrus Crosby, and to Messrs. J. T. Lloyd, A. A. Allen and R. Matheson 
 for the use of their personal photographs; to the U. S. Geological Survey 
 and the U. S. Forest Service for the use of photographs; to Louis A. 
 Fuertes for drawings of birds ; to Houghton, Mifflin & Company for the 
 use of the poems of Lowell, Harte and Larcom, and various extracts from 
 Burroughs and Thoreau; to Small, Maynard & Company and to John 
 Lane & Company for the use of poems of John T. Babb; to Doubleday, 
 Page & Company for the use of pictures of birds and flowers ; and to the 
 American Book Company for the use of electrotypes of dragon-flies and 
 astronomy. Especially thanks are extended to Miss Anna C. Stryke for 
 numerous drawings, including most of the initials 
 
iiimimimimiiiiiiii* iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiininilfimiTniiiTi ihiirtitifiiTiTiinnrii i " mitfi iitrtiUfrTiiiiHiinni'irffiii 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PART I 
 The Teaching of Nature-Study 
 
 Page 
 
 What Nature-Study is ^ 
 
 What Nature-Study Should do for the Child i 
 
 Nature-Study as a Help to Health 2 
 
 What Nature-Study Should do for the Teacher 2 
 
 When and Why the Teacher Should say "I do not know!" 3 
 
 Nature-Study, The EUxir of Youth 4 
 
 Nature-Study as a Help in School Discipline 4 
 
 The Relation of Nature-Study to Science 5 
 
 Nature-Study not for Drill ^ 
 
 The Child not Interested in Nature-Study 6 
 
 When to Give the Lesson 
 
 The Length of the Lesson 7 
 
 The Nature-Study Lesson Always New 7 
 
 Nature-Study and Object Lessens 7 
 
 Nature-Study in the Schoolroom 
 
 Nature-Study and Museum Specimens 
 
 The Lens, Microscope and Field-glass as Helps 9 
 
 Use of Pictures, Charts and Blackboard Drawings 10 
 
 The Use of Scientific Names ^° 
 
 The Story as a Supplement to the Nature-Study Lesson 10 
 
 The Nature-Study Attitude toward Life and Death 1 1 
 
 Should the Nature-Study Teacher Teach How to Destroy Life? I3 
 
 The Field Note-book "3 
 
 The Field Excursion ^^ 
 
 Pets as Nature-Study Subjects ^5 
 
 The Correlation of Nature-Study with Language Work 16 
 
 The Correlation of Nature-Study with Drawing ^7 
 
 The Correlation of Nature-Study with Geography ^8 
 
 The Correlation of Nature-Study with History ^^ 
 
 The Correlation of Nature-Study with Arithmetic ^9 
 
 Gardening and Nature-Study 
 
 Nature-Study and Agriculture 
 
 Nature-Study Clubs 
 
 How to Use this Book 
 
 PART II 
 Animal Life 
 
 20 
 21 
 22 
 
 I Bird Study 
 Beginning Bird Study in the Primary Grades 25 
 
 Feathers as Clothing 
 
 30 
 Feathers as Ornament 
 
 How Birds Fly ^^ 
 
 Eyes and Ears of Birds 
 
XII 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Page 
 
 The Form and Use of Beaks 37 
 
 The Feet of Birds 39 
 
 Chicken Ways 4i 
 
 Pigeons 45 
 
 The Canary and the Goldfinch 49 
 
 The Robin 54 
 
 TheBhiebird 6o 
 
 The White-breasted Nuthatch 63 
 
 The Chickadee 66 
 
 The Downy Woodpecker 69 
 
 The Sapsucker 73 
 
 The Redheaded Woodpecker 75 
 
 The FHcker or Yellow-hammer 77 
 
 The Meadowlark 80 
 
 The English Sparrow 84 
 
 The Chipping Sparrow 88 
 
 The Song Sparrow 9^ 
 
 The Mockingbird 94 
 
 The Catbird 98 
 
 The Belted Kingfisher loi 
 
 The Screech Owl '• 104 
 
 The Red Shouldered and Red Tailed Hawks 108 
 
 The Swallows and the Chimney Swift ■ ■ • ■ 112 
 
 The Hummingbird 120 
 
 The Red-winged Blackbird 122 
 
 The Baltimore Oriole 125 
 
 The Crow 129 
 
 The Cardinal Grosbeak ^33 
 
 Geese ^3^ 
 
 The Turkey 143 
 
 The Study of Birds' Nests in Winter i47 
 
 11 Fish Study 
 
 The Goldfish I49 
 
 The Bullhead I54 
 
 The Common Sucker 158 
 
 The Shiner ■ • 161 
 
 Brook Trout 164 
 
 The Stickleback 168 
 
 The Sunfish 172 
 
 The Johnny Darter I77 
 
 /// Batrachian Study 
 
 The Common Toad 181 
 
 The Tadpole Aquarium 185 
 
 The Tree-frog or Tree-toad 190 
 
 The Frog i93 
 
 The Newt, Eft or Salamander I97 
 
 IV Reptile Study 
 
 The Garter or Garden Snake 201 
 
 The Milk Snake, or Spotted Adder 204 
 
Table of Contents xiii 
 
 Page 
 
 The Water Snake 206 
 
 The Turtle io8 
 
 V Mammal Study 
 
 The Cotton-tail Rabbit 213 
 
 The Muskrat 218 
 
 The House Mouse 224 
 
 The Woodchuck 229 
 
 The Red Squirrel or Chickaree 233 
 
 Furry 238 
 
 The Chipmunk 240 
 
 The Little Brown Bat 243 
 
 The Skunk 247 
 
 The Raccoon 250 
 
 The Wolf 255 
 
 The Fox 257 
 
 Dogs 261 
 
 The Cat 268 
 
 The Goat 275 
 
 The Sheep 281 
 
 The Horse 286 
 
 Cattle 295 
 
 The Pig 303 
 
 VI Insect Study 
 
 The Life History of Insects 308 
 
 The Structure of Insects 312 
 
 The Black Swallow-tail Butterfly 3i5 
 
 The Monarch Butterfly 320 
 
 The Isabella Tiger Moth of Woolly Bear . 326 
 
 The Cecropia 330 
 
 The Promethea 336 
 
 The Hummingbird, or Sphinx, Moths 340 
 
 The Codling Moth 347 
 
 Leaf-miners 352 
 
 The Leaf-rollers 357 
 
 The Gall-dwellers 360 
 
 The Grasshopper 3^5 
 
 The Katydid 370 
 
 The Black Cricket 373 
 
 The Snowy Tree-cricket 377 
 
 The Cockroach 37^ 
 
 How to Make an Aquarium for Insects 380 
 
 The Dragon-flies and Damsel-flies 3^2 
 
 The Caddis- worms and the Caddis-flies 3*^7 
 
 The Aphids or Plant Lice 392 
 
 The Ant-lion 395 
 
 Mother Lace- wing and the Aphis-lion 397 
 
 The Mosquito 400 
 
 The House-fly 405 
 
 The Colorado Potato-beetle 409 
 
XIV Handbook of Nature-Sttidy 
 
 Page 
 
 The Ladybird 413 
 
 The Firefly 416 
 
 The Ways of the Ant 419 
 
 How to Make a Lubbock Ant-Nest 423 
 
 The Ant-Nest and What May be Seen Within it 425 
 
 The Mud-dauber 429 
 
 The Yellow-jacket 432 
 
 The Leaf -cutter Bee 436 
 
 The Little Carpenter Bee 439 
 
 The Bumblebee 442 
 
 The Honey-bee 445 
 
 The Honey-comb 451 
 
 Industries of the Hive and the Observation Hive 453 
 
 VII Other Invertebrate-A nimal Sttidy 
 
 The Garden Snail 458 
 
 The Earthworm 462 
 
 The Crayfish ■ 466 
 
 Daddy Longlegs, or Grandfather Greybeard 472 
 
 Spiders 475 
 
 The Funnel-web 477 
 
 The Orb-web 478 
 
 The Filmy Dome 483 
 
 Ballooning Spiders 484 
 
 The White Crab-Spider 485 
 
 How the Spider Mothers Take Care of their Young 487 
 
 PART HI 
 
 Plant Life 
 
 How to Begin the Study of Plants and Flowers 489 
 
 How to Make Plants Comfortable 490 
 
 How to Teach the Names of the Parts of a Flower 492 
 
 Teach the Use of a Flower 493 
 
 Flowers and Insect Partners 494 
 
 The Relation of Plants to Geography 495 
 
 Seed Germination 495 
 
 I Wild-flower Study 
 
 The Hepatica 496 
 
 The Yellow Adder's Tongue 499 
 
 Bloodroot : 503 
 
 The Trillium 506 
 
 Dutchman's Breeches and Squirrel Corn 509 
 
 Jack-in-the-Pulpit 512 
 
 The Violet 515 
 
 The May Apple or Mandrake 519 
 
 The Bluets 523 
 
 The Yellow Lady's Slipper, or Moccasin Flower 525 
 
 The Common Buttercup 528 
 
 The Evening Primrose 530 
 
Table of Contents xv 
 
 Page 
 
 The Hedge Bindweed 535 
 
 The Dodder 538 
 
 The Milkweed 540 
 
 The White Water Lily 545 
 
 Pondweed 54^ 
 
 The Cat-tail 55i 
 
 A Type Lesson for a Composite Flower 554 
 
 The Goldenrod 555 
 
 The Asters 558 
 
 The White Daisy 56o 
 
 The Yellow Daisy or Black-eyed Susan 562 
 
 The Thistle 5^3 
 
 The Burdock 566 
 
 Prickly Lettuce, A Compass Plant 570 
 
 The Dandelion 572 
 
 The Pearly Everlasting 576 
 
 The Jewel weed, or Touch-me-not 578 
 
 Mullein 582 
 
 The Teasel 586 
 
 Queen Anne's Lace, or Wild Carrot 589 
 
 Weeds 594 
 
 Outline for the Study of a Weed 595 
 
 // Cultivated-Plant Study 
 
 The Crocus 596 
 
 Daffodils and their Relatives 599 
 
 The Tulip 603 
 
 The Pansy 607 
 
 The Bleeding Heart 611 
 
 Poppies 613 
 
 The California Poppy 616 
 
 The Nasturtium 620 
 
 The Bee-Larkspur 623 
 
 The Blue Flag, or Iris 626 
 
 The Sunflower 631 
 
 The Bachelor's Button 636 
 
 The Salvia or Scarlet Sage "37 
 
 Petunias ^"^^ 
 
 The Horseshoe Geranium "43 
 
 The Sweet Pea ^-+9 
 
 The Clovers ^^^ 
 
 Sweet Clover ^55 
 
 The White Clover ^58 
 
 Maize, or Indian Corn ""^ 
 
 The Cotton Plant ^^^ 
 
 The Strawberry 72 
 
 The Pumpkin ^75 
 
 /// Flowerless-Plant Study 
 
 The Christmas Fern ^^4 
 
 The Bracken ^^9 
 
 How a Fern Bud Unfolds ^91 
 
XVI Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Page 
 
 The Fruiting of the Fern 693 
 
 The Field Horsetail 699 
 
 The Hair-cap Tvloss, or Pigeon Wheat 702 
 
 Mushrooms and other Fungi 7o6 
 
 Puffballs 712 
 
 The Bracket Fungi 7i4 
 
 Hedgehog Fungi 7^7 
 
 The Scarlet Saucer 7^8 
 
 The Morels 7^9 
 
 The Stinkhorns 720 
 
 Molds 720 
 
 Bacteria 723 
 
 IV Tree Study 
 
 How a Tree Grows 726 
 
 How to Begin Tree Study 73i 
 
 How to Make Leaf Prints 734 
 
 The Maples 736 
 
 The American Elm 745 
 
 TheOak 748 
 
 The Shagbark Hickory 755 
 
 The Chestnut 757 
 
 The Horse-Chestnut 76i 
 
 The Willows 765 
 
 The Cottonwood or Carolina Poplar 770 
 
 The White Ash 774 
 
 TheAppleTree 778 
 
 How an Apple Grows 782 
 
 The Apple 785 
 
 The Pine 789 
 
 The Norway Spruce 796 
 
 The Hemlock 801 
 
 The Flowering Dogwood 803 
 
 The Staghorn Sumac 806 
 
 The Witch-Hazel 810 
 
 The Mountain Laurel ^^3 
 
 PART IV 
 
 Earth and Sky 
 
 The Brook ^^^ 
 
 How a Brook Drops its Load 822 
 
 Crystal Growth 825 
 
 Salt 827 
 
 How to Study Minerals 828 
 
 Quartz ' 829 
 
 Feldspar ^3i 
 
 Mica ^32 
 
 Granite ^33 
 
 Calcite, marble and Limestone 835 
 
 The Magnet ^38 
 
 The Soil ^42 
 
Table of Contents xvii 
 
 Page 
 
 Water Forms 850 
 
 The Weather 857 
 
 Experiments to Show Air Pressure 877 
 
 The Barometer 878 
 
 How to read Weather Maps 879 
 
 The Story of the Stars 887 
 
 How to Begin Star Study 889 
 
 Cassiopeia's Chair, Cepheus and the Dragon 893 
 
 The Winter Stars 895 
 
 Orion 895 
 
 Aldebaran and the Pleiades 897 
 
 The Two Dog-Stars, Sirius and Procyon 898 
 
 Capella and the Heavenly Twins 900 
 
 The Stars of Summer 901 
 
 The Sun 9o5 
 
 The Relation between the Tropic of Cancer and the Planting of the Garden 909 
 
 The Zodiac and its Signs 911 
 
 The Relations of the Sun to the Earth 913 
 
 How to Make a Sun-dial 9^5 
 
 The Moon 9^8 
 
In Nature's infinite book of secrecy 
 A little can I read. 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
PART 1. 
 
 THE TEACHING OF NATURE-STUDY 
 
 WHAT NATURE-STUDY IS 
 
 ATURE-STUDY is, despite all discussions and perver- 
 sions, a study of nature; it consists of simple, truthful 
 observations that may, like beads on a string, finally be 
 threaded upon the understanding and thus held together 
 as a logical and harmonious whole. Therefore, the object 
 of the nature-study teacher should be to cultivate in the 
 
 children powers of accurate observation and to build up within them, 
 
 understanding. 
 
 WHAT NATURE-STUDY SHOULD DO FOR THE CHILD 
 
 .p_ IRST, but not most important, nature-study gives the 
 
 child practical and helpful knowledge. It makes him 
 
 familiar with nature's ways and forces, so that he is not 
 
 so helpless in the presence of natural misfortune and 
 
 _ disasters. 
 
 Nature-study cultivates the child's imagination since there are so 
 many wonderful and true stories that he may read with his own eyes, 
 which affect his imagination as much as does fairy lore ; at the same time 
 nature-study cultivates in him a perception and a regard for what is true, 
 and the power to express it. All things seem possible in nature; yet this 
 seeming is always guarded by the eager quest of what is true. Perhaps, 
 half the falsehood in the world is due to lack of power to detect the truth 
 and to express it. Nature-study aids both in discernment and expression 
 of things as they are. 
 
 Nature-study cultivates in the child a love of the beautiful; it brings 
 to him early a perception of color, form and music. He sees whatever 
 there is in his environment, whether it be the thunder-head piled up in the 
 western sky, or the golden flash of the oriole in the elm; whether it be the 
 purple of the shadows on the snow, or the azure glint on the wing of the 
 little butterfly. Also, what there is of sound, he hears; he reads the 
 music score of the bird orchestra, separating each part and knowing 
 which bird sings it. And the patter of the rain, the gurgle of the brook, 
 the sighing of the wind in the pine, he notes and loves and becomes en- 
 riched thereby. 
 
 But, more than all, nature-study gives the child a sense of companion- 
 ship with life out of doors and an abiding love of nature ._ Let this latter 
 be the teacher's criterion for judging his or her work. If nature-study as 
 taught does not make the child love nature and the out-of-doors, then it 
 should cease. Let us not inflict permanent injury on the child by turning 
 him away from nature instead of toward it. However, if the love of 
 nature is in the teacher's heart, there is no danger; such a teacher, no 
 
2 Handbook of Nature -Study 
 
 matter by what method, takes the child gently by the hand and walks 
 with him in paths that lead to the seeing and comprehending of what he 
 may find beneath his feet or above his head. And these paths whether 
 they lead among the lowliest plants, or whether to the stars, finally con- 
 verge and bring the wanderer to that serene peace and hopeful faith that 
 is the sure inheritance of all those who realize fully that they are 
 working units of this wonderful universe. 
 
 NATURE-STUDY AS A HELP TO HEALTH 
 
 ERHAPS the most valuable practical lesson the child gets 
 from nature-study is a personal knowledge that nature's 
 laws are not to be evaded. Wherever he looks, he dis- 
 covers that attempts at such evasion result in suffering 
 and death. A knowledge thus naturally attained of the 
 immutability of nature's "must" and "shall not" is in 
 itself a moral education. That the fool as well as the transgressor fares 
 ill in breaking natural laws, makes for wisdom in morals as well as in 
 hygiene. 
 
 Out-of-door life takes the child afield and keeps him in the open air, 
 which not only helps him physically and occupies his mind with sane 
 :-.ubjects, but keeps him out of mischief. It is not only during childhood 
 that this is true, for love of nature counts much for sanity in later life. 
 This is an age of nerve tension, and the relaxation which comes from the 
 comforting companionship found in woods and fields is, without doubt, 
 the best remedy for this condition. Too many men who seek the out-of- 
 doors for rest at the present time, can only find it with a gun in hand. To 
 rest and heal their nerves they must go out and try to kill some unfor- 
 tunate creature, — the old, old story of sacrificial blood. Far better will it 
 be when, through properly training the child, the man shall be enabled to 
 enjoy nature through seeing how creatures live rather than watching 
 them die. It is the sacred privilege of nature-study to do this for future 
 generations and for him thus trained, shall the words of Longfellow's 
 poem to Agassiz apply : 
 
 "And he wandered away and away, with Nature the dear old nurse, 
 Who sang to hint nigltt and day, the rhymes of the tinivcrse. 
 And when the way seemed long, and his heart began to fail, 
 She sang a more wonderful song, or told a more wonderful tale." 
 
 WHAT NATURE-STUDY SHOULD DO FOR THE TEACHER 
 
 ^URING many years, I have been watching teachers in our 
 public schools in their conscientious and ceaseless work; 
 and so far as I can foretell, the fate that awaits them 
 finally is either nerve exhaustion or nerve atrophy. 
 The teacher must become either a neurasthenic or a 
 "clam." 
 
 I have had conversations with hundreds of teachers in the public 
 schools of New York State concerning the introduction of nature-study 
 into the curriculum, and most of them declared, "Oh, we have not time 
 for it. Every moment is full now!" Their nerves were at such a tension 
 that with one more thing to do they must fall apart. The question in 
 my own mind during these conversations was always, how long can she 
 
The Teaching of Nature-Study 3 
 
 stand it! I asked some of them "Did you ever try a vigorous walk in the 
 open air in the open country every Saturday or every Sunday of your 
 teaching year?" "Oh no!" they exclaimed in despair of making me 
 understand, "On Sunday we must go to church or see our friends and on 
 Saturday we must do our shopping or our sewing. We must go to the 
 dressmaker's lest we go unclad, we must mend, and dam stockings; we 
 need Saturday to catch up." 
 
 Yes, catch up with more cares, more worries, more fatigue, but not 
 with more growth, more strength, more vigor and more courage for work. 
 In my belief, there are two and only two occupations for Saturday after- 
 noon or forenoon for a teacher. One is to be out of doors and the other is 
 to lie in bed, and the first is best. Out in this, God's beautiful world, 
 there is everything waiting to heal lacerated nerves, to strengthen tired 
 muscles, to please and content the soul that is torn to shreds with duty 
 and care. To the teacher who turns to nature's healing, nature-study in 
 the schoolroom is not a trouble; it is a sweet, fresh breath of air blown 
 across the heat of radiators and the noisome odor of over-crowded small 
 humanity. She, who opens her eyes and her heart nature-ward even once 
 a week, finds nature-study in the schoolroom a delight and an abiding joy. 
 What does such a one find in her schoolroom instead of the terrors of 
 discipline, the eternal watching and eternal nagging to keep the pupils 
 quiet and at work? She finds, first of all, companionship with her 
 children; and second, she finds that without planning or going on a far 
 voyage, she has found health and strength. 
 
 WHEN AND WHY THE TEACHER SHOULD SAY "l DO NOT KNOw" 
 
 O SCIENCE professor in any university, if he be a man of 
 high attainment, hesitates to say to his pupils " I do 
 not know," if they ask for information beyond his 
 knowledge. The greater his scientific reputation and 
 _ erudition, the more readily, simply and without apology 
 he says this. He, better than others, comprehends how 
 vast is the region that lies beyond man's present knowledge. It is 
 only the teacher in the elementary schools who has never received 
 enough scientific training to reveal to her how little she does know, who 
 feels that she must appear to know everything or her pupils will lose 
 confidence in her. But how useless is this pretence, in nature-study ! 
 The pupils, whose younger eyes are much keener for details than hers, 
 will soon discover her limitations and then their distrust of her will be 
 real. 
 
 In nature-study any teacher can with honor say, "I do not know;" for 
 perhaps, the question asked is as yet unanswered by the great scientists. 
 But she should not let her lack of knowledge be a wet blanket thrown over 
 her pupils' interest. She should say frankly, "I do not know; let us see 
 if we cannot together find out this mysterious thing. Maybe no one 
 knows it as yet, and I wonder if you will discover it before I do." She 
 thus conveys the right impression, that only a little about the intricate 
 life of plants and animals is yet known ; and at the same time she makes 
 her pupils feel the thrill and zest of investigation. Nor will she lose their 
 respect by doing this, if she does it in the right spirit. For three years, I 
 had for comrades in my walks afield, two little children and they kept me 
 
4 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 busy saying, "Idonotknow". But they never lost confidence inmeorin 
 my knowledge; they simply gained respect for the vastness of the un- 
 known. 
 
 The chief charm of nature-study would be taken away if it did not lead 
 us through the border-land of knowledge into the realm of the undiscovered. 
 Moreover, the teacher, in confessing her ignorance and at the same time 
 her interest in a subject, establishes between herself and her pupils a sense 
 of companionship which relieves the strain of discipline, and gives her a 
 new and intimate relation with her pupils which will surely prove a 
 potent element in her success. The best teacher is always one who is the 
 good comrade of her pupils. 
 
 NATURE-STUDY, THE ELIXIR OF YOUTH 
 
 HE old teacher is too likely to become didactic, dogmatic 
 and "bossy" if she does not constantly strive with herself. 
 Why? She has to be thus five days in the week and, 
 therefore, she is likely to be so seven. She knows arith- 
 metic, grammar and geography to their uttermost and 
 she is never allowed to forget that she knows them, 
 and finally her interests become limited to what she knows. 
 
 After all, what is the chief sign of growing old? Is it not the feeling 
 that we know all there is to be known ? It is not years which make people 
 old; it is ruts, and a Umitation of interests. When we no longer care 
 about anything except our own interests, we are then old, it matters not 
 whether our years be twenty or eighty. It is rejuvenation for the 
 teacher, thus growing old, to stand ignorant as a child in the presence of 
 one of the simplest of nature's miracles — the formation of a crystal, the 
 evolution of the butterfly from the caterpillar, the exquisite adjustment 
 of the silken lines in the spider's orb-web. I know how to "make magic" 
 for the teacher who is growing old. Let her go out with her youngest 
 pupil and fall on her knees before the miracle of the blossoming violet and 
 say: "Dear Nature, I know naught of the wondrous life of these, your 
 smallest creatures. Teach me !" and she will suddenly find herself young. 
 
 Mm 
 1^ 
 
 % 
 
 NATURE-STUDY AS A HELP IN SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 
 
 iiSuCH of the naughtiness in school is a result of the child's 
 lack of interest in his work, augmented by the physical 
 _^ inaction that results from an attempt to sit quietly. The 
 ^ best teachers try to obviate both of these rather than to 
 punish because of them. Nature-study is an aid in both 
 respects, since it keeps the child interested and also gives him something 
 to do. 
 
 In the nearest approach to an ideal school that I have ever seen, for 
 children of second grade, the pupils were allowed, as a reward of merit, to 
 visit the aquaria or the terrarium for periods of five minutes, which time 
 was given to the bUssful observation of the fascinating prisoners. _ The 
 teacher also allowed the reading of stories about the plants and animals 
 under observation to be regarded as a reward of merit. As I entered the 
 schoolroom, there were eight or ten of the children at the windows watch- 
 ing eagerly what was happening to the creatures confined there in the 
 various cages. There was a mud aquarium for the frogs and salamanders, 
 
The Teaching of Nature -Study 5 
 
 an aquarium for fish, many small aquaria for insects and each had one or 
 two absorbingly interested spectators who were quiet, well behaved and 
 were getting their nature-study lessons in an ideal manner. The teacher 
 told me that the problem of discipline was solved by this method, and 
 that she was rarely obliged to rebuke or punish. In many other schools, 
 watching the living creatures in the aquaria, or terrarium has been used 
 as a reward for other work well done. 
 
 THE RKLATIOX OF NATURE-STUDY TO SCIENCE 
 
 . ^ATURE-STUDY is not elementary science as so taught, 
 C^^ because its point of attack is not the same; error in this 
 1 1 1/' respect has caused many a teacher to abandon nature- 
 i'/L study and many a pupil to hate it. In elementary science 
 jfW\ the work begins with the simplest animals and plants 
 l'l;S and progresses logically through to the highest forms; at 
 least this is the method pursued in most universities and 
 schools. The object of the study is to give the pupils an outlook over 
 all the forms of life and their relation one to another. In nature-study 
 the work begins with any plant or creature which chances to interest the 
 pupil. It begins with the robin when it comes back to us in March, 
 promising spring; or it begins with the maple leaf which flutters to the 
 ground in all the beauty of its autumnal tints. A course in biological 
 science leads to the comprehension of all kinds of life upon our globe. 
 Nature-study is for the comprehension of the individual life of the 
 bird, insect or plant that is nearest at hand. 
 
 Nature-study is perfectly good science within its limits, butit is not 
 meant to be more profound or comprehensive than the capabilities of the 
 child's mind. More than all, nature-study is not science belittled as if 
 it were to be looked at through the reversed opera glass in order to bring 
 it down small enough for the child to play with. Nature-study, as far as 
 it goes, is just as large as is science for "grown-ups" and may deal with the 
 same subject matter and should be characterized by the same accuracy. 
 It simply does not go so far. 
 
 To illustrate : If we are teaching the science of ornithology, we take 
 first the Archaeopteryx, then the swimming and the scratching birds and 
 finally reach the song birds, studying each as a part of the whole. Nature- 
 study begins with the robin because the child sees it and is interested in it 
 and he notes the things about the habits and appearance of the robin that 
 may be perceived by intimate observation. In fact, he discovers for him- 
 self all that the most advanced book of ornithology would give concerning 
 the ordinary habits of this one bird; the next bird studied may be the 
 turkey in the barnyard, or the duck on the pond, or the screech-owl in the 
 spruces, if any of these happen to impinge upon his notice and interest. 
 However, such nature-study makes for the best of scientific ornithology, 
 because by studying the individual birds thus thoroughly, the pupil 
 finally studies a sufficient number of forms so that his knowledge, thus 
 assembled, gives him a better comprehension of birds as a whole than 
 could be obtained by the routine study of the same. Nature-study does 
 not start out with the classification given in books, but in the end it builds 
 ■up a classification in the child's mind which is based on fundamental 
 knowledge ; it is a classification like that evolved by the first naturalists, 
 jt is built on careful personal observations of both form and life. 
 
Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 NATURE-STUDY NOT FOR DRILL 
 
 If nature-study is made a drill, its pedagogic value is lost. When it 
 is properly taught, the child is unconscious of mental effort or that he 
 is suffering the act of teaching. As soon as nature-study becomes a 
 task, it should be dropped; but how could it ever be a task to see that 
 the sky is blue, or the dandelion golden, or to listen to the oriole in the 
 elm! 
 
 THE CHILD NOT INTERESTED IN NATURE-STUDY 
 
 HAT to do with the pupil not interested in nat- 
 ure-study subjects is a problem that confronts 
 many earnest teachers. Usually the reason for 
 this lack of interest, is the limited range of sub- 
 jects used for nature-study lessons. Often the 
 teacher insists upon flowers as the lesson 
 subject, when toads or snakes would prove 
 the key to the door of the child's interest. 
 But whatever the cause may be, there is only 
 one right way out of this difficulty : The child 
 not interested should be kept at his regular 
 school work and not admitted as a member 
 of the nature-study class, where his influence 
 is always demoralizing. He had much bet- 
 ter be learning his spelling lesson than learn- 
 ing to hate nature through being obliged to 
 study subjects in which he is not interested. In general, it is safe to 
 assume that the pupil's lack of interest in nature-study is owing to a fault 
 in the teacher's method. She may be trying to fill the child's mind 
 with facts when she should be leading him to observe these for himself, 
 which is a most entertaining occupation for the child. It should always 
 be borne in mind that mere curiosity is always impertinent, and that it 
 is never more so than when exercised in the realm of nature. A genuine 
 interest should be the basis of the study of the lives of plants and lower 
 animals. Curiosity may elicit facts, but only real interest may mold these 
 facts into wisdom. 
 
 WHEN TO GIVE THE LESSON 
 
 HERE are two theories concerning the time when a nature- 
 study lesson should be given. Some teachers believe 
 that it should be a part of the regular routine; others 
 have found it of greatest value if reserved for that period 
 of the school day when the pupils are weary and restless, 
 and the teacher's nerves strained to the snapping point. 
 The lesson on a tree, insect or flower at such a moment affords immedi- 
 ate relief to everyone; it is a mental excursion, from which all return 
 refreshed and ready to finish the duties of the day. 
 
 While I am convinced that the use of the nature-study lesson for 
 mental refreshment makes it of greatest value, yet I realize fully that if it 
 is relegated to such periods, it may not be given at all. It might be 
 better to give it a regular period late in the day, for there is strength and 
 sureness in regularity. The teacher is much more likely to prepare her- 
 self for the lesson, if she knows that it is required at a certain time. 
 
The Teaching of Nature-Study 
 
 THE LENGTH OF THE LESSON 
 
 HE nature-study lesson should be short and sharp and may 
 vary from ten minutes to a half hour in length. There 
 should be no dawdling; if it is an observation lesson, only 
 a few points should be noted and the meaning for the ob- 
 servations made clear. If an outline be suggested for 
 field observation, it should be given in an inspiring man- 
 ner which shall make each pupil anxious to see and read the truth for 
 himself. The nature story when properly read is never finished; it is 
 always at an interesting point, "continued in our next." 
 
 The teacher may judge as to her own progress in nature-study by the 
 length of time she is glad to spend in reading from nature's book what is 
 therein written. As she progresses, she finds those hours spent in study- 
 ing nature speed faster, until a day thus spent seems but an hour. The 
 author can think of nothing she would so gladly do as to spend days and 
 months with the birds, bees and flowers with no obligation for telling 
 what she should see. There is more than mere information in hours thus 
 spent. Lowei) describes them well when he says: 
 
 " Those old iays when the balancing of a yellow butterfly o'er a thistle bloom 
 Was spiritual food and lodging for the whole afternoon." 
 
 THE NATURE-STUDY LESSON ALWAYS NEW 
 
 A nature-study lesson should not be repeated unless the pupils 
 demand it. It should be done so well the first time that there is no need 
 of repetition, because it has thus become a part of the child's conscious- 
 ness. The repetition of the same lesson in different grades was, to begin 
 with, a hopeless incubus upon nature-study. One disgusted boy declared, 
 "Darn germination ! I had it in the primary and last year and now I am 
 having it again. I know all about germination." The boy's attitude was 
 a just one; but if there had been revealed to him the meaning of germina- 
 tion, instead of the mere process, he would have reahzed that until he had 
 planted and observed every plant in the world he would not know all 
 about germination, because each seedling has its own interesting story. 
 The only excuse for repeating a nature-study lesson is in recalling it for 
 comparison and contrast with other lessons. The study of the violet will 
 naturally bring about a review of the pansy; the dandelion, of the sun- 
 flowei-; the horse, of the donkey; the butterfly, of the moth. 
 
 NATURE-STUDY AND OBJECT LESSONS 
 
 ■^HE object lesson method was introduced to drill the child 
 to see a thing accurately, not only as a whole, but in 
 detail and to describe accurately what he saw. A book 
 or a vase or some other object was held up before the class 
 for a moment and then removed; aftenvards the pupils 
 described it as perfectly as possible. This is an excellent 
 exercise and the children usually enjoy it as if it were a 
 game. But if the teacher has in mind the same thought when she is giv- 
 ing the nature-study lesson, she has little comprehension of the meaning 
 of the latter and the pupils will have less. In nature-study, it is not de- 
 sirable that the child see all the details, but rather those details that have 
 something to do with the life of the creature studied; if he sees that the 
 
8 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 grasshopper has the hind legs much longer than the others, he wiUmev- 
 itably note that there are two other pairs of legs and he will in the 
 meantime have come into an illuminating comprehension of the reason 
 the insect is called "grasshopper." The child should see definitely and 
 accurately all that is necessary for the recognition of a plant or animal; 
 but in nature-study, the observation of form is for the purpose of better 
 understanding life. In fact, it is form linked with life, the relation of 
 
 'being' 
 
 to "doing." 
 
 NATURE-STUDY IN THE SCHOOLROOM 
 
 ANY subjects for nature-study lessons may be brought 
 into the schoolroom. Whenever it is possible, the pupils 
 should themselves bring the material, as the collecting 
 of it is an important part of the lesson. There should 
 be in the schoolroom conveniences for caring for the 
 
 little prisoners brought in from thefield. The terrarium 
 and breeding cages, of different kinds should be pro- 
 vided for the insects, toads and little mammals. Here they may live 
 in comfort, when given their natural food, while the children observe 
 their interesting ways. The ants' nest, and the observation hive yield 
 fascmating views of the marvelous lives of the insect socialists, while the 
 cheerful prisoner in the bird cage may be made a constant illustration of 
 the adaptations and habits of all birds. The aquaria for fishes, tadpoles 
 and insects afford the opportunity for continuous study of these water 
 creatures and are a never-failing source of interest to the pupils, while 
 the window garden may be made not only an ornament and an aesthetic 
 dehght, but a basis for interesting study of plant growth and development. 
 A^schoolroom thus equipped is a place of delight as well as enlighten- 
 ment to the children. Once, a boy whose luxurious home was filled with 
 all that money could buy and educated tastes select, said of a little nature- 
 study laboratory which was in the unfinished attic of a school building, but 
 which was teeming with life : "I think this is the most beautiful room in 
 the world." 
 
 NATURE-STUDY AND MUSEUM SPECIMENS 
 
 HE matter of museum specimens is another question for 
 the nature-study teacher to solve, and has a direct 
 bearing on an attitude toward taking life. There are 
 many who beheve the stuffed bird or the case of pinned 
 insects have no place in nature-study; and certainly 
 these should not be the chief material. But let us use 
 our common sense; the boy sees a bird in the woods or 
 field and does not know its name ; he seeks the bird in the museum and 
 thus is able to place it and read about it and is stimulated to make other 
 observations concerning it. Wherever the museum is a help to the study 
 of life in the field, it is well and good. Some teachers may give alive les- 
 son from a stuffed specimen, and other teachers may stuff their pupils 
 with facts about a live specimen; of the two, the former is preferable. 
 
 There is no question that making a collection of insects is an 
 efficient way of developing the child's powers of close observation, as wejl 
 as of giving him manual dexterity in handling fragile things. Also it is 
 a false sentiment which attributes to an insect the same agony at being 
 
The Teaching of Nature-Study 9 
 
 impaled on a pin that we might suffer at being thrust through by a stake. 
 The insect nervous system is far more conveniently arranged for such an 
 ordeal than ours; and, too, the cyanide bottle brings immediate and pain- 
 less death to the insects placed within it; moreover, the insects usually 
 collected have short lives anyway. So far as the child is concerned, he is 
 thinking of his collection of moths or butterflies and not at all of taking 
 life; so it is not teaching him to wantonly destroy living creatures. 
 However, an indiscriminate encouragement of the making of insect col- 
 lections cannot be advised. There are some children who will profit by it 
 and some who will not, and unquestionably the best kind of study of 
 insects is watching their interesting ways while they live. 
 
 To kill a creature in order to prepare it for a nature-study lesson is not 
 only wrong but absurd, for nature-study has to do with life rather than 
 death, and the form of any creature is interesting only when its adapta- 
 tions for life are studied. But again, a nature-study teacher may be an 
 opportunist; if without any volition on her part or the pupils', a freshly 
 killed specimen comes to hand, she should make the most of it. The 
 writer remembers most illuminating lessc>ns from a partridge that broke 
 a window and its neck simultaneously during its flight one winter night, 
 a yellow hammer that killed itself against an electric wire, and a muskrat 
 that turned its toes to the skies for no understandable reason. In each of 
 these cases the creature's special physical adaptations for living its own 
 peculiar life were studied, and the effect was not the study of a dead 
 thing, but of a successful and wonderful life. 
 
 THE LEXS, MICROSCOPE AND FIELD GLASS AS HELPS IN NATURE-STUDY 
 
 N elementary grades, nature-study deals with objects which 
 the children can see with the naked eye. However, a lens 
 is a help in almost all of this work because it is such a joy 
 to the child to gaze at the wonders it reveals. There is no 
 lesson given in this book which requires more than a simple 
 lens for seeing the most minute parts discussed. An ex- 
 cellent lens may be bought for a dollar, and a fairly good one for fifty 
 cents or even twenty-five cents. The lens should be chained to a table 
 or desk where it may be used by the pupils at recess. This gives each 
 an opportunity for using it and obviates the danger of losing it. If 
 the pupils themselves own lenses, they should be fastened by a string or 
 chain to the pocket. 
 
 A microscope has no legitimate part in nature-study. But if there is 
 one available, it reveals so many wonders in the commonest objects, that 
 it can be made a source of added interest ofttimcs. For instance, to thus 
 see the scales on the butterfly's wing affords the child pleasure as well as 
 edification. Field or opera glasses, while indispensible for bird study, are 
 by no means necessary in nature-study. However, the pupils will show 
 greater interest in noting the birds' colors if they are allowed to make the 
 observations with the help of a glass. 
 
lO 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 ^-jM. 
 
 USES OF PICTURES, CHARTS AND BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 
 
 ICTURES alone should never be used as the subjects for 
 nature-study lessons, but they may be of great use in 
 illustrating and illuminating a lesson. Books well illus- 
 trated are more readily comprehended by the child and 
 are often very helpful to him, especially after his interest 
 in the subject is thoroughly aroused. If charts are used 
 to illustrate the lesson, the child is likely to be misled by the size of the 
 drawing, which is also the case in blackboard pictures. However, this 
 error may be avoided by fixing the attention of the pupil on the object 
 first. If the pupils are studying the ladybird and have it in their hands, 
 the teacher may use a diagram representing the beetle as a foot long and 
 it will still convey the idea accurately; but if she begins with the pict- 
 ure, she probably can never convince the children that the picture has 
 anything to do with the insect. 
 
 In making blackboard drawings illustrative of the lesson, it is best, if 
 possible, to have one of the pupils do the drawing in the presence of the 
 class; or, if the teacher does the drawing, she should hold the object in 
 her hand while doing it and look at it often so that the children may 
 see that she is trying to represent it accurately. Taking everything into 
 consideration, however, nature-study charts and blackboard drawings are 
 of little use to the nature-study teacher. 
 
 THE USES OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES 
 
 ISQUIETING problems relative to scientific nomenclature 
 always confront the teacher of nature-study My own 
 practice has been to use the popular names of species, 
 except in cases where confusion might ensue, and to use 
 the scientific names for anatomical parts. However, 
 this matter is of little importance if the teacher bears in 
 mind that the purpose of nature-study is to know the subject under obser- 
 vation and to learn the name incidentally. 
 
 If the teacher says: "I have a pink hepatica. Can anyone find me a 
 blue one?" the children, who naturally like grown-up words, will soon be 
 calling these flowers hepaticas. But if the teacher says, "These flowers 
 are called hepaticas. Now please everyone remember the name. Write 
 it in your books as I write it on the blackboard, and in half an hour I shall 
 ask you again what it is," the pupils naturally look upon the exercise as a 
 word lesson and its real significance is lost. This sort of nature-study is 
 dust and ashes and there has been too much of it. The child should never 
 be required to learn the name of anything in the nature-study work; but 
 the name should be used so often and so naturally in his presence, that 
 he will learn it without being conscious of the process. 
 
 THE STORY AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THE NATURE-STUDY LESSON 
 
 ^ ANY of the subjects for nature lessons can be studied only 
 in part, since but one phase may be available at the 
 time. Often, especially if there is little probability that 
 the pupils will find opportunity to complete the study, it 
 is best to round out their knowledge by reading or telHng 
 the story to supplement the facts which they have disco v- 
 
The Teaching of Nature-Stiidy ii 
 
 ered for themselves. This story should not be told as a finality or as a 
 complete picture but as a guide and inspiration for further study. Always 
 leave at the end of the story an interrogation mark that will remain ag- 
 gressive and insistent in the child's mind. To illustrate: Once a club 
 of junior naturalists brought me rose leaves injured by the leaf-cutter 
 bee and asked me why the leaves were cut out so regularly. I told 
 them the story of the use made by the mother bee of these oval and cir- 
 cular bits of leaves and made the account as vital as I was able; but at 
 the end I said, "I do not know which species of bee cut these leaves. 
 She is living here among us and building her nest with your rose leaves 
 which she is cutting every day almost under your very eyes. Is she 
 then so much more clever than you that you cannot see her nor find her 
 nest?" For two years following this lesson I received letters from mem- 
 bers of this club. Two carpenter bees and their nests were discovered by 
 them and studied before the mysterious leaf-cutter was finally ferreted 
 out. My stor}^ had left something interesting for the young naturalists 
 to discover. The children should be impressed with "the fact that the 
 nature story is never finished. There is not a weed nor an insect nor a 
 tree so common that the child, by observing carefully, may not see things 
 never yet recorded in scientific books; therefore the supplementary story 
 should be made an inspiration for keener interest and further investi- 
 gation on the part of the pupil. The supplementary story simply thrusts 
 aside some of the obscuring underbrush thus revealing more plainly the 
 path to further knowledge. 
 
 THE XATURE-STUDY ATTITUDE TOWARD LIFE AXD DEATH 
 
 ERHAPS no greater danger besets the pathway of the 
 nature-study teacher than the question involved in her 
 pupils' attitude toward life and death. To inculcate in 
 the child a reverence for life and yet to keep him from 
 becoming mawkish and morbid is truly a problem. It 
 is almost inevitable that the child should become sym- 
 pathetic with the life of the animal or plant studied, 
 since a true understanding of the life of any creature 
 creates an interest which stimulates a desire to protect this particular 
 creature and make its life less hard. Many times, within my own ex- 
 perience, have I known boys, who began by robbing birds' nests for egg 
 collections, to end by becoming most zealous protectors of the birds. 
 The humane qualities within these boys budded and blossomed in the 
 growing knowledge of the lives of the birds. At Cornell University, it is 
 a well known fact that those students who turn aside so as not to crush 
 the ant, caterpillar or cricket on the pavement are almost invariably 
 those that are studying entomology; and in America it is the botanists 
 themselves who are leading the crusade for flower protection. 
 
 Thus, the nature-study teacher, if she does her work well, is a sure aid 
 in inculcating a respect for the rights of all living beings to their own lives; 
 and she needs only to lend her influence gently in this direction to change 
 carelessness to thoughtfulness and cruelty to kindness. But with this 
 impetus toward a reverence for life, the teacher soon finds herself in a 
 dilemma from which there is no logical way out, so long as she lives in a 
 world where lamb chop, beefsteak and roast chicken are articles of ordi- 
 
12 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 nary diet ; a world in fact, where every meal is based upon the death of 
 some creature. For if she places much emphasis upon the sacredness of 
 life, the children soon begin to question whether it be right to slay the 
 lamb or the chicken for their own food. It would seem that there is 
 nothing for the consistent nature-study teacher to do but become a 
 vegetarian, and even then there might arise refinements in this question 
 of taking life, she might have to consider the cruelty to asparagus in 
 cutting it off in plump infancy, or the ethics of devouring in the turnip the 
 food laid up by the mother plant to perfect her seed. In fact, a most 
 rigorous diet would be forced upon the teacher who should refuse to sus- 
 tain her own existence at the cost of life; and if she should attempt to 
 teach the righteousness of such a diet she would undoubtedly forfeit her 
 position; and yet what is she to do! vShe will soon find herself in the 
 position of a certain lady who placed sheets of sticky fly-paper around her 
 kitchen to rid her house of flies, and then in mental anguish picked off the 
 buzzing, struggling victims and sought to clean their too adhesive wings 
 and legs. 
 
 In fact, drawing the line between what to kill and what to let live, 
 requires the use of common sense rather than logic. First of all, the 
 nature-study teacher, while exemplifying and encouraging the humane 
 attitude toward the lower creatures, and repressing cnielty which 
 wantonly causes suffering, should never magnify the terrors of death. 
 Death is as natural as life and the inevitable end of physical life on our 
 globe. Therefore, every story and every sentiment expressed which 
 makes the child feel that death is terrible, is wholly wrong. The one right 
 way to teach about death is not to emphasize it one way or another, but to 
 deal with it as a circumstance common to all; it should be no more 
 emphasized than the fact that creatures eat or fall asleep. 
 
 Another thing for the nature-study teacher to do is to direct the 
 interest of the child so that it shall center upon the hungry creature 
 rather than upon the one which is made into the meal. It is well to 
 emphasize the fact that one of the conditions imposed upon every living 
 being in the woods and fields, is that it is entitled to a meal when it is 
 hungry, if it is clever enough to get it. The child naturally takes this 
 view of it. I remember well as a child I never thought particularly about 
 the mouse which m}^ cat was eating; in fact, the process of transmuting 
 mouse into cat seemed altogether proper, but when the cat played with 
 the mouse, that was quite another thing, and was never permitted. 
 Although no one appreciates more deeply than I the debt which we owe to 
 Thompson-Seton and writers of his kind, who have placed before the 
 public the animal story from the animal point of view and thus set us all 
 to thinking, yet it is certainly wrong to impress this view too strongly 
 upon the young and sensitive child. In fact, this process should not 
 begin until the judgment and the understanding is well developed, for we 
 all know that although seeing the other fellow's standpoint is a source of 
 strength and breadth of mind, yet living the other fellow's life is, at 
 best, an enfeebling process and a futile waste of energy. 
 
The Teaching of Natitrc-^ytnJy 13 
 
 SHOULD THE NATURE-STUDY TEACHER TEACH HOW TO DESTROY LIFE ? 
 
 T IS probably within the proper scope of the nature-study 
 teacher to place emphasis upon the domain of man, who 
 being the most powerful of all animals, asserts his will as 
 to which ones shall live in his midst. From a standpoint 
 of abstract justice, the stray cat has just as much right 
 to kill and eat the robin which builds in the vine of my 
 porch as the robin has to pull and eat the earthworms 
 from my lawn ; but the place is mine, and I choose to kill 
 the cat and preserve the robin. 
 
 When emphasizing the domain of man, we may have to deal with the 
 killing of creatures which are injurious to his interests. Nature-study 
 may be tributary to this, in a measure, and indirectly, but it is surely not 
 nature-study. For example, the child studies the cabbage butterfly in 
 all its stages, the exquisitely sculptured yellow egg, the velvety green 
 caterpillar, the chrysalis with its protecting colors, the white-winged 
 butterfly, and becomes interested in the life of the insect. Not under any 
 consideration, when the attention of the child is focused on the insect, 
 should we suggest a remedy for it when a pest. Let the life-story of the 
 butterfly stand as a fascinating page of nature's book. But later, when 
 the child enters on his career as a gardener, when he sets out his row of 
 cabbage plants and waters and cultivates them, and does his best to bring 
 them to maturity, along comes the butterfly, now an arch enemy, and 
 begins to rear her progeny on the product of his toil. Now the child's 
 interest is focused on the cabbage, and the question is not one of killing 
 insects so much as of saving plants. In fact, there is nothing in spraying 
 the plants with Paris green which suggests cruelty to innocent caterpillars, 
 nor is the process likely to harden the child's sensibilities. 
 
 To gain knowledge of the life-story of insects or other creatures is 
 nature-study. To destroy them as pests is a part of Agriculture or 
 Horticulture. The one may be of fundamental assistance to the other, 
 but the two arc quite separate and should never be confused. 
 
 THE FIELD XOTE-BOOK 
 
 A field note-book may be made a joy to the pupil and a help to the 
 teacher. Any kind of a blank book will do for this, except that it should 
 not be too large to be carried in the pocket, and it should always have the 
 pencil attached. To make the note-book a success the following rules 
 should be observed : 
 
 (a) The bor)k should be considered the personal property of the child 
 and should never be criticized by the teacher except as a matter of 
 encouragement; for the spirit in which the notes are made, is more im- 
 portant than the information they cover. 
 
 (b) The making of drawings should be encouraged for illustrating 
 what is observed. A graphic drawing is far better than a long descripti(^n 
 of a natural object. 
 
 (c) The note-book should not be regarded as a part of the work in 
 English. The spelling, language and writing of the notes should all be 
 exempt from criticism. 
 
 (d) As occasion offers, outlines for observing certain plants or ani- 
 mals may be placed in the note-book previous to the field excursion so as 
 to give definite points for the work. 
 
14 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 (e) No child should be compelled to have a note-book. 
 
 The field note-book is a veritable gold mine for the nature-study 
 teacher to work, in securing voluntary and happy observations from the 
 pupils concerning their out-of-door interests. It is a friendly gate which 
 admits the teacher to a knowledge of what the child sees and cares for. 
 Through it she may discover where the child's attention impinges upon 
 the realm of nature and thus may know where to find the starting point for 
 cultivating larger intelligence and a wider interest. 
 
 No. ^73, 
 
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 To 
 
 A page front the field note-book of a lad of fourteen who read Thoreau and admired 
 
 the books of Thompson-Seton. 
 
The Teaching of Naturc-^tiidy 15 
 
 I have examined many field note-books kept by pupils in the inter- 
 mediate grades and have been surprised at their plenitude of accurate 
 observation and graphic illustration. These books ranged from blank 
 account books furnished by the family grocer up to a quarto, the pages of 
 which were adorned, with many marginal illustrations made in passionate 
 admiration of Thompson-Seton's books and filled with carefully trans- 
 cribed text, that showed the direct influence of Thoreau. These books, of 
 whatever quality, are precious beyond price to their owners. And why 
 not? For they represent what cannot be bought or sold, personal 
 experience in the liappy world of out-of-doors. 
 
 THE FIELD EXCURSION 
 
 ANY teachers look upon the field excursion as a precar- 
 ious voyage, steered between the Scylla of hilarious 
 seeing too much and the Charybdis of seeing nothing at 
 ^Wih •'Wl'l^^ ^^^ because of the zest which comes from freedom in the 
 ||.f I *|[j t'j) % fields and wood. This danger can be obviated if the 
 teacher plans the work definitely before starting, and 
 demands certain results. 
 
 It is a mistake to think that a half day is necessary for a field lesson, 
 since a very efficient field trip may be made during the ten or fifteen 
 minutes at recess, if it is well planned. Certain questions and lines of 
 investigation should be given the pupils before starting and given in such 
 a manner as to make them thoroughly interested in discovering the facts. 
 A certain teacher in New York State has studied all the common plants 
 and trees in the vicinity of her school with these recess excursions and the 
 pupils have been enthusiastic about the work. 
 
 The half hour excursion should be preceded by a talk concerning the 
 purposes of the outing and the pupils must know that certain observa- 
 tions are to be made or they will not be permitted to go again. This 
 should not be emphasized as a punishment; but they should be made to 
 understand that a field excursion is only, naturally enough, for those who 
 wish to see and understand outdoor life. For all field work, the teacher 
 should make use of the field notebook which should be a part of the pupils' 
 equipment. 
 
 PETS AS NATURE-STUDY SUBJECTS 
 
 jlTTLE attention has been given to making the child im- 
 derstand what would be the lives of his pets if they were 
 in their native environment; or to relating their habits 
 and lives as wild animals. Almost any pet, if properly 
 observed, affords an admirable opportunity for under- 
 standing the reasons why its structure and peculiar habits 
 may have made it successful among other creatures and in other lands. 
 Moreover the actions and the daily life of the pet make interesting 
 subject matter for a note-book. The lessons on the dog, rabbit and horse 
 as given in this volume may suggest methods for such study, and with 
 apologies that it is not better and more interesting, I have ])laced with the 
 story of the squirrel a few pages from one of my own note-books regarding 
 my experiences with "Furry." I include this record as a suggestion for 
 the children that they should keep note-books of their pets. It will lead 
 
1 6 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 them to closer observation and to a better and more natural expression 
 of their experiences. 
 
 THE CORRELATION OF NATURE-STUDY WITH LANGUAGE WORK 
 
 ATURE-STUDY should be so much a part of the child's 
 thought and interest that it will naturally form a thought 
 core for other subjects quite unconsciously on his part. 
 In fact, there is one safe rule for correlation in this case, it 
 is legitimate and excellent training as long as the pupil 
 does not discover that he is correlating. But there is 
 something in human nature which revolts against doing one thing to 
 accomplish quite another. A boy once said to m.e, "I'd rather never go 
 on a field excursion than to have to write it up for English," a sentiment 
 I sympathized with keenly; ulterior motive is sickening to the honest 
 spirit. But if that same boy had been a member of a field class and had 
 enjoyed all the new experiences and had witnessed the interesting things 
 discovered on this excursion, and if later his teacher had asked him to 
 write for her an account of some part of it, because sJie wished to know 
 what he had discovered, the chances are that he would have written his 
 story joyfully and with a certain pride that would have counted much for 
 achievement in word expression. 
 
 AVhen Mr. John Spencer, known to so many children in New York 
 State as "Uncle John," was conducting the Junior Naturalist Clubs, the 
 teachers allowed letters to him to count for language exercises; and the 
 eagerness with which these letters were written should have given the 
 teachers the key to the proper method of teaching English. Mr. Spencer 
 requested the teachers not to correct the letters, because he v/ished the 
 children to be thinking abaut the subject matter rather than the form of 
 expression. But so anxious were many of the pupils to make their letters 
 perfect, that they earnestly requested their teachers to help them write 
 correctly, which was an ideal condition for teaching them English. 
 Writing letters to Uncle John was such a jo}^ to the pupils that it was used 
 as a privilege and a reward of merit in many schools. One rural teacher 
 reduced the percentage of tardiness to a minimum by giving the first 
 period in the morning to the work in English which consisted of letters to 
 Uncle John. 
 
 Why do pupils dislike writing English exercises ? Simply because they 
 are not interested in the subject they are asked to write about, and they 
 know that the teacher is not interested in the information contained in the 
 essay. But when they are interested in the subject and write about it to 
 a person who is interested, the conditions are entirely changed. If the 
 teacher, overwhelmed as she is by work and perplexities, could only keep 
 in mind that the purpose of a language is, after all, merely to convey ideas, 
 some of her perplexities would fade away. A conveyance naturally 
 should be fitted for the load it is to carry, and if the pupil acquires the 
 load first he is very likely to construct a conveyance that will be adequate. 
 How often the conveyance is made perfect through much effort and 
 polished through agony of spirit and the load entirely forgotten ! 
 
 Nature-study lessons give much excellent subject matter for stories 
 and essays, but these essays should never be criticized or defaced with the 
 blue pencil. They should be read with interest by the teacher; the mis- 
 
The TeacJiing of Nature-Study 17 
 
 takes made in them, so transformed as to be unrecognizable, may be used 
 for drill exercises in grammatical construction. After all, grammar and 
 spelling are only gained by practice and there is no royal road leading to 
 their acquirement. 
 
 THE CORRELATION OF XATURE-STUDY AND DRAWING 
 
 HE correlation of nature-study and drawing is so natural 
 and inevitable that it needs never be revealed to the 
 pupil. When the child is interested in studying any ob- 
 ject, he enjoys illustrating his observations with draw- 
 ings; the happy absorption of children thus engaged is a 
 delight to witness. At its best, drawing is a perfectly 
 natural method of self-expression. The savage and the young child, 
 both untutored, seek to express themselves and their experiences by 
 this means. It is only when the object to be drawn is foreign to the in- 
 terest of the child that drawing is a task. 
 
 Nature-study offers the best means for bridging the gap that lies 
 between the kindergarten child who makes drawings because he loves to 
 and is impelled to from within, and the pupil in the grades who is obliged 
 to draw wdiat the teacher places before him. From making crude and 
 often meaningless pencil strokes, which is the entertainment of the young 
 child, the outlining of a leaf or some other simple and interesting natural 
 object, is a normal step full of interest for the child because it is still self- 
 expression. 
 
 Miss Mary E. Hill gives every year in the Goodyear School of Syracuse 
 an exhibition of the drawings made by the children in the nature-study 
 classes; and these are universally so excellent that most people regard 
 them as an exhibition from the Art Department; and yet many of these 
 pupils have never had lessons in drawing. They have learned to draw 
 because they like to make pictures of the living objects which they have 
 studied. One year there were many pictures of toads in various stages in 
 this exhibit, and although their anatomy was sometimes awry in the pic- 
 tures, yet there was a certain vivid expression of life in their representa- 
 tion; one felt that the toads could jump. Miss Hill allows the pupils to 
 choose their own medium, pencil, crayon, or water-color, and says that 
 they seem to feel which is best. For instance, when drawing the outline 
 of trees in winter they choose pencil, but when representing the trillium 
 or iris they prefer the water-color, while for bitter-sweet and crocuses they 
 choose the colored crayons. 
 
 It is through this method of drawing that which interests him, that the 
 child retains and keeps as his own, what should be an inalienable right, a 
 graphic method of expressing his own impressions. Too much have we 
 emphasized drawing as an art; it may be an art, if the one who draws is 
 an artist; but if he is not an artist he still has a right to draw if it pleases 
 him to do so. We might as well declare that a child should not speak 
 unless he put his words into poetry, as to declare that he should not draw 
 because his drawings are not artistic. 
 
i8 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Stiidy 
 
 THE CORRELATION' OF XATURE-STUDY WITH GEOGRAPHY 
 
 IFE depends upon its environment. Geographical 
 conditions and limitations have shaped the mold 
 into which plastic life has been poured and by 
 which its form has been modified. It may be 
 easy for the untrained mind to see how the des- 
 erts and oceans affect life. Cattle may not roam 
 in the former because there is nothing there for 
 them to eat, nor may they occupy the latter be- 
 cause they are not fitted for breathing air in the 
 water. And yet the camel can endure thirst and 
 live on the scant food ot the desert; and the 
 whale is a mammal fitted to live in the sea. The question is, how are we 
 to impress the child with the " have to " which lies behind all these geo- 
 graphical facts. If animals live in the desert they liave to subsist on 
 scant and peculiar food which grows there; they liave to get along with 
 little water; they have to endure heat and sand storms; they Iiave to 
 have eyes that will not become blinded by the vivid reflection of the sun- 
 light on the sand ; they have to be of sand color so that they may escape 
 the eyes of their enemies or creep upon their prey unperceived. 
 
 All these have to's are not mere chance, but they have existed so long 
 that the animal, by constantly coming in contact with them, has attained 
 its present form and habits. 
 
 There are just as many have to's in the stream or the pond back of the 
 school-house, on the dry hillside behind it or in the woods beyond the creek 
 as there are in desert or ocean; and when the child gets an inkling of this 
 fact, he has made a great step into the realm of geography. When he 
 realizes why water lilies can grow only in still water that is not too deep 
 and which has a silt bottom, and why the cat-tails grow in swamps where 
 there is not too much water, and why the mullen grows in the dry pasture, 
 and why the hepatica thrives in the rich, damp woods, and why the daisies 
 grow in the meadows, he will understand that this partnership of nature 
 and geography illustrates the laws which govern life. Many phases of 
 physical geography belong to the realm of nature-study; the brook, its 
 course, its work or erosion and sedimentation; the rocks of many kinds, 
 the soil, the climate, the weather, are all legitimate subjects for nature- 
 study lessons. 
 
 THE CORRELATION OF XATURE-STUDY WITH HISTORY 
 
 ^iA^HERE are many points where nature-study impinges 
 ttpon history in a way that may prove the basis for an 
 inspiring lesson. Many of our weeds, cultivated plants 
 and domestic animals have been introduced from Eu- 
 rope and are a part of our colonial history ; while there 
 are many of the most commonly seen creatures which 
 have played their part in the history of ancient times. 
 For instance, the bees which gave to man the only 
 means available to him for sweetening his food until the 17th century, 
 "were closely allied to the home life of ancient peoples. The buffalo 
 which ranged our western plains had much to do with the life of the red 
 man. The study of the grasshopper brings to the child's attention stories 
 
Tlte Teaching of Nature-Study 
 
 19 
 
 of the locusts' invasion mentioned in the Bible, and the stars which 
 witnessed our creation and of which Job sang and the ancients wrote, 
 shine over our heads every night. 
 
 But the trees, through the lengthy span of their lives, cover more history 
 individually, than do other organisms. In glancing across the wood-covered 
 hills of New York one often sees there, far above the other trees, the 
 gaunt crowns of old white pines. Such trees belonged to the forest 
 primeval and may have attained the age of two centuries; they stand 
 there looking out over the world, relics of another age when America be- 
 longed to the red man, and the bear and the panther played or fought 
 beneath them. The cedars live longer than do the pines and the great 
 scarlet oak may have attained the age of four centuries before it yields 
 to fate. 
 
 Perhaps in no other way may the attention of the pupil be turned so 
 naturally to past events, as through the thought that the life of such a tree 
 has spanned so much of human history. The life history of one of these 
 ancient trees should be made the center of local history; let the pupils 
 find when the town was first settled by the whites and where they came 
 from and how large the tree was then. AVhat Indian tribes roamed the 
 woods before that and what animals were common in the forest when this 
 tree was a sapling? Thus may be brought out the chief events in the 
 history of the county and township, when they were established and for 
 whom or what they were named; and a comparison of the present 
 industries may be made with those of a hundred years ago. 
 
 THE CORRELATION OF NATURE-STUDY WITH ARITHMETIC 
 
 HE arithmetical problems presented by nature-study 
 are many; some of them are simple and some of 
 them are complicated, and all of them are illumin- 
 ing. Seed distribution especially lends itself to 
 computation; a milkweed pod contains 140 seeds; 
 there are five such pods on one plant, each milkweed 
 plant requires at least one square foot of ground to 
 grow on ; how much ground would be required to 
 grow all of the seeds from this one plant? Or, count 
 the seeds in one dandelion head, multiply by the 
 number of flower heads on the plant and estimate 
 how many plants can grow on a square foot, then 
 ask a boy how long it would take for one dandelion 
 plant to cover his father's farm with its progeny; or 
 count the blossoms on one branch of an apple tree, 
 later count the ripened fruit; what percentage of blossoms matured in- 
 to fruit? Measuring trees, their height and thickness and computing the 
 lumber they will make combines arithmetic and geometry, and so on ad 
 infinitum. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the teacher will find in almost every nature lesson 
 an arithmetic lesson; and when arithmetic is used in this work, it should 
 be vital and inherent and not "tacked on;" the pupils should be really 
 interested in the answers to their problems; and as with all correlation, 
 the success of it depends upon the genius of the teacher. 
 
20 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 GARDENING AND NATURE-STUDY 
 
 RRONEOUSLY, some people maintain that gardening is 
 nature-study; this is not so necessarily nor ordinarily. 
 Gardening may be a basis for nature-study but it is 
 rarely made so to any great extent. Even the work in 
 children's gardens is so conducted that the pupils know 
 little or nothing of the flowers or vegetables which they 
 grow except their names, their uses to man and how to 
 cultivate them. They are taught how to prepare the soil, but the 
 reason for this from the plant's standpoint is never revealed; and if 
 the child becomes acquainted with the plants in his garden, he makes the 
 discovery by himself. All this is nothing against gardening! It is a 
 wholesome and valuable experience for a child to learn how to make a 
 garden even if he remains ignorant of the interesting facts concerning the 
 plants which he there cultivates. But if the teachers are so inclined, they 
 may find in the garden and its products, the most interesting m.aterial for 
 the best of nature lessons. Every plant the child grows is an individual 
 with its own peculiarities as well as those of its species in manner of 
 growth. Its roots, stems and leaves are of certain form and structure; 
 and often the special uses to the plant of its own kind of leaves, stems and 
 roots are obvious. Each plant has its own form of flower and even its 
 own tricks for securing pollination ; and its own manner of developing 
 and scattering its seeds. Every weed of the garden has developed 
 some special method of winning and holding its place among the culti- 
 vated plants; and in no other way may the child so fully and naturally 
 come into a comprehension of that term "the survival of the fittest" 
 as by studying the ways of the fit as exemplified in the triumphant weeds 
 of his garden. 
 
 Every earthworm working below the soil is doing something for the 
 garden. Every bee that visits the flowers there is on an errand for the 
 garden as well as for herself. Every insect feeding on leaf or root is doing 
 something to the garden. Every bird that nests near by or that ever 
 visits it, is doing something which affects the life and the growth of the 
 garden. What all of these uninvited guests are doing is one field of 
 garden nature-study. Aside from all this study of individual life in the 
 garden which even the youngest child may take part in, there are the 
 more advanced lessons on the soil. What kind of soil is it? From what 
 sort of rock was it formed? What renders it mellow and fit for the grow- 
 ing of plants? Moreover, what do the plants get from it? How do they 
 get it? What do they do with what they get? 
 
 This leads to the subject of plant physiology, the elements of which 
 may be taught simply by experiments carried on b}^ the children them- 
 selves, experiments which should demonstrate the sap currents in the 
 plant; the use of water to carry food and in making the plant rigid; the 
 use of sunshine in making the plant food in the leaf laboratories; the 
 nourishment provided for the seed and its germination, and many other 
 similar lessons. 
 
 A child who makes a garden, and thus becomes intimate with the plants 
 he cultivates, and comes to understand the interrelation of the various 
 forms of life which he finds in his garden, has progressed far in the funda- 
 mental knowledge of nature's ways as well as in a practical knowledge 
 of agriculture. 
 
The Teaching of Nature-Study 21 
 
 NATURE-STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 
 
 UCKILY, thumb-rtile agriculture is being pushed to the wall 
 in these enlightened days. Thumb rules would work much 
 better if nature did not vary her performances in such a 
 confusing way. Government experiment stations 
 were established because thumb rules for farming 
 were unreliable and disappointing; and all the work 
 of all the experiment stations has been simply ad- 
 "~ vanced nature-study and its application to the prac- 
 
 tice of agriculture. Both nature-study and agriculture are based upon 
 the study of life and the physical conditions which encourage or limit life;, 
 this is known to the world as the study of the natural sciences; and if we 
 see clearly the relation of nature-study to science, we may understand 
 better the relation of nature-study to agriculture, which is based upon 
 the sciences. 
 
 Nature-study is science brought home. It is a knowledge of botany, 
 zoology and geology as illustrated in the dooryard, the corn-field or the 
 woods back of the house. Some people have an idea that to know these 
 sciences one must go to college; they do not understand that nature has 
 furnished the material and laboratories on every farm in the land. Thus, 
 by beginning with the child in nature-study we take him to the laboratory 
 of the wood or garden, the roadside or the field, and his materials are the 
 wild flowers or the weeds, or the insects that visit the golden-rod or the 
 bird that sings in the maple tree, or the woodchuck whistling in the pas- 
 ture. The child begins to study living things anywhere or everywhere, 
 and his progress is always along the various tracks laid down by the laws 
 of life, along which his work as an agriculturist must always progress if it 
 is to be successful. 
 
 The child through nature-study learns the way a plant grows, whether 
 it be an oak, a turnip or a pigweed; he learns how the roots of each is 
 adapted to its needs; how the leaves place themselves to get the sunshine 
 and why they need it; and how the flowers get their pollen carried by the 
 bee or wind; and how the seeds are finally scattered and planted. Or he 
 learns about the life of the bird, whether it be a chicken, an owl or a 
 bobolink; he knows how each bird gets its food and what its food is, where 
 it lives, where it nests and its relation to other living things. He studies 
 the bumblebee and discovers its great mission of pollen carrying for many 
 flowers, and in the end would no sooner strike it dead than he would 
 voluntarily destroy his clover patch. This is the kind of learning we call 
 nature-study and not science or agriculture. But the country child can 
 never learn anything in nature-study that has not something to do with 
 science; and that has not its own practical lesson for him, when he shall 
 become a farmer. 
 
 Some have argued, "Why not make nature-study along the lines of 
 agriculture solely? Why should not the child begin nature-study with 
 the cabbage rather than the wild flowers?" This argument carried out 
 logically provides recreation for a boy in hoeing com rather than in play- 
 ing ball. Many parents in the past have argued thus and have, in conse- 
 quence, driven thousands of splendid boys from the country to the city 
 with a loathing in their souls for the drudgery which seemed all there was 
 to farm life. The reason why the wild flowers may be selected for begin- 
 
2 2 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 ning the nature-study of plants, is because every child loves these wood- 
 land posies, and his happiest hours are spent in gathering them. Never 
 yet have we known of a case where a child having gained his knowledge of 
 the way a plant lives through studying the plants he loves, has failed to be 
 interested and delighted to find that the wonderful things he discovered 
 about his wild floT^er may be true of the vegetable in the garden, or the 
 purslane which fights with it for ground to stand upon. 
 
 Some have said, "We, as farmers, care only to know what concerns our 
 pocket-books; we wish only to study those things which we must, as 
 farmers, cultivate or destroy. We do not care for the butterfly, but we 
 wish to know the plum weevil; we do not care for the trillium but we are 
 'interested in the onion; we do not care for the meadow-lark but we 
 cherish the gosling." This is an absurd argument since it is a mental 
 impossibility for any human being to discriminate between two things 
 when he knows or sees only one. In order to understand the important 
 economic relations to the world of one plant or animal, it is absolutely 
 necessary to have a wide knowledge of other plants and animals. One 
 might as well say, "I will see the approaching cyclone, but never look at 
 the sky; I will look at the clover but not see the dandelion ; I will look for 
 the sheriff when he comes over the hill but will not see any other team on 
 the road." 
 
 Nature-study is an effort to make the individual use his senses instead 
 of losing them; to train him to keep his eyes open to all things so that his 
 powers of discrimination shall be based on wisdom. The ideal farmer is 
 not the man who by hazard and chance succeeds; he is the man who loves 
 his farm and all that surrounds it because he is awake to the beauty as well 
 as to the wonders which are there ; he is the man who understands as far 
 as may be the great forces of nature which are at work around him, and 
 therefore, he is able to m.ake them work for him. For what is agriculture 
 save a diversion of natural forces for the benefit of man ! The farmer who 
 knows these forces only when restricted to his paltry crops, and has no 
 idea of their larger application, is no more efficient as a farmicr than would 
 a man be as an engineer who knew nothing of his engine except how to 
 start and stop it. 
 
 In order to appreciate truly his farm, the farmer must needs begin as a 
 child with nature-study ; in order to be successful and make the farm pay, 
 he must needs continue in nature-study; and to make his declining years 
 happy, content, full of wide sympathies and profitable thought, he must 
 needs conclude with nature-study; for nature-study is the alphabet of 
 agriculture and no word in that great vocation may be spelled without it. 
 
 NATURE-STUDY CLUBS 
 
 ,HE organizing of a club by the pupils for the purpose of 
 studying out-of-door life, is a great help and inspiration 
 to the work in nature-study in the classroom. The 
 essays and the talks before the club, prove efficient aid in 
 English composition; and the varied interests of the 
 members of the club, furnish new and vital material for 
 stud\^ A button or a badge may be designed for the club 
 and, of course, it must have constitution and by-laws. 
 The proceedings of the club meetings should be conducted 
 according to parliamentary rules; but the field excursions 
 should be entirelv informal. 
 
The Teaching of N ature-Stiidy 
 
 23 
 
 The meetings of the Junior Naturahsts Clubs, as organized in the 
 schools of New York State by Mr. John W. Spencer, were most impres- 
 sive. The school session would be brought to a close, the teacher stepping 
 down and taking a seat with the pupils. The president of the club, some 
 bashful boy or slender slip of a girl would take the chair and conduct the 
 meeting with a dignity and efficiency worthy of a statesman. The order 
 was perfect, the discussion much to the point. I confess to a feeling of 
 awe when I attended these meetings, conducted so seriously and so 
 formally, by such youngsters. Undoubtedly, the parliamentary training 
 and experience in speaking impromptu, are among the chief benefits of 
 such a club. 
 
 These clubs may be organized for special study. In one bird club of 
 which I know there have been contests. Sides were chosen and the 
 number of birds seen from May ist to 31st inclusive was the test of 
 supremacy. Notes on the birds were taken in the field with such care, 
 that when at the end of the month each member handed in his notes, they 
 could be used as evidence of accurate identification. An umpire with the 
 help of bird manuals decided the doubtful points. This year the score 
 stood 79 to 81. 
 
 The programs of the nature club should be varied so as to be continually 
 interesting. Poems and stories, concerning the objects studied, help 
 make the program attractive. 
 
24 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 
 
 IRST and indispensably, the teacher should have at 
 hand the subject of the lesson. She should make 
 herself familiar with the points covered by the 
 questions and read the story before giving the lesson. 
 If she does not have the time to go over the observa- 
 tions suggested, before giving the lesson, she should 
 take up the questions with the pupils as a joint 
 investigation, and be boon companion in discover- 
 ing the story. 
 
 The story should not be read to the pupils. It is given as an assistance 
 to the teacher, and is not meant for direct information to the pupils. If 
 the teacher knows a fact in nature's realm, she is then in a position to lead 
 her pupils to discover this fact for themselves. 
 
 Make the lesson an investigation and make the pupils feel that they 
 are investigators. To tell the story to begin with, inevitably spoils this 
 attitude and quenches interest. 
 
 The "leading thought" embodies some of the points which should be 
 in the teacher's mind while giving the lesson; it should not be read or 
 declared to the pupils. 
 
 The outlines for observations herein given, by no means cover all of 
 the observations possible; they are meant to suggest to the teacher 
 observations of her own, rather than to be followed slavishly. 
 
 The suggestions for observations have been given in the form of ques- 
 tions, merely for the sake of saving space. The direct questioning 
 method, if not employed with discretion, becomes tiresome to both pupil 
 and teacher. If the questions do not inspire the child to investigate, they 
 are useless. To grind out answers to questions about any natural object 
 is not nature-study, it is simply "grind," a form of mental activity which 
 is of much greater use when applied to spelling or the multipHcation table 
 than to the study of nature. The best teacher will cover the points 
 suggested for observations with few direct questions. To those who 
 find the questions inadequate I will say that, although I have used 
 these outlines once, I am sure I should never be able to use them again 
 without making changes. 
 
 The topics chosen for these lessons may not be the most practical nor 
 the most interesting nor the most enlightening that are to be found ; they 
 are simply those subjects which I have used in my classes, because we 
 happened^o find them at hand the mornings the lessons were given. 
 
 While an earnest attempt has been made to make the information in 
 this book accurate, it is to be expected and to be hoped that many dis- 
 crepancies will be found by those who follow the lessons. No two ani- 
 mals or plants are just alike, and no two people see things exactly the 
 same way. The chief aim of this volume is to encourage investigation 
 rather than to give information. Therefore, if mistakes are found, the 
 object of the book will have been accompHshed, and the author will feel 
 deeply gratified. If the teacher finds that the observations made by her 
 and her pupils, do not agree with the statements in the book, I earnestly 
 enjoin upon her to trust to her own eyes rather than to any book. 
 
 No teacher is expected to teach all the lessons in this book. A wide 
 range of subjects is given, so that congenial choice may be made. 
 
PART II, 
 
 ANIMAL LIFE 
 
 L BIRD STUDY 
 
 ^■■W^^HE reason for studying any bird is to ascertain what 
 I I it does; in order to accomplish this, it is necessary 
 
 ■ to know what the bird is, learning what it is, being 
 
 - • "« ' simply a step that leads to a knowledge of what 
 
 it does. But, to hear some of our bird devotees 
 talk, one would think that to be able to identify 
 a bird is all of bird study. On the contrary, the 
 identification of birds is simply the alphabet to 
 the real study, the alphabet by means of which 
 we may spell out the life habits of the bird. To 
 know these habits is the ambition of the true orni- 
 thologist, and should hkewise be the ambition of the beginner, even 
 though the beginner be a young child. 
 
 Several of the most common birds have been selected as subjects for 
 lessons in this book; other common birds, like the phoebe and wrens, have 
 been omitted purposely; after the children have studied the birds, as 
 indicated in the lessons, they will enjoy working out lessons for them- 
 selves with other birds. Naturally, the sequence of these lessons does not 
 follow scientific classification; in the first ten lessons, an attempt has 
 been made to lead the child gradually into a knowledge of bird life. 
 Beginning with the chicken there follow naturally the lessons with 
 pigeons and the canary; then there follows the careful and detailed study 
 of the robins and constant comparison of them with the blue birds. This 
 is enough for the first year in the primary grades. The next year the 
 work begins with the birds that remain in the North during the winter, 
 the chickadee, nuthatch and downy woodpecker. After these have been 
 studied carefully, the teacher may be an opportunist when spring comes 
 and select any of the lessons when the bird subjects are at hand. The 
 classification suggested for the woodpeckers and the swallows is for more 
 advanced pupils, as are the lessons on the geese and turkeys. It is to 
 be hoped that these lessons will lead the child directly to the use of the 
 bird manuals, of which there are several excellent ones. 
 
 BEGINNING BIRD STUDY IN THE PRIMARY GRADES 
 
 The hen is especially adapted as an object lesson for the young 
 beginner of bird study. First of all, she is a bird, notwithstanding the 
 adverse opinions of two of my small pupils who stoutly maintained that 
 "a robin is a bird, but a hen is a hen." Moreover, the hen is a bird always 
 available for nature-study; she looks askance at us from the crates of the 
 world's marts; she comes to meet us in the country barnyard, stepping 
 toward us sedately; looking at us earnestly, with one eye, then turning her 
 
26 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 head so as to check up her observations with the other; meantime she 
 asks us a httie question in a wheedUng, soft tone, which we understand 
 perfectly to mean "have you perchance brought me something to eat?" 
 Not only is the hen an interesting bird in herself, but she is a bird with 
 problems; and by studying her carefully we may be introduced into the 
 very heart and center of bird life. 
 
 This lesson may be presented in two ways: First, if the pupils live in 
 the country where they have poultry at home, the whole series of lessons 
 may best be accomplished through interested talks on the part of the 
 teacher, which should be followed on the part of the children, by observa- 
 tions, which should be made at home and the results given in school in 
 oral or written lessons. Second, if the pupils are not familiar with fowls, 
 a hen and a chick, if possible, should be kept in a cage in the schoolroom 
 for a few days, and a duck or gosling should be brought in one day for 
 observation. The crates in which fowls are sent to market make very 
 good cages. One of the teachers of the Elmira, N. Y. Schools introduced 
 into the basement of the schoolhouse a hen, which there hatched her 
 brood of chicks, much to the children's delight and edification. After the 
 pupils have become thoroughly interested in the hen and are familiar with 
 her ways, after they have fed her and watched her, and have for her a 
 sense of ownership, the following lessons may be given in an informal 
 manner, as if they were naturally suggested to the teacher's mind through 
 watching the fowl. 
 
Bird Study 27 
 
 FEATHERS AS CLOTHING 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Wr-^'^T^, ^ HE bird's clothing affords a natural beginning for bird 
 
 ^^ I ^^ study because the wearing of feathers is a most strik- 
 ^ * ^ ing character distinguishing birds from other crea- 
 
 tures; also, feathers and flying are the first things 
 the young child notices about birds. 
 The purpose of all of these lessons on the hen are: (a) To induce the 
 child to make continued and sympathetic observations on the habits of 
 the domestic birds, (b) To cause him involuntarily to compare the 
 domestic with the wild birds, (c) To induce him to think for himself why 
 the shape of the body, wings, head, beak, feet, legs and feathers are 
 adapted in each species to protect the bird and assist it in getting its 
 living. 
 
 The overlapping of the feathers on a hen's back and breast is a pretty 
 illustration of nature's method of shingling, so that the rain, finding no 
 place to enter, drips off, leaving the bird's underclothing quite dry. It 
 is interesting to note how a hen behaves in the rain; she droops her tail 
 and holds herself so that the water finds upon her no resting place, but 
 simply a steep surface down which to flow to the ground. 
 
 Each feather consists of Hooks on bnrbeU 
 
 three parts, the shaft or quill, 
 which is the central stiff stem 
 of the feather, giving i t 
 strength. From this quill 
 come off the barbs which, 
 toward the outer end, join to- 
 gether in a smooth web, mak- 
 ing the thin, fan-like portion 
 of the feather ; at the base is 
 the fluff, which is soft and 
 downy and near to the body 
 of the fowl. The teacher 
 should put on the blackboard 
 this figure so that incidentally 
 the pupils may learn the parts 
 of a feather and their struc- 
 ture. If a microscope is 
 available, show both the web ^ jeather 
 
 and the fluff of a feather under a three-fourths objective. 
 
 The feathers on the back of a hen are longer and narrower in propor- 
 tion than those on the breast and are especially fitted to protect the back 
 from rain ; the breast feathers are shorter and have more of the fluff, thus 
 protecting the breast from the cold as well as the rain. It is plain to any 
 child that the soft fluff is comparable to our woolen underclothing while 
 the srnooth, overlapping web forms a rain and wind-proof outer coat. 
 Downisafeather with no quill; young chicks are covered with down. A 
 pin-feather is simply a young feather rolled up in a sheath, which bursts 
 later and is shed, leaving the feather free to assume its form. Take a 
 large pin-feather and cut the sheath open and show the pupils the young 
 feather lying within. 
 
 •/ ,/,V cry„|J/ 
 
 
28 
 
 Handbook of N aiiire-Stiidy 
 
 When a hen oils her feathers it is a process well worth observing. The 
 oil gland is on her back just at the base of the tail feathers; she squeezes 
 the gland with her beak to get the oil and then rubs the beak over the sur- 
 face of her feathers and passes them through it; she spends more time 
 oiling the feathers on her back and breast than those on the other parts, 
 so that they will surely shed water. Country people say when the hen 
 oils her feathers, it is a sure sign of rain. The hen sheds her feathers once 
 a year and is a most untidy looking bird meanwhile, a fact that she seems 
 to realize, and is as shy and cross as a young lady caught in company in 
 curl papers; but she seems very pleased with herself when she finally 
 gains her new feathers. 
 
 Feathers of a rooster, showing their relative size, shape and position 
 I, neck hackle; 2. breast; 3, wing shoulder covert; 4, wing flight covert ; 5, wing primary; 
 6, wing secondarv; 7, wing covert; 8, back; 9, tail covert; 10, main tail; 11, fluft; 
 T2, thigh; 13, saddle hackle; 14. the sickle or feather of beauty; 15, lesser sickle. 
 Prof. J. E. Rice in Rural School Leaflet. 
 
Bird Study 
 LESSON I 
 
 29 
 
 Feathers as Clothing 
 
 Leading thought — Feathers grow from the skin of a bird and protect 
 the bird from rain, snow, wind and cold. Some of the feathers act as 
 cloaks or mackintoshes and others as underclothing. 
 
 Method — The hen should be at close range for this lesson where the 
 children may observe how and where the different kinds of feathers grow. 
 The pupils should also study separately the form of a feather from the 
 back, from the breast, from the under side of the body, and a pin-feather. 
 
 Observations for pupils — i. How are the feathers arranged on the 
 backof the hen? Are they Hke shingles on the roof ? If so, what for? 
 
 2. How does a hen look when standing in the rain? 
 
 3. How are the feathers arranged on the breast? 
 
 4. Compare a feather from the back and one from the breast and 
 note the difference. 
 
 5. Are both ends of these feathers alike? If not, what is the 
 difference? 
 
 6. Is the fluffy part of the feather on the outside or next to the 
 bird's skin ? What is its use ? 
 
 7. Why is the smooth part of the feather (the web) on the outside? 
 
 8. Some feathers are all fluff and are called "down." At what age 
 was the fowl all covered with down ? 
 
 9. What is a pin-feather? What makes you think so? 
 
 10. How do hens keep their feathers oily and glossy so they will 
 shed water? 
 
 11. Where does the hen get the oil? Describe how she oils her 
 feathers and which ones does she oil most? Does she oil her feathers 
 before a rain? 
 
 "How beautiful your feathers be!'' 
 The Redbird sang to the Tulip-tree 
 
 New garbed in autumn gold. 
 "Alas!" the bending branches sighed, 
 "They cannot like your leaves abide 
 
 To keep us from the cold!" 
 
 — John B. Tabb. 
 
 
30 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 FEATHERS AS ORNAMENT 
 Teacher s Story 
 
 HE ornamental plumage of birds is one of the 
 principal illvstrations of a great principle of evo- 
 lution. The theory is that the male birds win 
 their mates because of their beauty, those that 
 are not beautiful being doomed to live single 
 and leave no progeny to inherit their dullness. 
 On the other hand, the successful wooer hands 
 down his beauty to his sons. However, another 
 quite different principle acts upon the coloring 
 of the plumage of the mother birds; for if they should develop 
 bright colors themselves, they would attract the eyes of the enemy 
 to their precious hidden nests; only by being inconspicuous, are 
 they able to protect their eggs and nestlings from discovery and 
 death. The mother partridge, for instance, is so nearly the color of the 
 dead leaves on the ground about her, that we may almost step upon her 
 before we discover her; if she were the color of the oriole or tanager she 
 would very soon be the center of attraction to every prowler. Thus, it 
 has come about that among the birds the feminine love of beauty has 
 developed the gorgeous colors of the males, while the need for protection 
 of the home has kept the female plumage modest and unnoticeable. 
 
 The curved feathers of the rooster's tail are weak and mobile and 
 could not possibly be of any use as a rudder; but they give grace and 
 beauty to the fowl and cover the useful rudder feathers underneath by a 
 feather fountain of iridescence. The neck plumage of the cock is also 
 often luxurious and beautiful in color and quite different from that of the 
 hen. Among the ducks the brilliant blue-green iridescent head of the 
 drake and his wing bars are beautiful, and make his wife seem Quaker-like 
 in contrast. 
 
 As an object lesson to instil the idea that the male bird is proud of his 
 beautiful feathers, I know of none better than that presented by the 
 turkey gobbler, for he is a living expression of self-conscious vanity. He 
 spreads his tail to the fullest extent and shifts it this way and that to show 
 the exquisite play of colors over the feathers in the sunlight, meanwhile 
 throwing out his chest to call particular attention to his blue and red 
 wattles ; and to keep from bursting with pride he bubbles over in vain- 
 glorious "gobbles." 
 
 The hen with her chicks and the turkey hen with her brood, if they 
 follow their own natures, must wander in the fields for food. If they 
 were bright in color, the hawks would soon detect them and their chances 
 of escape would be small; this is another instance of the advantage to the 
 young of adopting the colors of the mother rather than of the father; a 
 fact equally true of the song birds in cases where the males are brilliant in 
 color at maturity. The Baltimore oriole does not assist his mate in 
 brooding, but he sits somewhere on the home tree and cheers her by his 
 glorious song and by glimpses of his gleaming orange coat. Some have 
 accused him of being lazy; on the contrary, he is a wise householder for, 
 instead of attracting the attention of crow or squirrel to his nest, he dis- 
 tracts their attention from it by both color and song. 
 
 A peacock's feather should really be a lesson by itself, it is so much a 
 thing of beauty. The brilliant color of the purple eye-spot, and the grace- 
 
Bird Study 
 
 31 
 
 ful flowing barbs that form the setting to the central gem, are all 
 a training in aesthetics as well as in nature-study. After the 
 children have studied such a 
 feather let them see the peacock 
 either in reality or in picture 
 and give them stories about this 
 bird of Juno; a bird so incon- 
 spicuous if it were not for his 
 great spread of tail, that a child 
 seeing it first cried, "Oh, oh, see 
 this old hen all in bloom!" 
 
 The whole question of sexual 
 selection may be made as plain 
 as need be for the little folks, by 
 simply telling them that the 
 mother bird chooses for her mate the one which is most brightly and 
 beautifully dressed, and make much of the comb and wattles of the 
 rooster and gobbler as additions to the brilliancy of their appearance. 
 
 Peacock feathers. Is beauty useful? 
 
 LESSON II 
 
 Feathers as Ornament 
 
 Leading thotight — The color of feathers and often their shape are for the 
 purpose of making birds more beautiful ; while in others, the color of the 
 feathers protects them from the observation of their enemies. 
 
 Methods — While parts of this lesson relating to fowls, may be given in 
 primary grades, it is equally fitted for pupils who have a wider knowledge 
 of birds. Begin with a comparison of the plumage of the hen and the 
 rooster. Then, if possible, study the turkey gobbler and a peacock in life 
 or in pictures. Also the plumage of a Rouen duck and drake, and if 
 possible, the Baltimore oriole, the goldfinch, the scarlet tanager and 
 the cardinal. 
 
 Observations — i. Note difference in shape and color of the tail 
 feathers of hen and rooster. 
 
 2. Do the graceful curved tail feathers of the rooster help him in 
 flying? Are they stifif enough to act as a rudder? 
 
 3. If not of use in flying what are they for? 
 the more beautiful the hen or the rooster? 
 
 4. In what respects is the rooster a more beautiful fowl? 
 
 5. What other parts of the rooster's plumage is more beautiful than 
 that of the hen? 
 
 6. If a turkey gobbler sees you looking at him he begins to strut. 
 Do you think he does this to show off his tail feathers? Note how he 
 turns his spread tail this way and that so the sunshine will bring out the 
 beautiful changeable colors. Do you think he does this so you can see 
 and admire him? 
 
 7. Describe the difference in plumage between the hen turkey and 
 the gobbler? Does the hen turkey strut? 
 
 8. Note the beautiful blue-green iridescent head and wing patches 
 
 Which do vou think 
 
32 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 on the wings of the Rouen ducks? Is the drake more beautiful than the 
 duck? 
 
 9. What advantage is it for these fowls to have the father bird 
 more beautiful and bright in color than the mother bird? 
 
 10. In case of the Baltimore oriole is the mother bird as bright in 
 color as the father bird? Why? 
 
 11. Study a peacock's feather. What color is the eye-spot? What 
 color around that? What color around that? What color and shape are 
 the outside barbs of the feather? Do you blame a peacock for being 
 proud when he can spread a tail of a hundred eyes? Does the peahen 
 have such beautiful tail feathers as the peacock? 
 
 Peahens and peacocks 
 
 The bird of Juno glories in his phimes; 
 
 Pride makes the fowl to prcene his feathers so. 
 
 His spotted train fetched from old Argus' head. 
 
 With golden rays like to the brighest sun, 
 
 Inserteth self-love in the silly bird; 
 
 Till midst its hot and glorious fumes 
 
 He spies his feet and then lets fall his plumes. 
 
 — The Peacock, Robert Greene, (1560), 
 
Bird Study 
 
 33 
 
 HOW BIRDS FLY 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 'O convince the children that a bird's wings correspond 
 to our arms, they should see a fowl with its feathers off, 
 prepared for market or oven, and they will infer the 
 fact at once. 
 
 The bird flies by lifting itself through pressing down upon the air with 
 its wings. There are several experiments which are needed to make the 
 child understand this. It is difficult for children to conceive that the air 
 is really anything, because they cannot see it; so the first experiment 
 should be to show that the air is something we can push against or that 
 pushes against us. Strike the air with a fan and we feel there is something 
 which the fan pushes; we feel the wind when it is blowing and it is very 
 difficult for us to walk against a hard wind. If we hold an open umbrella 
 in the hand while we jump from a step we feel buoyed up because the 
 umbrella presses down upon the air. The bird presses down upon the air 
 with the wings, just as the open umbrella does. The bird flies by pressing 
 down upon the air with its wings just as a boy jumps high by pressing 
 down with his hands on his vaulting pole. 
 
 
 Hen with wing outstretched showing primaries and secondaries 
 
 of the wing and the ovcrlappi)ig of the feathers. 
 
 From practical exercise on feathers by Prof. J. E. Rice in Rural 
 
 School Leaflet. 
 
34 Handbook of N atiire-SUidy 
 
 Study wing and note : (a) That the wings open and close at the 
 will of the bird, (b) That the feathers open and shut on each other like a 
 fan. (c) When the wing is open the wing quills overlap, so that the air 
 cannot pass through them, (d) When the wing is open it is curved so 
 that it is more efficient, for the same reason that an umbrella presses 
 harder against the atmosphere when it is open than when it is broken by 
 the wind and turned wrong side out. 
 
 A wing feather has the barbs on the front edge lying almost parallel to 
 the quill while those on the hind edge come off at a wide angle. The 
 reason for this is easy to see, for this feather has to cut the air as the bird 
 flies; and if the barbs on the front side were like those of the other side 
 they would be torn apart by the wind. The barbs on the hind side of the 
 feather form a strong, close web so as to press down on the air and not let 
 it through. The wing quill is curved; the convex side is up and the con- 
 cave side below during flight. The concave side, like the umbrella, 
 catches more air than the upper side ; the down stroke of the wing is for- 
 ward and down; while on the up stroke, as the wing is lifted, it bends at 
 the joint like a fan turned sidewise, and offers less surface to resist the air. 
 Thus, the up stroke does not push the bird down. 
 
 Observations should be made on the use of the bird's tail in flight. 
 The hen spreads her tail like a fan when she flies to the top of the fence; 
 the robin does likewise when in flight. The fact that the tail is used as a 
 rudder to guide the bird in flight, as well as to give more surface for 
 pressing down upon the air, is hard for the younger pupils to understand, 
 and perhaps can be best taught by watching the erratic unbalanced flight 
 of young birds whose tail feathers are not yet grown. 
 
 The tail feather differs from the wing feather in that the quill is not 
 curved, and the barbs on each side are of about equal length and lie at 
 about the same angle on each side the quill. See Fig. p. 28. 
 
 References — The Bird Book, Eckstorm, pp. 75-92; Story of the 
 Birds, Baskett, pp. 171-176; Bird Life, Chapman, p. 18; The Bird, 
 Beebe, Ch. XIII; First Book of Birds, Miller. 
 
 LESSON III. 
 
 How Birds Fly 
 
 Leading thought — A bird flies by pressing down upon the air with its 
 wings, which are made especially for this purpose. The bird's tail acts as 
 a rudder during flight. 
 
 Method — The hen, it is hoped will by this time be tame enough so that 
 the teacher may spread open her wings for the children to see. In addi- 
 tion, have a detached wing of a fowl such as are used in farm houses 
 instead of a whisk-broom. 
 
 Observations — i. Do you think a bird's wings correspond to our 
 arms? If so why? 
 
 2. Why do birds flap their wings when they start to fly? 
 
 3. Can you press against the air with a fan? 
 
 4. Why do you jump so high with a vaulting pole? Do you think 
 the bird uses the air as you use the pole? 
 
 5. How are the feathers arranged on the wing so that the bird can 
 use it to press down on the air? 
 
Bird Study 
 
 35 
 
 6. If you carry an umbrella on a windy morning, which catches 
 more wind, the under or the top side? Why is this? Does the curved 
 surface of the wing act in the same way? 
 
 7. Take a wing feather. Are the barbs as long on one side of the 
 quill as on the other? Do they lie at the same angle from the quill on 
 both sides ? If not why ? 
 
 8. Which side of the quill lies on the outer side and which on the 
 inner side of the wing? 
 
 9. Is the quill of the feather curved? 
 
 10. Which side is uppermost in the wing, the convex or the concave 
 side? Take a quill in one hand and press the tip against the other. 
 Which way does it bend easiest, toward the convex or the concave side? 
 What had this to do with the flight of the bird ? 
 
 11. If the bird flies by pressing the wings against the air on 
 the down stroke, why does it not push itself downward with its 
 wings on the up stroke? 
 
 12. What is the shape and arrangement of the feathers so as to 
 avoid pushing the bird back to earth when it lifts its wings? 
 
 13. Why do you have a rudder to a boat? 
 
 14. Do you think a bird could sail through the air without some- 
 thing to steer with? What is the bird's rudder? 
 
 15. Have you ever seen a young bird whose tail is not yet grown, 
 try to fly? If so, how did it act? 
 
 16. Does the hen when she flies keep the tail closed or open like 
 a fan? 
 
 1 7 . Compare a tail feather with a wing feather and describe the 
 difference. 
 
 Engraved by Elsa L. Ames. 
 
36 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 EYES AND EARS OF BIRDS 
 
 TeacJier's Story 
 
 HE hen's eyes are placed at the side of the head so that 
 she cannot see the same object with both eyes at the 
 same time, and thus she has the habit of looking at us 
 first with one eye and then the other to be sure she 
 sees correctly; also the position of the hen's eyes give 
 her a command of her entire environment. All birds 
 have much keener eyes than have we; and they can 
 adjust their eyes for either near or far vision much 
 more effectively than we can ; the hawk, flying high in the air, can see 
 the mouse on the ground. 
 
 There is a wide range of colors found in the eyes of birds; white, red 
 blue, yellow, brown, gray, pink, purple and green are found in the iris of 
 different species. The hen's eye consists of a black pupil at the center, 
 which must always be black in any eye, since it is a hole through which 
 enters the image of the object. The iris of the hen's eye is yeUow; there 
 is apparently no upper lid but the lower hd comes up during the process of 
 sleeping. When the bird is drowsy the little film lid comes out from the 
 corner of the eye and spreads over it like a veil; just at the corner of our 
 own eye, next the nose, is the remains of this film Hd, although we cannot 
 move it as the hen does. 
 
 The hearing of birds is very acute, although the ear is simply a hole in 
 the side of the head in most cases, and is more or less covered with 
 feathers. The hen's ear is like this in many varieties; but in others and 
 in the roosters there are ornamental ear lobes. 
 
 LESSON IV 
 Eyes and Ears of Birds 
 
 Leading thought — The eyes and ears of birds are peculiar and very 
 efficient. 
 
 Methods — The hen or chicken and the rooster should be observed for 
 this lesson ; notes may be made in the poultry yard or in the schoolroom 
 when the birds are brought there for study. 
 
 Observations — i . Why does the hen turn her head first this side and 
 that as she looks at you? Can she see an object with both eyes at once? 
 Can she see well? 
 
 2. How many colors are there in a hen's eye? Describe the pupil 
 and the iris. 
 
 3. Does the hen wink as we do? Has she any eyehds? 
 
 4. Can you see the film hd? Does it come from above or below or 
 the inner or outer comer? When do you see this film lid? 
 
 5. Where are the hen's ears? How do they look? How can you 
 tell where the rooster's ears are? 
 
 6. Do you think the hen can see and hear well? 
 
Bird Study 37 
 
 THE FORM AND USE OF BEAKS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 INCE the bird uses its arms and hands for flying, it 
 has been obhged to develop other organs to take 
 their place, and of their work the beak does its full 
 hare. It is well to emphasize this point by letting 
 she children at recess play the game of trying to eat 
 tan apple or to put up their books and pencils with 
 their arms tied behind them; such an experiment 
 will show how naturally the teeth and feet come to the aid when the 
 hands are useless. 
 
 The; hen feeds upon seeds and insects which she finds on or in the 
 ground her beak is horny and sharp and acts not only as a pair of nip- 
 pers, but also as a pick as she strikes it into the soil to get the seed or 
 insect, having already made bare the place by scratching away the grass 
 or surface of the soil with her strong, stubby toes. The hen does not have 
 any teeth, nor does she need any, for her sharp beak enables her to seize 
 her food; and she does not need to chew it, since her gizzard does this for 
 her after the food is swallowed. 
 
 The duck's bill is broad, flat, and much softer than the hen's beak. 
 The duck feeds upon water insects and plants; it attains these by thrust- 
 ing its head down into the water, seizing the food and holding it fast while 
 the water is strained out through the sieve at the edges of the beak ; for 
 this use, a wide, flat beak is necessary. It would be quite as impossible 
 for a duck to pick up hard seeds with its broad, soft bill as it would for 
 the hen to get the duck's food out of the water with her narrow, horny 
 bill. 
 
 Both the duck and hen use their bills for cleaning and oiling their 
 feathers and for fighting also ; the hen strikes a sharp blow with her beak 
 making a wound like a dagger, while the duck seizes the enemy and 
 simply pinches hard. Both fowls also use their beaks for turning over the 
 eggs when incubating, and also as an aid to the feet when they make nests 
 for themselves. 
 
 The nostrils are very noticeable and are situated in the beak near the 
 base. However, we do not believe that birds have a keen sense of smell 
 since their nostrils are not surrounded by a damp, sensitive, soft surface 
 as are the nostrils of the deer and dog, this arrangement aiding these 
 animals to detect odor in a marvelous manner. 
 
 LESSON V 
 The Beak of a Bird 
 
 Leading thought — Each kind of bird has a beak especially adapted for 
 getting its food. The beak and feet of a bird are its chief weapons and 
 implements. 
 
 Methods — Study first the beak of the hen or chick and then that of 
 the duckling or gosling. 
 
 Observations — i. What kind of food does the hen eat and where and 
 how does she find it in the field or gaiden? How is her beak adapted to 
 get this food? If her beak were soft like that of a duck could she peck so 
 hard for seeds and worms? Has the hen any teeth? Does she need any? 
 
38 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 2. Compare the bill of the hen with that of the duck? What are 
 the differences in shape? Which is the harder? 
 
 3. Note the saw teeth along the edge of the duck's bill. Are these 
 for chewing? Do they act as a strainer? Why does the duck need to 
 strain its food? 
 
 4. Could a duck pick up a hen's food from the earth or the hen 
 strain out a duck's food from the water? For what other things than 
 getting food do these fowls use their bills? 
 
 5. Can you see the nostrils in the bill of a hen? Do they show 
 plainer in the duck? Do you think the hen can smell as keenly as the 
 duck? 
 
 Supplementary reading — The Bird Book, p. 99; The First Book of 
 Birds, pp. 95-7; Mother Nature's Children, Chapter VIII. 
 
 "It is said that nature-study teaching should be accurate, a statement that every good 
 teacher will admit without debate; but accuracy is often interpreted to mean complete- 
 ness, and then tJie statement cannot pass unchallenged. To study 'the dandelion,' 'the 
 robin,' ivith emphasis on the particle 'the', working out the complete structure, may be 
 good laboratory work i)i botany or zoology for advanced pupils, but it is not an elemen- 
 tary educational process. It contributes nothing more to accuracy than does the natural 
 order of leaving untouched all those phases of the subject that are out of the child's reach; 
 while it may take out the life and spirit of the work, and the spiritual quality may be 
 the very part that is -most wortli the while. Oilier ivork may provide the formal 'drill' ; 
 this should supply the quality and vivacity. Teachers often say to me that their 
 children have done excellent work with these complete methods, and they show me the 
 essays and drawings; but this is no proof that the work is commendable. Children 
 can be made to do many things that they ought not to do and that lie beyond them. We 
 all need to go to school to children." — "The Outlook to Nature," L. H. Bailey. 
 
 "Weather and wind and waning moon. 
 
 Plain and hilltop under the sky, 
 Ev'nijig, morning and blazing noon, 
 
 Brother of all the ivorld am I . 
 The pine-tree, linden and the maize. 
 
 The insect, squirrel and the kine. 
 All — natively they live their days — 
 
 As they live theirs, so I live mine, 
 I know not where, I know not what: — 
 
 Believing none and doubting none 
 What'er befalls it counteth not, — 
 
 Nature and Time and I are one." 
 
 — L. H. Bailey. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 39 
 
 THE FEET OF BIRDS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 BVIOUSLY, the hen is a digger of the soil; her claws 
 are long, strong and slightly hooked, and her feet 
 and legs are covered with homy scales as a protec- 
 tion from injury when used in scratching the hard 
 earth, in order to lay bare the seeds and insects 
 hiding there. The hen is a very good runner indeed. 
 She lifts her wings a little to help, much as an 
 athletic runner uses his arms, and so can cover 
 ground with amazing rapidity, her strong toes giv- 
 ing her a firm foothold. The track she makes is 
 very characteristic; it consists of three toe-marks 
 projecting forward and one backward. A bird's 
 toes are numbered thus: 
 A duck 
 has the same number of toes as 
 the hen, but there is a membrane, 
 called the web, which joins the 
 second, third and fourth toes, mak- 
 ing a fan-shaped foot; the first or 
 the hind toe has a little web of its 
 own. A webbed foot is first of all 
 a paddle for propelling its owner 
 through the water; it is also a very useful foot on the shores of ponds 
 and streams, since its breadth and flatness prevent it from sinking into 
 the soft mud. 
 
 The duck's legs are shorter than those of the hen and are placed farther 
 back and wider apart. The reason for this is, they are essentially swim- 
 ming organs and are not fitted for scratching nor for running. They are 
 placed at the sides of the bird's body so that they may act as paddles, and 
 are farther back so that they may act like the wheel of a propeller in 
 
 Duck's foot and hen's foot with 
 toes numbered. 
 
 Rouen ducks. The Rouens arc colored like the Wild Mallards. 
 
40 Haiidbook of Nature-Sttidy 
 
 pushing the bird along. We often laugh at a duck on land, since its short 
 legs are so far apart and so far back that its walk is necessarily an awk- 
 ward waddle; but we must always remember that the duck is naturally 
 a water bird, and on the water its movements are graceful. Think once, 
 how a hen would appear if she attempted to swim! The duck's body is 
 so illy balanced on its short legs that it cannot run rapidly; and if chased 
 even a short distance, will fall dead from the effort, as many a country 
 child has discovered to his sorrow when he tried to drive the ducks home 
 from the creek or pond to coop. The long, hind claw of the hen enables 
 her to clasp a roost firmly during the night; a duck's foot could not do 
 this and the duck sleeps squatting on the ground. However, the Mus- 
 covy ducks, which are not good swimmers, have been known to perch. 
 
 LESSON VI 
 The ,Feet of Birds 
 
 Leading thought — The feet of _^birds are shaped so as to assist the bird in 
 getting its food as well as for locomotion. 
 
 MetJiods — The pupils should have opportunity to observe the chicken 
 or hen and a duck as they move about; they should also observe the 
 duck swimming. 
 
 Observations — i. Are the toes of the hen long and strong? Have 
 they long, sharp claws at their tips? 
 
 2 . How are the legs and feet of the-hen covered and protected ? 
 
 3. How are the hen's feet and legs fitted for scratching the earth, 
 and why does she wish to scratch the earth? 
 
 4. Can a hen run rapidly? AVhat sort of a track does she make? 
 
 5. You number your fingers with the thumb as number one and the 
 little finger as five. How do you think the hen's toes are numbered? 
 
 6. Has the duck as many toes as the hen? What is the chief 
 difference between the feet of the duck and the hen ? 
 
 7. Which of the duck's toes are connected by a web? Does the 
 web extend to the tips of the toes? What is the web for and how does it 
 help the duck ? 
 
 8. Are the duck's legs as long as the hen's? Are they placed 
 farther forward or farther back than those of the hen? Are they farther 
 apart? 
 
 9. Can a duck run as well as a hen? Can the hen swim at all? 
 
 10. Where does the hen sleep and how does she hold on to her 
 perch? Could the duck hold on to a perch? Does the duck need to 
 perch while sleeping? 
 
Bird SUidy 
 
 41 
 
 CHICKEN WAYS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 AME Nature certainly pays close attention to details, 
 and an instance of this is the little tooth on the tip of 
 the upper mandible of the young chick to aid it in 
 breaking out of its egg-shell prison ; and since a tooth 
 in this particular place is of no use later, it disappears. 
 The children are delighted with the beauty of a fluffy, 
 little chick with its bright, questioning eyes and its life 
 of activity as soon as it is freed from the shell. What 
 a contrast to the blind, bare, scrawny young robin, 
 which seems to be all mouth ! The difference between 
 the two is fundamental since it gives a character for separating ground 
 birds f.om perching birds. The young partridge, quail, turkey and chick 
 are clothed and active and ready to go with the mother in search of food 
 as soon as they are hatched; while the young of the perching birds are 
 naked and blind, being kept warm by the brooding mother, and fed and 
 nourished by food brought by their parents, until they are large enough to 
 leave the nest. The down which covers the young chick differs from the 
 feathers which come later; the down has no quill but consists of several 
 flossy threads coming from the same root; later on, this down is pushed 
 out and off by the true feathers which grow from the same sockets. The 
 
 An anxious stepmother. 
 
42 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 pupils should see that the down is so soft that the little, fluffy wings of the 
 chick are useless until the real wing feathers appear. 
 
 We chew food until it is soft and fine, then swallow it, but the chick 
 swallows it whole and after being softened by juices from the stomach it 
 passes into a little mill, in which is gravel that the chicken has swallowed, 
 which helps to grind the food. This mill is called the gizzard and the 
 pupils should be taught to look carefully at this organ the next time they 
 have chicken for dinner. A chicken has no muscles in the throat, like 
 ours, to enable it to swallow water as we do. Thus, it has first to fill its 
 
 
 . . ,^Bf^M^ U(^:l^^^h.^-^~^^'^..^<^j%, 
 
 ,£!L 
 
 ^'Churns. 
 
 beak with water, then hold it up so the water will flow down the throat of 
 itself. As long as the little chick has its mother's wings to sleep under, it 
 does not need to put its head under its own wing; but when it grows up 
 and spends the night upon a roost, it always tuck» its head under its wing 
 while sleeping. 
 
 The conversation of the barnyard fowl covers many elemental emo- 
 tions and is easily comprehended. It is well for the children to under- 
 stand from the first that the notes of birds mean something definite. The 
 hen clucks when she is leading her chicks afield so that they will know 
 where she is in the tall grass; the chicks follow "cheeping" or "peeping," 
 as the children say, so that she will know where they are ; but if a chick 
 
bird Study 
 
 43 
 
 feels itself lost its "peep" becomes loud and disconsolate; on the other 
 hand, there is no sound in the world so full of cosy contentment as the low 
 notes of the chick as it cuddles under the mother's wing. When a hen 
 finds a bit of food she utters rapid notes which call the chicks in a hurry, 
 and when she sees a hawk she gives a warning "q-r-r" which makes every 
 chick run for cover and keep quiet. When hens are taking their sun and 
 dust baths together, they evidently gossip and we can almost hear them 
 saying, "Did you not think Madam Dorking made a great fuss over her egg 
 to-day?" Or, "that overgrown young rooster has got a crow to match his 
 legs, has he not?" Contrast these low tones to the song of the hen as she 
 issues forth in the first warm days of spring and gives to the world one of 
 the most joyous songs of all nature. There is quite a different quality in 
 the triumphant cackle of a hen telling to the world that she has laid an 
 egg and the cackle which comes from being startled. When a hen is 
 sitting or is not allowed to sit, she is nervous and irri able and voices her 
 mental state by scolding. When she is really afraid, she squalls and when 
 seized by an enemy, she utters long, horrible squawks. The rooster 
 crows to assure his flock that all is well; he also crows to show other 
 roosters what he thinks of himself and of them. The rooster also has 
 other notes ; he will question you as you approach him and his flock, and 
 he will give a warning note when he sees a hawk; when he finds some 
 dainty tidbit he calls his flock of hens to him and they usually arrive just in 
 time to see him swallow the morsel. 
 
 When roosters fight, they confront each other with their heads lowered 
 and then try to seize each other by the back of the neck with their beaks, 
 or strike each other with the wing spurs, or tear with the leg spurs. 
 Weasels, skunks, rats, hawks and crows are the most common enemies of 
 the fowls, and often a rooster will attack one of these invaders and fight 
 vaHantly; the hen will also fight if her brood is disturbed. 
 
 *^WeU, who are you?" 
 
44 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 5- 
 6. 
 
 7- 
 
 LESSON VII 
 
 Chicken Ways 
 
 Leading thought — Chickens have interesting habits of Hfe and extensive 
 conversational powers. 
 
 Method — For this lesson it is necessary that the pupils observe the 
 inhabitants of the poultry yard and answer these questions a few at a 
 time. 
 
 Observations — i. Did the chick get out of the egg by its own efforts? 
 For what use is the little tooth which is on the tip of the upper part of a 
 young chicken's beak? Does this remain? 
 
 2. What is the difference between the down of the chick and the 
 feathers of the hen ? The little chick has wings; why can it not fly ? 
 
 3. Why is the chick just hatched so pretty and downy, while the 
 young robin is so bare and ugly? Why is the young chick able to see 
 while the young robin is blind? 
 
 4. How does the 3^oung chick get its food? 
 Does the chick chew its food before swallowing? If not, why? 
 How does the chick drink? Why does it drink this way? 
 Where does the chick sleep at night? Where will it sleep when 
 
 it is grown up ? 
 
 8. Where does the hen put her head when she is sleeping? 
 
 9. How does the hen call her chicks when she is with them in the 
 field? 
 
 How does she call them to food? 
 
 How does she tell them that there is a hawk in sight? 
 
 12. What notes does the chick 
 make when it is following its 
 mother? When it gets lost? 
 When it cuddles under her wing? 
 
 13. What does the hen say 
 when she has laid an egg? When 
 she is frightened? When she is 
 disturbed while sitting on eggs? 
 When she is grasped by an enemy ? 
 How do hens talk together? De- 
 scribe a hen's song. 
 
 14. When does the rooster 
 crow? What other sounds does 
 he make? 
 
 15. With what weapons does 
 the rooster fight his rivals and his 
 enemies? 
 
 16. What are the natural 
 enemies of the barnyard fowls and 
 
 Parts of the bird labeled. how do they escape them? 
 
 This figure should be placed on the blackboard Supplementary reading — T r U 6 
 
 where pupils may consult it when studying t,- 1 r^, ■ tvt'ii 
 
 colors and markings of birds. Bird StOHCS, Miller p. I0 2. 
 
 10. 
 II. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 45 
 
 Pigeon houses of the upper Nile. 
 Photo by J. H. Comstock. 
 
 PIGEONS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 'HERE is a mention of domesticated pigeons by writers 
 three thousand years ago ; and PUny relates that the 
 Romans were fervent pigeon fanciers at the beginning 
 of the Christian era. All of our domestic varieties of 
 pigeons have been developed from the Rock pigeon, a 
 wild species common in Europe and Asia. The carrier 
 pigeon was probably the first to be specially developed 
 because of its usefulness ; its love and devotion to mate 
 and young and its homesickness when separated from them were used by 
 man for his own interests. When a knight of old started off on a 
 Crusade or to other wars, he took with him several pigeons from the home 
 cote ; and after riding many days he wrote a letter and tied it to the neck 
 or under the wing of one of his birds, which he then set free, and it flew 
 home with its message; later he would set free another in like manner. 
 The drawback to this correspondence was that it went only in one direc- 
 tion; no bird from home brought message of cheer to the wandering 
 knight. Now-a-days mail routes, telegraph wires and wireless currents 
 enmesh our globe and the pigeon as a carrier is out-of-date; but fanciers 
 still perfect the homer breed and train pigeons for very difficult flight 
 competitions, some of them a distance of hundreds of miles. Recently 
 a homer made one thousand miles in two days, five hours and fifty 
 minutes. Read to the pupils "Arnaux" in Animal Heroes by Thompson 
 Seton to give them an idea of the life of a homing pigeon. 
 
46 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The natural food of pigeons is grain; we feed them cracked 
 corn, wheat, peas, Kafir corn, millet and occasionally hemp seed; it 
 
 is best to feed mixed rations 
 as the birds tire of the 
 monotonous diet. Pigeons 
 should be fed twice a day; 
 the pigeon is the only bird 
 which can drink like a 
 horse, that is, with the 
 head lowered. The walk 
 of a pigeon is accom- 
 panied by a peculiar nod- 
 ding as if the head were in 
 some way attached to the 
 feet, and this movement 
 sends waves of iridescent 
 colors over the bird's 
 plumage. The flight of the 
 pigeon is direct without 
 soaring, the wings move 
 rapidly and steadily, the 
 birds circling and sailing as 
 "Game Leg" a homer pigeon of notable achievement they start or alight. The 
 (Courtesy of Country Life in America.) CrOW flaps hard and then 
 
 sails for a distance when 
 it is inspecting the ground, while the hawk soars on motionless 
 wings. It requires closer attention to understand the language of the 
 pigeon than that of the hen, nor has it so wide a range of expression as 
 the latter; however, some emotions are voiced in the cooing, v/hich the 
 children will understand. 
 
 The nest is built of grass and twigs; the mother pigeon lays two eggs 
 for a sitting; but in some breeds a pair will raise from seven to twelve 
 broods per year. The eggs hatch in from sixteen to eighteen days, and 
 both parents share the labors of incubating. In the case of the homer 
 the father bird sits from lo a. m. to 4 p. m. and the mother the remainder 
 of the day and night. The devotion of pigeons to their mates and to their 
 young is great, and has been sung by the poets and praised by the philoso- 
 phers during many ages ; some breeds mate for life. The young pigeons 
 or squabs are fed in a peculiar manner; in the crops of both parents is 
 secreted a cheesy substance, known as pigeon milk. The parent seizes 
 the beak of the squab in its own and pumps the food from its own crop 
 into the stomach of the young. This nutritious food is given to the squalD 
 for about five days and then replaced by grain which is softened in the 
 parents' stomachs, until the squabs are old enough to feed themselves. 
 Rats, mice, weasels, and hawks are the chief enemies of the pigeons; 
 since pigeons cannot fight, their only safety lies in flight. 
 
 As the original Rock pigeon built in caves, our domesticated varieties 
 naturally build in the houses we provide for them. A pigeon house 
 should not be built for more than fifty pairs ; it should be well ventilated 
 and kept clean; it should face the south or east and be near a shallow, 
 running stream if possible. The nest boxes should be twelve inches 
 square and nine inches in height with a door at one side, so 
 
Bird Stitdy 
 
 47 
 
 that the nest may remain hidden. In front of each door there 
 should be a little shelf to act as a balcony on which the resting parent bird 
 may sit and coo to 
 relieve the monotony 
 of the sitter. Some 
 breeders make a 
 double compartment 
 instead of providing a 
 balcony, while in 
 Egypt branches are 
 inserted in the wall 
 just below the doors 
 of the very ornamen- 
 tal pigeon houses. 
 The houses should be 
 kept clean and white- 
 washed with lime 
 to which carbolic acid 
 is added in the pro- 
 portion of one tea- Poiiter pigeons 
 spoonful of acid to two P^oto t.y J. Demary 
 
 gallons of the wash; the leaf stems of tobacco should be given to the 
 pigeons as material for building their nests, so as to help keep in check the 
 bird lice. There should be near the pigeon house plenty of fresh water 
 for drinking and bathing; also a box of table salt, and another of cracked 
 oyster shell and another of charcoal as fine as ground coffee. Salt is very 
 essential to the health of pigeons. The house should be high enough from 
 the ground to keep the inmates safe from rats and weasels. 
 
 LESSON VIII 
 
 Pigeons 
 
 Leading thought — The pigeons differ in appearance from other birds 
 and also in their actions. Their nesting habits are very interesting and 
 there are many things that may be done to make the pigeons comfortable. 
 They were, in ancient days, used as letter carriers. 
 
 Methods — If there are pigeons kept in the neighborhood, it is best to 
 encourage the pupils to observe these birds out-of-doors. Begin the 
 work with an interesting story and with a few questions which will arouse 
 the pupils' interest in the birds. A pigeon in a cage in the schoolroom for 
 a special lesson on the bird's appearance, is desirable but not necessary. 
 
 Observations — i. For an out-of-door exercise during recess let the 
 pupils observe the pigeon and tell the colors of the beak, eyes, top of the 
 head, back, breast, wings, tail, feet and claws. This exercise is excellent 
 training to fit the pupils to note quickly the colors of the wild birds. 
 
 2. On what do pigeons feed? Are they fond of salt? 
 
 3. Describe how a pigeon drinks. How does it differ in this respect 
 from other birds? 
 
 4. Describe the peculiar movement of the pigeon when walking. 
 
 5. Describe the pigeon's flight. Is it rapid, high in the air, do the 
 wings flap constantly, etc? What is the chief difference between the 
 flight of pigeons, crows or hawks? 
 
48 Handbook of Nattire-Study 
 
 6. Listen to the cooing of a pigeon and see if you can understand 
 the different notes. 
 
 7. Describe the pigeon's nest. How many eggs are laid at a time? 
 
 8. Describe how the parents share the labors in hatching the eggs, 
 and how long after the eggs are laid before the young hatch ? 
 
 9. How do the parents feed their young and on what material? 
 
 10. What are the enemies of pigeons and how do they escape from 
 them? How can we protect them? 
 
 11. Describe how a pigeon house should be built. 
 
 12. What must you do for pigeons to keep them healthy and com- 
 fortable ? 
 
 13. How many breeds of pigeons do you know? Describe them. 
 Supplementary reading — "Amaux" in Animal Heroes, Thompson 
 
 Seton; Audubon Leaflet, Nos. 2 and 6; Neighbors with Wings and Fins 
 Ch. XV; Noah and the Dove, The Bible; Daddy Darwin's Dove Cote, 
 Mrs. Ewing; Squab Raising, Bui. of U. S. Dept. Agr. 
 
 For my mvn part I readily concur with you in supposing that housedoves are 
 derived from the small blue rock-pigeon, Colurnba livia, for many reasons. * * * 
 But what is worth a hundred arguments is, the instance you give in Sir Roger Mostyn's 
 housedoves in Caernarvonshire ; ivhich, though tempted by plenty of food and gentle 
 treatment, can never be prevailed on to inhabit their cote for any time; but as soon as they 
 begin to breed, betake themselves to the fastnesses of Ormshead, and deposit their young 
 in safety amidst the inaccessible caverns and precipices of that stupendous promontory. 
 "You may drive nature out ivith a pitchfork, but she will always return:" 
 
 "Naturam expellas furca * * * tamen usque recurret." 
 Virgil, as a familiar occurrence, by way of simile, describes a dove haunting the 
 cavern of a rock in such engaging numbers, that I cannot refrain from quoting the 
 passage. 
 
 "Qualis spelunca subito commota Columba, 
 Cui domus, et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi, 
 Fcrtul in arva volans, plausunique exterrita pennis 
 Dat tecto ingentem, ntox acre lapsa quieto, 
 Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas." 
 
 (Virg. Aen. v. 213-217). 
 
 ".45 when a dove her rocky hold forsakes, 
 Roused, in a fright her sounding ivings she shakes; 
 The cavern rings with clattering: — out she flies. 
 And leaves her callow care, and cleaves the skies; 
 At first she flutters: — but at length she springs 
 To smoother flight, and shoots upon her wings." 
 
 CDryden's Translation). 
 
 White of Selbourne. 
 

 Bird Study 49 
 
 THE CANARY AND THE GOLDFINCH 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 N childhood the language of birds and animals is learned 
 unconsciously. What child, who cares for a canary, does 
 not understand its notes which mean loneliness, hunger, 
 eagerness, joy, scolding, fright, love and song! 
 
 The pair of canaries found in most cages are not natural 
 mates. The union is one de convenance, forced upon them 
 P^ by people who know little of bird aflfinities. We could 
 hardly expect that such a mating would be always happy. 
 The singer, as the male is called, is usually arbitrary and tyrannical and 
 does not hesitate to lay chastising beak upon his spouse. The expression 
 of affection of the two is usually very practical, consisting of feeding each 
 other with many beguiling notes and much fluttering of wings. The 
 singer may have several songs ; whether he has many or few depends upon 
 his education; he usually shows exultation when singing by throwing the 
 head back like a prima-donna, to let the music well forth. He is usually 
 brighter yellow in color with more brilliantly black markings than his 
 mate ; she usually has much gray in her plumage. But there are about 
 fifty varieties of canaries and each has distinct color and markings. 
 
 Canaries should be given a more varied diet than most people think. 
 The seeds we buy or that we gather from the plantain or wild grasses, they 
 eat eagerly. They like fresh, green leaves of lettuce and chickweed and 
 other tender herbage; they enjoy bread and milk occasionally. There 
 should always be a piece of cuttle-fish bono or san''' and gravel where they 
 can get it, as they need grit for digestion. Abce all, they should have 
 fresh water. Hard-boiled egg is given them while nesting. The canary 
 seed which we buy for them is the product of a grass in the Canary Islands. 
 Hemp and rape seed are also sold for canary food. 
 
 The canary's beak is wide and sharp and fitted for shelling seeds; it is 
 not a beak fitted for capturing insects. The canary, when drinking, does 
 not have to lift the beak so high in the air in order to swallow the water as 
 do some birds. The nostrils are in the beak and are easily seen; the ear 
 is hidden by the feathers. The canary is a fascinating little creature 
 when it shows interest in an object; it has such a knowing look, and its 
 perfectly round, black eyes arc so intelligent and cunning. If the canary 
 winks, the act is so rapid as to be seen with difficulty, but when drowsy, 
 the Httle inner lid appears at the inner corner of its eye and the outer lids 
 close so that we may be sure that they are there; the lower lid covers 
 more of the eye than the upper. 
 
 The legs and toes are covered with scale armor; the toes have long, 
 curved claws that are neither strong nor sharp but are especially fitted for 
 holding to the perch ; the long hind toe with its stronger claw makes com- 
 plete the grasp on the twig. When the canary is hopping about on the 
 bottom of the cage we can see that its toes are more fitted for holding to 
 the perch than for walking. 
 
 When the canary bathes, it ducks its head and makes a great splashing 
 with its wings and likes to get thoroughly wet. Afterward, it sits all 
 bedraggled and "humped up" for a time and then usually preens its 
 feathers as they dry. When going to sleep, it at first fluffs out its feathers 
 and squats on the perch, draws back its head and looks very drowsy. 
 
to 
 
 Hajtdbook of N atiire-Study 
 
 Later it tucks its head under its wing for the night, and then looks like a 
 little ball of feathers on the perch. 
 
 Canaries make a great fuss when building their nest. A pasteboard 
 box is usually given them with cotton and string for lining; usually one 
 pulls out what the other puts in; and they both industriously tear the 
 paper from the bottom of the cage to add to their building material. 
 Finally, a make-shift of a nest is completed and the eggs are laid. If the 
 singer is a good husband, he helps incubate the eggs and feeds his mate 
 and sings to her frequently ; but often he is quite the reverse and abuses 
 her abominably. The nest of the caged bird is very different in appear- 
 ance from the neat nests of grass, plant down, and moss which the w^ild 
 ancestors of these birds made in some safe retreat in the shrubs or ever- 
 greens of the Canary Islands. The canary eggs are pale blue, marked 
 with reddish-brown. The incubation period is 13 to 14 days. The 
 young are as scrawny and ugly as most little birds and are fed upon food 
 partially digested in the parents' stomachs. Their first plumage resem- 
 bles that of the mother usually. 
 
 In their wild state in the Canary and Azore Islands, the canaries are 
 olive green above with golden yellow breasts. When the heat of spring 
 begins, they move up the mountains to cooler levels and come down again 
 in the winter. They may rear three or four broods on their way up the 
 mountains, stopping at successive heights as the season advances, until 
 finally they reach the high peaks. 
 
 THE GOLDFIXCH OR THISTLE BIRD 
 
 .4 pair of goldfinches. 
 
 fCourtesy of Audubon Educational 
 Leaflet No. 17). 
 
 black cap but keeps his black wings and tail. 
 
 The goldfinches are bird midgets 
 but their songs are so sweet and 
 reedy that they seem to fill the 
 world with music more eft'ectually 
 than many larger birds. They 
 are fond of the seeds of wild 
 grass, and especially so of thistle 
 seed ; and they throng the pastures 
 and fence corners where the thistles 
 hold sway. In summer, the male 
 has bright yellow plumage with 
 a little black cap "pulled down 
 over his nose" like that of a 
 grenadier. He has also a black 
 tail and wings with white-tipped 
 coverts and primaries. The tail 
 feathers have white on their inner 
 webs also, which does not show 
 when the tail is closed. The female 
 has the head and back brown and 
 the under parts yellowish white, 
 with wings and tail resembling 
 those of the male except that they 
 are not so vividly black. In 
 winter the male dons a dress more 
 like that of his mate; he loses his 
 
Bird Study 51 
 
 The song of the goldfinch is exquisite and he sings during the entire 
 period of his golden dress; he sings while flying as well as when at rest. 
 The flight is in itself beautiful, being wave-like up and down, in graceful 
 curves. Mr. Chapman says when on the down half of the curve the male 
 sings "Per-chick or-ree." The goldfinch's call notes and alarm notes are 
 very much like those of the canary. 
 
 Since the goldfinches live so largely upon seeds of grasses, they stay 
 with us in small numbers during the winter. During this period both 
 parents and young are dressed in olive green, and their sweet call notes 
 are a surprise to us of a cold, snowy morning, for they are associated in our 
 memory with summer. The male dons his winter suit in October. 
 
 The goldfinch nest is a mass of fluffiness. These are the only birds 
 that make feather beds for their young. But, perhaps, we should say 
 beds of down, since it is the thistle down which is used for this mattress. 
 The outside of the nest consists of fine shreds of bark or fine grass closely 
 woven ; but the inner portion is a mat of thistle down — an inch and a half 
 thick of cushion for a nest which has an opening of scarcely three inches; 
 sometimes the outside is ornamented with lichens. The nest is usually 
 placed in some bush or tree, often in an evergreen, and not more than 5 or 
 6 feet from the ground; but sometimes it is placed 30 feet high. The 
 eggs are from four to six in number and bluish white in color. The female 
 builds the nest, her mate cheering her with song meanwhile; he feeds her 
 while she is incubating and helps feed the young. A strange thing about 
 the nesting habits of the goldfinches is that the nest is not built until 
 August. It has been surmised that this nesting season is delayed until 
 there is an abundance of thistle down for building material. Audubon 
 Leaflet No. 17 gives special information about these birds and also 
 furnishes an outline of the birds for the pupils to color. 
 
 LESSON IX 
 
 The Canary and the Goldfin'ch 
 
 Leading thought — The canary is a very close relative of the common 
 wild goldfinch. If we compare the habits of the two we can understand 
 how a canary might live if it were free. 
 
 Method — Bring a canary to the schoolroom and ask for observations. 
 Request the pupils to compare the canary with the goldfinches which are 
 common in the summer. The canary offers opportunity for very close 
 observation which will prove excellent training for the pupils for beginning 
 bird study. 
 
 Observations — i. If there are two canaries in the cage are they 
 always pleasant to each other? Which one is the "boss?" How do they 
 show displeasure or bad temper? How do they show affection for each 
 other? 
 
 2. Which one is the singer? Does the other one ever attempt to 
 sing? What other notes do the canaries make besides singing? How do 
 they greet you when you bring their food? What do they say when they 
 are lonesome and hungry? 
 
 3. Does the singer have more than one song? How does he act 
 while singing? Why does he throw back his head like an opera singer 
 when singing? 
 
52 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 4. Are the canaries all the same color? Wha-t is the difference in 
 color between the singer and the mother bird? Describe the colors of 
 each in your note book as follows: Top and sides of head, back, tail, 
 wings, throat, breast and under parts? 
 
 5. What does the canary eat? What sort of seeds do we buy for it? 
 What seeds do we gather for it in our garden ? Do the goldfinches live on 
 the same seeds? What does the canary do to the seeds before eating 
 them ? What tools does he use to take off the shells ? 
 
 6. Notice the shape of the canary's beak. Is it long and strong like 
 a robin's? Is it wide and sharp so that it can shell seeds? If you should 
 put an insect in the cage would the canary eat it? 
 
 7. Why do we give the canary cuttlebone? Note how it takes off 
 pieces of the bone. Could it do this if its beak were not sharp? 
 
 8. Note the actions of the birds when they drink. Why do they do 
 
 this? 
 
 9. Can you see the nostrils? Where are they situated? Why can 
 
 you not see the ear? 
 
 10. When the canary is interested in looking at a thing how does it 
 act? Look closely at its eyes? Does it wink? How does it close its 
 eyes? When it is drowsy can you see the little inner lid come from the 
 comer of the eye nearest the beak? Is this the only lid? 
 
 11. How are the legs and feet covered? Describe the toes. Com- 
 pare the length of the claw with the length of the toe. What is the shape 
 of the claw? Do you think that such shaped claws and feet are better 
 fitted for holding to a branch than for walking? Note the arrangement 
 of the toes when the bird is on its perch. Is the hind toe longer and 
 stronger? If so, why? Do the canaries hop or walk about the bottom 
 
 of the cage ? 
 
 12. What is the attitude of the canary when it goes to sleep at night? 
 How does it act when it takes a bath ? How does it get the water over its 
 head ? Over its back ? What does it do after the bath ? If we forget to 
 put in the bath dish how does the bird get its bath? 
 
 NESTING HABITS TO BE OBSERVED IN THE SPRING 
 
 13. AVhen the canaries are ready to build a nest what material do 
 we furnish them for it? Does the father bird help the mother to build 
 the nest? Do they strip off the paper on the bottom of the cage for nest 
 material? Describe the nest when it is finished. 
 
 14. Describe the eggs carefully. Does the father bird assist m 
 sitting on the eggs? Does he feed the mother bird when she is sitting? 
 
 1 5* How long after the eggs are laid before the young ones hatch? 
 Do both parents feed the young? Do they swallow the food first and 
 partially digest it before giving it to the young? 
 
 16. How do the very young birds look? What is their appearance 
 when they leave the nest? Does the color of their plumage resemble 
 that of the father or the mother? 
 
 17. Where did the canaries originally come from? Find the place 
 
 on the map. 
 
 Supplementary reading— "A Caged Bird," Sarah Ome Jewett m bongs 
 
 of Nature, p. 75; True Bird Stories, Miller. 
 
Bird Study c^ 
 
 The Goldfinch 
 
 Leading thought — Goldfinches are seen at their best in late summer or 
 September when they appear in flocks wherever the thistle seeds are 
 found in abundance. Goldfinches so resemble the canaries in form, color, 
 song and habits that they are called wild canaries. 
 
 Method — The questions for this lesson should be given to the pupils 
 before the end of school in June. The answers to the questions should be 
 put in their field note-books and the results be reported to the teacher in 
 class when the school begins in the autumn. 
 
 Observations—!. Where do you find the goldfinches feeding? How 
 can you distinguish the father from the mother birds and from the young 
 ones in color? 
 
 2. Describe the colors of the male goldfinch and also of the female as 
 follows : Crown, back of head, back, tail, wings, throat, breast and lower 
 parts. Describe in particular the black cap of the male. 
 
 3. Do you know the song of the goldfinch? Is it like the song of the 
 canary? What other notes has the goldfinch? 
 
 4. Describe the peculiar flight of the goldfinches. Do they fly high 
 in the air? Do you see them singly or in flocks usually? 
 
 5. Where do the goldfinches stay during the winter? What change 
 takes place in the coat of the male during the winter? Why? What do 
 they live upon during the winter? 
 
 6. At what time of year do the goldfinches build their nests? Why 
 do they build these so much later than other birds? Describe the nest. 
 Where is it placed ? How far above the ground ? How far from a stream 
 or other water? Of what is the outside made? The lining? What is 
 the general appearance of the nest? Do you think the goldfinches wait 
 until the thistles are ripe in order to gather plenty of food for their young, 
 or to get the thistle down for their nests? What is the color of the eggs? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Trtie Bird Stories, Miller, pp. 6, g, 26, 45. 
 The Second Book of Birds, Miller, p. 82; Our Birds and Their Nestlings, 
 Walker, pp. 180, 200. 
 
 Sometimes goldfinches one by one will drop 
 From low-hung branches; little space they stop. 
 But sip, and twitter, and their feathers sleek. 
 Then off at once, as in a wanton freak; 
 Or perhaps, to show their black and golden wings; 
 Pausing upon their yellow flutterings. 
 
 — John Keats. 
 
54 Haiidhook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE ROBIN 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 jOST of us think we know the robin well, but very few 
 of us know definitely the habits of this, our commonest 
 bird. The object of this lesson is to form in the pupils 
 a habit of careful observation, and enable them to read 
 for themselves the interesting story of this little life 
 which is lived every year before their eyes. Moreover, 
 a robin note-book, if well kept, is a treasure for any child; and the close 
 observation necessary for this lesson trains the pupils to note in a com- 
 prehending way the habits of other birds. It is the very best preparation 
 for bird study of the right sort. 
 
 A few robins occasionally find a swamp where they can obtain food to 
 nourish them during the northern winter, but for the most part, they go 
 in flocks to our Southern States where they settle in swamps and cedar 
 forests and live upon berries. They are killed in great numbers by the 
 native hunters who eat them or sell them for table use, a performance not 
 understandable to the northerner. The robins do not nest nor sing while 
 in Southland, and no wonder! When the robins first come to us in the 
 spring they feed on wild berries, being especially fond of those of the 
 Virginia creeper. As soon as the frost is out of the ground they begin 
 feeding on earthworms, cutworms, white grubs, and other insects. The 
 male robins come first, but do not sing until their mates arrive. 
 
 The robin is ten inches long and the English sparrow is only six and 
 one-third inches long; the pupils should get the sizes of these two birds 
 fixed in their minds for comparison in measuring other birds. The father 
 robin is much more decided in color than his mate; his beak is yellow, 
 there is a yellow ring about the eye and a white spot above it. The head 
 is black and the back slaty-brown ; the breast is brilliant reddish brown 
 or bay and the throat is white, streaked with black. The mother bird has 
 paler back and breast and has no black upon the head. The wings of both 
 are a little darker than the back, the tail is black with the two outer 
 feathers tipped with white. These white spots do not show except when 
 the bird is flying and are "call colors," that is, they enable the birds to 
 see each other and thus keep together when flying in flocks during the 
 night. The white patch made by the under tail-coverts serves a similar 
 purpose. The feet and legs are strong and dark in color. 
 
 The robin has many sweet songs and he may be heard in the earliest 
 dawn and also in the evenings; if he wishes to cheer his mate he may 
 burst into song at any time. He feels especially songful before the 
 summer showers when he seems to sing, "I have a theory, a theory, its 
 going to rain." And he might well say that he also has a theory, based 
 on experience, that a soaking shower will drive many of the worms and 
 larvae in the soil up to the surface where he can get them. Besides these 
 songs the robins have a great variety of notes which the female shares, 
 although she is not a singer. The agonizing, angry cries they utter when 
 they see a cat or squirrel must express their feelings fully ; while they give 
 a very different warning note when they see crow or hawk, a note hard to 
 describe, but which is a long, not very loud squeak. 
 
 A robin can run or hop as pleases him best, and it is interesting to see 
 one, while hunting earthworms run a little distance, then stop to bend the 
 
Bird Study 
 
 55 
 
 head and listen for his prey, and when he finally seizes the earthworm he 
 braces himself on his strong legs and tugs manfully until he sometimes 
 almost falls over backward as the worm lets go its hold. The robins, 
 especially at nesting time, eat many insects as well as earthworms. 
 
 The beginning of a robin's nest is very interesting; much strong grass, 
 fine straw, leaves and rootlets are brought and placed on a secure support. 
 When enough of this material is collected and arranged, the bird goes to 
 the nearest mud puddle or stream margin and fills its beak with soft 
 mud and going back "peppers" it into the nest material, and after the 
 latter is soaked the bird gets into it and molds it to the body by nestling 
 and turning around and around. In one case which the author watched 
 the mother bird did this part of the building, although the father worked 
 industriously in bringing the other materials. After the nest is molded 
 but not yet hardened, it is lined with fine grass or rootlets. If the season 
 is very dry and there is no soft mud at hand, the robins can buiM without 
 the aid of this plaster. There are usually four eggs laid which are ex- 
 quisite greenish blue in color. 
 
 Both parents share the monotonous business of incubating, and in the 
 instance under the eyes of the author the mother bird was on the nest at 
 night; the period of incubating is from eleven to fourteen days. The 
 most noticeable thing about a very young robin is its wide, yellow- 
 margined mouth, which it opens like a satchel every time the nest is 
 jarred. This wide mouth cannot but suggest to anyone that it is meant 
 
 Robin oil nest. 
 
56 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 to be stuffed, and the two parents work very hard to fill it. Both parents 
 feed the young and often the father feeds the mother bird while she is 
 brooding. Professor Treadwell experimented with young robins and 
 found that each would take 68 earthworms daily; these worms if laid 
 end to end would measure about 14 feet. Think of 14 feet of earthworm 
 being wound into the little being in the nest, no wonder that it grows so 
 fast! I am convinced that each pair of robins about our house has its 
 own special territory for hunting worms, and that any trespasser is 
 quickly driven off. The young bird's eyes are unsealed when they are 
 from six to eight days old, and by that time the feather tracts, that is, 
 the place where the feathers are to grow, are covered by the spine-like 
 pin-feathers; these feathers push the down out and it often clings to their 
 tips. In eleven days the birds are pretty weU feathered; their wing 
 feathers are fairly developed but alas, they have no tail feathers! When 
 a young robin flies from the nest he is a very uncertain and tippy young- 
 ster not having any tail to steer him while flying, nor to balance him when 
 ahghting. 
 
 It is an anxious time for the old robins when the young ones leave the 
 nest, and they flutter about and scold at any one who comes in sight, so 
 afraid are they that injury will come to their inexperienced young ones; 
 for some time the parents care for the fledglings, solicitously feeding them 
 and giving them warnings of danger. The young robin shows in its 
 plumage i,ts relation to the thrush family, for it is yellowish and very 
 spotted and speckled, especially the breast. The parents may raise 
 several broods, but they never use the same nest for two consecutive 
 broods, both because it may be infested with parasites and because it is 
 more or less soiled ; although the mother robin works hard to keep it 
 clean, carrying away all waste matter in her beak and dropping it. 
 Robins do not sing much after the breeding season is over until after they 
 have molted. They are fond of cherries and other pulp fruits and often 
 do much damage to such crops. The wise orchardist will plant a few 
 Russian mulberry trees at a reasonable distance from his cherry trees, 
 and thus, by giving the robins a fruit which they Hke better, and which 
 ripens a little earher, he may save his cherries. It has been proven con- 
 clusively that the robins are far more beneficial than damaging to the 
 farmer;' they destroy many noxious insects, two-thirds of their food the 
 entire year consisting of insects; during April and May they do a great 
 work in destroying cutworms. 
 
 The robins stay with us later than most migrating birds, not leaving 
 us entirely before November. Their chief enemies in northern cHmates 
 are cats, crows and squirrels. Cats should be taught to let birds alone 
 (see lesson on cat) or should be killed. The crows have driven the robins 
 into villages where they can build their nests under the protection of 
 man. If crows venture near a house to attack the robins, firing a gun at 
 them once or twice will give them a hint which they are not slow to take. 
 The robins of an entire neighborhood will attack a nest-robbing crow, but 
 usually too late to save the nestlings. The robins can defend themselves 
 fairly well against the red squirrel unless he steals the contents of the nest 
 while the owners are away. There can be no doubt that the same pair of 
 robins return to the same nesting place year after year. On the Cornell 
 Campus a robin lacking the white tip on one side of his tail was noted 
 to have returned fo the same particular feeding ground for several years; 
 
Bird Study 
 
 57 
 
 and we are very certain that the same female bird built in the vines of our 
 piazza for seven consecutive years; it took two years to win her confi- 
 dence; but after that, she seemed to feel as if she were a part of the family 
 and regarded us all as friends. We were sure that during her fifth year 
 she brought a new young husband to the old nesting site; probably her 
 faithful old husband had been served for a dinner in some Tennessee hotel 
 during the previous winter. 
 
 Young robins. 
 
 Their spotted breasts show their relationship to the thrushes. 
 (Photo by Silas Lottridge). 
 
 LESSON X 
 The Robin 
 
 Leading thought — To understand all we can about the life and ways of 
 the robin. 
 
 Methods — For first and second grades this work may be done by 
 means of an extra blackboard, or what is far better, sheets of ordinary, 
 buff, manilla wrapping paper fastened together at the upper end, so that 
 they may be hung and turned over like a calendar. On the outside page 
 make a picture of a robin in colored chalk or crayons, coloring according 
 to the children's answers to questions of series "6". Devote each page 
 to one series of questions, as given below. Do not show these questions 
 to the pupils until the time is ripe for the observations. Those pupils 
 giving accurate answers to these questions should have their names on a 
 roll of honor on the last page of the chart. 
 
58 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 For third or higher grades the pupils should have individual note- 
 books in which each one may write his own answers to the questions of the 
 successive series, which should be written on the blackboard at proper 
 time for the observations. This note-book should have a page about 6x8 
 inches and may be made of any blank paper. The cover or first page 
 should show the picture of the robin colored by the pupil, and may con- 
 tain other illustrative drawings, and any poems or other literature 
 pertinent to the subject. If prizes are awarded in the school, a bird book 
 should be given as award for the best note-book in the class. 
 
 Observations by pupils — Series a (To be given in March), i. At 
 what date did you see the first robin this year? 
 
 2. Where did the robin spend the winter; did it build a nest or sing 
 when in its winter quarters? 
 
 3. What does it find to eat when it first comes in the spring? How 
 doe's this differ from its ordinary food? 
 
 4. Does the robin begin to sing as soon as it comes North.'' 
 
 Series b (To be given the first week of April) . i . How large is tHe 
 robin compared with the English sparrow? 
 
 2. What is the color of the beak? The eye? Around and above 
 the eye? 
 
 3. The color of the top of the head? The back? The throat? 
 
 The breast? 
 
 4. Do all the robins have equally bright colors on head, back and 
 
 breast ? 
 
 5. What is the color of the wing feathers? 
 
 6. What is the color of the tail feathers? Where is the white on 
 them? Can the white spots be seen except during flight of the bird? 
 Of what use to the robin are these spots? 
 
 7. Is there white on the underside of the robin as it flies over you? 
 Where ? 
 
 8. What is the color of the feet and legs? 
 
 Series c (To be given the second week of April). 
 
 1. At what time of day does the robin sing? Is it likely to sing 
 before a rain? How many different songs does a robin sing? 
 
 2. What note does a robin give when it sees a cat? 
 
 3. What sounds do the robins make when they see a crow or a 
 hawk ? 
 
 4. Does a robin run or walk or hop? 
 
 5. Do you think it finds the hidden earthworm by listening? If so 
 
 describe the act. 
 
 6. Describe how a robin acts as it pulls a big earthworm out of the 
 ground. 
 
 7. Do robins eat other food than earthworms? 
 
 Series d (To be given by the middle of April), i. At what date 
 did your pair of robins begin to build their nest? 
 
 2. Where was the nest placed and with what material was it begun ? 
 
 3. Can you tell the difference in colors between the father and 
 mother birds? Do both parents help in making the nest? 
 
 4. How and with what material is the plastering done? How is 
 the nest molded into shape? Do both birds do this part of the work? 
 
Bird Study 59 
 
 5. Where is the mud obtained and how carried to the nest? 
 
 6. How is the nest hned? 
 
 5mc5 e (To be given a week after series d). i. What is the number 
 and color of the eggs in the nest? 
 
 2. Do both parents do the sitting? Which sits on the nest during 
 the night? 
 
 3. Give the date when the first nesthng hatches. 
 
 4. How does the young robin look? The color and size of its beak? 
 Why is its beak so large? Can it see? Is it covered with down? Com- 
 pare it to a young chick and describe the difference between the two. 
 
 5. What does the young robin do if it feels any jar against the nest? 
 Why does it do this? 
 
 6. Do the young robins make any noise? 
 
 7. AVhat do the parents feed their young? Do both parents feed 
 them? Are the young fed in turns? 
 
 8. Does each pair of robins have a certain territory for hunting 
 worms which is not trespassed upon by other robins? 
 
 Series f (To be given three days after series e). i. How long after 
 hatching before the young robin's eyes are open? Can 3'ou see where the 
 feathers are going to grow? How do the young feathers look? 
 
 2. How long after hatching before the yotnig birds are covered with 
 feathers? 
 
 3. Do their wing or tail feathers come first? 
 
 4. How is the nest kept clean? 
 
 5. Give the date when the young robins leave the nest? How do 
 the old robins act at this important crisis? 
 
 6. Describe the young robin's flight? Why is it so unstead}- ? 
 
 7. How do the young robins differ in colors of breast from the 
 parents? 
 
 8. Do the parents stay with the young for a time? "\A'hat care do 
 they give them? 
 
 9. If the parents raise a second brood do they use the same nest? 
 
 Series g (To be given for summer reading and observations), i. 
 Do the robins sing all summer? Why? 
 
 2. Do the robins take your berries and cherries? How can you 
 prevent them from doing this? 
 
 3. How does the robin help us? 
 
 4. How long does it stay with us in the fall? 
 
 5. What are the chief enemies of the robin and how does it fight or 
 escape them? How can we help protect it? 
 
 6. Do you think the same robins come back to us each year? 
 Supplementary reading — Nestlings of Forest and Marsh, Wheelock 
 
 p. 62; Our Birds and their Nestlings, Walker, pp. 26, 37, 41, 42; 
 True Bird Stories, Miller, pp. 37, 138; The Bird Book, Eckstrom, p. 
 248; Familiar Wild Animals, Lottridge; The History of the Robins, 
 Trimmer; Field Book of Wild Birds and their Music, Mathews, p. 246; 
 Birds in Their Relation to Man, Weed and Dearborn, p. 90; Songs of 
 Nature, Burroughs, p. 94; Wake Robin, Burroughs; Audubon 
 Leaflet No. 4. 
 
6o Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE BLUEBIRD 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 TERN as were our Pilgrim Fathers, they could not fail 
 to welcome certain birds with plumage the color of June 
 skies, whose sweet voices brought hope and cheer to 
 their homesick hearts at the close of that first, long, 
 hard winter of 1621. The red breasts of these birds 
 brought to memory the robins of old England and so 
 they were called "Blue robins"; and this name ex- 
 presses well the relationship implied, because the blue- 
 birds and robins of America are both members of the 
 thrush family, a family noted for exquisite song. 
 
 The bluebirds are usually ahead of the robins in the northward journey 
 and arrive in New York often amid the blizzards of early March, their 
 soft, rich "curly" notes bringing, even to the doubting mind, glad con- 
 victions of coming spring. There is a family resemblance between voices 
 of bluebird and robin, a certain rich quality of tone, but the robin's song 
 is far more assertive and complex than is the soft, "purling" song of the 
 bluebird, which has been vocahzed as "tru-al-ly, tru-al-ly." These love 
 songs cease with the hard work of feeding the nestlings in April, but may 
 be heard again as a prelude to the second brood in June. The red breast 
 of the bluebird is its only color resemblance to the robin, although the 
 young bluebirds and robins are both spotted, showing the thrush colors. 
 The robin is so much larger than the bluebird that commonly the relation- 
 ship is not noticed. This is easily explained because there is nothing to 
 suggest a robin in the exquisite cerulean blue of the bluebird's head, back, 
 tafllmd wings. This color is most brilliant when the bird is on the wing, 
 in the sunshine. However, there is a certain mirror-like quality in these 
 blue feathers ; and among leaf shadows or even among bare branches they 
 in a measure, reflect the surroundings and render the bird less noticeable. 
 The female is paler, being grayish blue above and with only a tinge of red- 
 brown on the breast; both birds are white beneath. 
 
 The bluebirds haunt open woods, fields of second growth and especially 
 old orchards. They flit about in companies of three or four until they 
 mate for nesting. While feeding, the bluebird usually sits on a low 
 branch keeping a keen eye on the ground below, now and then dropping 
 suddenly on an unsuspecting insect and then returning to its perch; it 
 does not remain on the ground hunting food as does the robin. The nest 
 is usually built in a hole in a tree or post and is made of soft grass. A 
 hollow apple tree is a favorite nesting site. 
 
 In building birdhouses we should bear in mind that a cavity about ten 
 inches deep and six inches in height and width will give a pair of bluebirds 
 room for building a nest. The opening should not be more than two or 
 two and one-half inches in diameter and there should be no threshold; 
 this latter is a very particular point. If there is a threshold or place to 
 alight upon, the sparrows are likely to dispute with the bluebirds and 
 drive them away, but the sparrow does not care for a place which has no 
 threshold. The box for the bluebird may be made out of old boards or 
 may be a section of an old tree trunk; it should be fastened from six to 
 fifteen feet above the ground, and should be in nowise noticeable in color 
 from its surroundings. To protect the nest from cats, barbed wire should 
 
Bird Study 
 
 6i 
 
 Bluebird at the entrance of its nest. 
 From Country Life m America, 
 
 be wound around the tree or post below the box. If the box for the nest 
 is placed upon a post the barbed wire will also protect it from the squirrels. 
 The eggs are bluish 
 white; the young birds, 
 in their first feathers, are 
 spotted on the back and 
 have whitish breasts mot- 
 tled with brown. The 
 food of the nestlings is 
 almost entirely insects. 
 In fact, this bird during 
 its entire life is a great 
 friend to man. The food 
 of the adult is more than 
 three-fourths insects and 
 the remainder is wild 
 berries and fruits, the 
 winter food being largely 
 mistletoe berries. It 
 makes a specialty of in- 
 jurious beetles, caterpil- 
 lars and grasshoppers, 
 and never touches any of 
 our cultivated fruits. We 
 should do everything in our power to encourage and protect these birds 
 from their enemies, which are chiefly cats, squirrels and English sparrows. 
 The migration takes place in flocks during autumn, but it is done in a 
 most leisurely manner with frequent stops where food is plenty. The 
 bluebirds we see in September are probably not the ones we have had with 
 us during the summer, but are those which have come from farther north. 
 They winter largely in the Gulf States; the writer has often heard them 
 singing in midwinter in Southern Mississippi. The bluebirds seem to be 
 the only ones that sing while at their winter resorts. They live the year 
 round in the Bermudas, contrasting their heavenly blue plumage with 
 the vivid red of the cardinals. The bluebird should not be confused with 
 the indigo bunting; the latter is darker blue and has a blue breast. 
 
 References— BuWetin, Some Common Birds in Their Relation to 
 Man, U. S. Dept. of Agr.; Bulletin, The Food of Nestling Birds, U. S. 
 Dept. of Agr.; Birds in Their Relation to Man, Weed & Dearborn, pp. 
 86-88; Nature-Study and Life, Hodge, chapters 18-21; Junior Audu- 
 bon Leaflets; Birds of Eastern North America, Chapman, 9. 403: 
 Field Book of Wild Birds and Their Music, Mathews, pp. 251-254; 
 Nature-Study in Elementary Schools, Wilson, p. 188. 
 
 " Winged lute that we call a bluebird, 
 
 You blend in a silver strain 
 
 The sound of the latighing waters. 
 
 The patter of spring's sweet rain, 
 The voice of the winds, the sunshine. 
 
 And fragrance of blossoming things. 
 Ah! You are an April poem, 
 . That God has dowered with wings." 
 
 — The Bluebird, Rexford. 
 
62 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON XI 
 The Bluebird 
 
 Leading thought — The bluebird is related to the robins and thrushes 
 and is as beneficial as it is beautiful. We should study its habits and 
 learn how to make nesting boxes for it, and protect it in all ways. 
 
 Methods — The observations of this lesson must be made in the field 
 and by the pupils individually. Give to each an outline of questions to 
 answer through seeing. There should follow reading lessons on the blue- 
 bird's value to us and its winter migrations, and the lesson should end in 
 discussions of best way to build boxes for its use in nesting season, its 
 protection from cats and other enemies. 
 
 Observations — i. Which comes North earlier in spring the robin or 
 the bluebird? 
 
 2. How do the two resemble each other and differ from each other? 
 
 3. Describe the bluebirds' song. Do they sing all summer? 
 
 4. Describe the colors of the bluebird as follows: The head, back, 
 breast, under parts, wings, tail. How does the male bluebird differ from 
 his mate in colors? 
 
 5. Where were the bluebirds you saw? What were they doing? 
 If feeding, how did they act? 
 
 6. Can you see the color of the bluebird as plainly when it is in a tree 
 as when it is flying? If not, why? 
 
 7. Where do the bluebirds build their nests? Of what material 
 are the nests made? Do both parents work at the nest building? 
 
 8. What is the color of the eggs? How do the young birds look, 
 when old enough to leave the nest, as compared with their parents? 
 
 9. What do the bluebirds eat? How do they benefit us? Do they 
 do our fruit any injury? 
 
 10. What can we do to induce the bluebirds to live near our houses? 
 How can we protect them? 
 
 11. Where do the bluebirds spend the winter? 
 
 12. Make a colored picture of a bluebird. How can we tell the 
 bluebird from the indigo bunting? 
 
 13. What are the bluebirds' chief enemies? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Nestlings of Forest and Marsh, Wheelock, 
 p. 62; True Bird Stories, Miller, p. 12; How to Attract the Birds, 
 Blanchan; Bird Neighbors, Blanchan; Our Birds and their Nestlings, 
 Walker, p. 17; Famihar Wild Animals, Lottridge; Audubon Leaflet, 
 No. 24. 
 
 Hark! 'tis the bluebird's venturous strain 
 
 High on the old fringed elm at the gate — 
 Sweet-voiced, valiant on the swaying bough, 
 
 Alert, elate, 
 Dodging the fitful spits of snow. 
 
 New England' s poet-lanreate 
 Telling us Spring has come again! — Thomas Bailey Aldrich. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 63 
 
 THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "The busy nuthatch climbs his tree 
 Around the great bole spirally. 
 Peeping into wrinkles gray, 
 Under ruffled lichens gay. 
 Lazily piping one sharp note 
 From his silver maiUd throat." 
 
 — Maurice Thompson. 
 
 LIHTE and mellow is the ringing "ank, ank" note of the 
 nuthatch, and why need we allude to its nasal timbre! 
 While it is not a strictly musical note, it has a most enticing 
 quality and translates into sound the picture of bare- 
 branched trees and the feeling of enchantment which 
 permeates the forest in winter; it is one of the most 
 "woodsy" notes in the bird repertoire. And while the singer 
 of this note is not so bewitching as his constant chum 
 the chickadee, yet it has many interesting ways quite its 
 own. Nor is this "ank, ank," its only note. I have often 
 heard a pair talking to each other in sweet confidential syllables, "wit, 
 wit, wit" very different from the loud note meant for the world at large. 
 The nuthatches and chickadees hunt together all winter; it is no mere 
 business partnership but a matter of congenial tastes. The chickadees 
 hunt over the twigs and smaller branches, while the nuthatches usually 
 prefer the tree trunks and the bases of the branches; both birds hke 
 the looks of the world upside down, and while the chickadee hangs 
 head down from a twig, the nuthatch is quite likely to alight head down 
 on a tree bole, holding itself safely in this position by thrusting its toes 
 out at right angles to the body, thus getting a firm hold upon the bark. 
 Sometimes its foot will be twisted completely around, the front toes 
 pointed up the tree. The foot is well adapted for clinging to the bark as 
 the front toes are strong and the hind toe is very long and is armed with 
 a strong claw. Thus equipped, this bird runs about on the tree so 
 rapidly, it has earned the name of "tree mouse". It often ascends a 
 tree trunk spirally but is not so hidebound in this habit as is the brown 
 creeper. It runs up or down freely head first and never flops down 
 backwards Hke a woodpecker. 
 
 In color the nuthatch is bluish gray above with white throat and 
 breast and reddish underparts. The sides of the head are white; the 
 black cap extends back upon the neck but is not "pulled down" to the 
 eyes like the chickadees. The wing feathers are dark brown edged 
 with pale gray. The upper middle tail feathers are bluish like the back; 
 the others are dark brown and tipped with white in such a manner 
 that the tail when spread shows a broad white border on both sides. 
 The most striking contrast between the chickadee and nuthatch in 
 markings is that the latter lacks the black bib. However, its entire shape 
 is very different from that of the chickadee and its beak is long 
 and slender, being as long or longer than its head, while the beak of 
 the chickadee is a short, sharp, little pick. The bill of the nuthatch is 
 exactly fitted to reach in crevices of the bark and pull out hidmg 
 insects, or to hammer open the shell of nut or acorn and get both the 
 
64 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 meat of the nut and the grub feeding upon it. It will wedge an acorn 
 into a seam in the bark and then throw back its head, woodpecker fashion, 
 and drive home its chisel beak. But it does not always use common 
 
 sense in this habit. I have often 
 seen one cut off a piece of suet, fly 
 off and thrust it into some crevice 
 and hammer it as hard as if it were 
 encased in a walnut shell. This 
 always seems bad manners, like 
 carrying off fruit from table d'hote; 
 but the nuthatch is polite enough in 
 using a napkin, for after eating the 
 suet, it invariably wipes its bill on a 
 branch, first one side then the other 
 most assiduously until it is perfectly 
 clean. 
 
 The nuthatches are a great 
 benefit to our trees in winter, for 
 then is when they hunt for hiding 
 pests on their trunks. Their food 
 consists of beetles, caterpillars, 
 pupae of various insects, also seeds 
 of ragweed, sunflowers, acorns, etc. 
 While the nuthatch finds much of 
 
 The white breasted nuthatch. 
 
 its food on trees, yet Mr. Torrey has seen it awkwardly turning over 
 fallen leaves hunting for insects, and Mr. Baskett says it sometimes 
 catches insects on the wing and gets quite out of breath from this un- 
 usual exercise. 
 
 It is only during the winter that we commonly see the nuthatches, for 
 during the nesting season, they usually retire to the deep woods where 
 they may occupy a cavity in a tree used by a woodpecker last year, or 
 may make a hole for themselves with their sharp beaks. The nest is lined 
 with leaves, feathers and hair; from five to nine creamy, speckled eggs are 
 the treasure of this cave. 
 
 LESSON XII 
 
 The Nuthatch 
 
 Leading thought — The nuthatch is often a companion of the chickadees 
 and woodpeckers. It has no black bib, like the chickadee, and it alights 
 on a tree trunk head downward, which distinguishes it from woodpeckers. 
 
 Methods — This bird, like the chickadee and downy, gladly shares the 
 suet banquet we prepare for them and may be observed at leisure while 
 "at table." The contrast between the habits of the nuthatch and those 
 of its companions make it a most valuable aid in stimulating close and 
 keen observation on the part of the pupils. 
 
 Observations — i. Where have you seen the nuthatches? Were 
 they with other birds? What other birds? 
 
 2. Does a nuthatch usually alight on the ends of the branches of a 
 tree or on the trunk and larger limbs? Does it usually alight head down 
 or up ? When it runs down the tree, does it go head first or does it back 
 
Bird Study 
 
 65 
 
 down ? When it ascends the tree does it follow a spiral path ? Does it use 
 its tail for a brace when climbing, as does the downy ? 
 
 3. How are the nuthatch's toes arranged to assist it in climbing? 
 Are the three front toes of each foot directed downward when the bird 
 alights head downward? How does it manage its feet when in this 
 position ? 
 
 4. What is the general color of the nuthatch above and below? 
 The color of the top and sides of head? Color of Back? Wings? Tail? 
 Throat? Breast? 
 
 5. Does the black cap come down to the eyes on the nuthatch as 
 on the chickadee? Has the nuthatch a black bib? 
 
 6. What is the shape of the beak of the 'nuthatch? For what is it 
 adapted? How does it differ from the beak of the chickadee? 
 
 7. What is the food of the nuthatch? Where is it found? Does it 
 open nuts for the grubs or the nut meat? Observe the way it strikes its 
 beak into the suet, why does it strike so hard? 
 
 8. How would you spell this bird's note? Have you heard it give 
 more than one note? 
 
 9. How does the nuthatch benefit our trees? At what season does 
 it benefit them most? Why? 
 
 10. Where do the nuthatches build their nests? Why do we see 
 the nuthatches oftener in winter than in summer? 
 
66 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Stiidy 
 
 THE CHICKADEE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "He is the hero of the woods; there are courage and good nature enough in that corn- 
 pact little body, which you may hide in your fist, to supply a whole groveful of May 
 songsters. He has the Spartan virtue of an eagle, the clieerfubiess of a thrush, the 
 tiimbleness of Cock Sparrow, the endurance of the sea-birds condensed into his tiny 
 frame, and there have been added a pcrtncss ayid ingenuity all Jiis own. His curiosity 
 is immense, and his audacity equal to it; I have even had one alight tipon the barrel of 
 
 the gun over my shoulders as I sat quietly itndcr his tree." 
 
 — Ernest Ingersoll. 
 
 OAVEVER careless we may be of our bird friends 
 when we are in the midst of the luxurious life of 
 summer, even the most careless among us give 
 pleased attention to the birds that bravely endure 
 with us the rigors of winter. And when this 
 winged companion of winter proves to be the most 
 
 fascinating little ball of feathers ever created, constantly overflowing 
 
 with cheerful song, our pleased attention changes to active delight. 
 
 Thus it is, that in all the lands of snowy winters the chickadee is a loved 
 
 comrade of the country wayfarer; that happy song "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" 
 
 finds its way to the dullest consciousness and the most callous heart. 
 The chickadees appear in 
 
 small flocks in the winter and 
 
 often in company with the nut- 
 hatches. The chickadees work 
 
 on the twigs and ends of bran- 
 ches, while the nuthatches 
 
 usually mine the bark of the 
 
 trunk and larger branches, the 
 
 former hunting insect eggs and 
 
 the latter, insects tucked away 
 
 in winter quarters. When the 
 
 chickadee is prospecting for eggs, 
 
 it looks the twig over, first above 
 
 and then hangs head down and 
 
 inspects it from below; it is a 
 
 thorough worker and doesn't 
 
 intend to overlook anything 
 
 whatever; and however busily it 
 
 is hunting, it always finds time 
 
 for singing; whether on the wing 
 
 or perched upon a twig or hang- 
 ing from it like an acrobat, 
 
 head down, it sends forth its 
 
 happy "chickadeedee" to assure 
 
 us that this world is all right and 
 
 good enough for anybody. Be- 
 
 sides this 
 
 song. 
 
 it begins in 
 
 February to sing a most seduc- 
 tive "fee-bee," giving a rising 
 
 Chick-a-dee-dee-dee 
 
Bird Study 
 
 67 
 
 inflection to the first syllable and a long, falling inflection to the last, 
 which makes it a very different song from the short, jerky notes of the 
 
 phoebe-bird, which cuts 
 the last syllable short 
 and gives it a rising in- 
 flection. More than this, 
 the chickadee has some 
 chatty conversational 
 notes, and now and then 
 performs a bewitching 
 little yodle, which is a fit 
 expression of its own 
 delicious personality. 
 
 The general effect of 
 the colors of the chicka- 
 dee is grayish brown 
 above and grayish white 
 below. The top of the 
 head is black, the sides 
 white, and it has a 
 seductive little black 
 bib under its chin. The 
 back is grayish, the 
 wings and tail are dark 
 gray, the feathers having 
 white margins. The 
 breast is grayish white 
 changing to buff or 
 
 ^, . , , . , brownish at the sides 
 
 Chickadee entering her nest. ^^^ ^^^^^^ j^ -^ ^^^^^ 
 
 called the "Black-capped Titmouse," and it may always be distin- 
 guished by black cap and black bib. It is smaller than the English 
 sparrow; its beak is a sharp little pick just fitted for taking insect eggs 
 off twigs and from under bark. Insects are obliged to pass the winter 
 in some stage of their existence, and many of them wisely remain 
 in the egg until there is something worth doing in the way of eating. 
 These eggs are glued fast to the food trees by the mother insect and 
 thus provides abundant food for the chickadees. It has _ been 
 estimated that one chickadee will destroy several hundred insect 
 eggs in one day, and it has been proven that orchards frequented by these 
 birds are much more free from insect pests than other orchards in the 
 same locality. They can be enticed into orchards by putting up beef fat 
 or bones and thus we can secure their valuable service. In summer these 
 birds attack caterpillars and other insects. 
 
 When it comes to nest building, if the chickadees cannot find a house 
 to rent they proceed to dig out a proper hole from some decaying tree, 
 which they line with moss, feathers, fur or some other soft material. 
 The nest is often not higher than six to ten feet from the ground. One 
 which I studied was in a decaying fence post. The eggs are white, 
 sparsely speckled and spotted with lilac or rufous. The young birds are 
 often eight in number and how these fubsy birdlings manage to pack 
 themselves in such a small hole is a wonder, and probably gives them good 
 discipline in bearing hardships cheerfully. 
 
68 
 
 Handbook oj Nature-Study 
 
 Reference — Useful Birds and Their Protection, Forbush, p. 163; 
 Birds of Village and Field, Merriams; Bird Neighbors, Blancham. 
 
 LESSON XIII 
 The Chickadee 
 
 Leading thought — The chickadee is as useful as it is delightful; it 
 remains in the North during winter, working hard to clear our trees of 
 insect eggs and singing cheerily all day. It is so friendly that we can 
 induce it to come even to the window sill, by putting out suet to show our 
 friendly interest. 
 
 Methods — Put beef fat on the trees near the schoolhouse in December 
 and replenish it afresh about every two or three weeks. The chick- 
 adees will come to the feast and may be observed all winter. Give the 
 questions a few at a time and let the children read in the bird books a 
 record of the benefits derived from this bird. 
 
 I Observations — i. Where have you seen the chickadees? What 
 were they doing? Were there several together? 
 
 2. What is the common song of the chickadee? What other notes 
 has it? Have you heard it yodle? Have you heard it sing "fe-bee, fee- 
 bee." Flow does this song differ from that of the phoebe-bird? Does it 
 sing on the wing or when at rest? 
 
 3. What is the color of the chickadee: Top and sides of head, 
 back, wings, tail, throat, breast, under parts? 
 
 Compare size of chickadee with that of English sparrow. 
 
 4. What is the shape of the chickadee's bill and for what is it 
 adapted? What is the food in winter? Where does the bird find it? 
 How does it act when feeding and hunting for food? 
 
 5. Does the chickadee usually alight on the ends of the branches or 
 on the larger portions near the trunk of the tree? 
 
 6. How can you distinguish the chickadees from their companions, 
 the nuthatches? 
 
 7. Does the chickadee ever seem discouraged by the snow and cold 
 weather? Do you know another name for the chickadee?' 
 
 8. Where does it build its nest? Of what material? Have you 
 ever watched one of these nests? If so, tell about it. 
 
 9. How does the chickadee benefit our orchards and shade trees? 
 How can we induce it to feel at home with us and w^ork for us? 
 
 Siipplementary reading — "Foster Babv," Nestlings of Forest and 
 Marsh; "Ch'-geegee-lokh-sis," Ways of Wood Folk; "Why a Chickadee 
 Goes Crazy," Animal Heroes, Seton; "The Titmouse," a poem, by 
 Emerson. 
 
F 
 
 Bird Study 69 
 
 THE DOWNY WOODPECKER 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 RIEND Downy is the name this attractive little neighbor 
 
 ..^ a^ I has earned, because it is so friendly to those of us who 
 
 L^^i^i*-. ^ love trees. Watch it as it hunts each crack and crevice 
 
 I -.=.«^~ of the bark of your favorite apple or shade tree, seeking 
 
 " ^ ^ assiduously for cocoons and insects hiding there, and 
 
 you will soon, of your own accord, call it friend; you 
 
 will soon love its black and white uniform, which consists of a black coat 
 
 speckled and barred with white and whitish gray vest and trousers. The 
 
 front of the head is black and there is a black streak extending backward 
 
 from the eye with a white streak above and also below it. The male has 
 
 a vivid red patch on the back of the head, but his wife shows no such 
 
 giddiness; plain black and white are good enough for her. In both 
 
 sexes the throat and breast are white, the middle tail feathers black, 
 
 while the side tail feathers are white, barred with black at their tips. 
 
 The downy has a way of alighting low down on a tree trunk or at the 
 base of a larger branch and climbing upward in a jerky fashion; it never 
 runs about over the tree nor does it turn around and go down head first, 
 like the nuthatch ; if it wishes to go down a short distance it accomplishes 
 this by a few awkward, backward hops; but when it really wishes to 
 descend, it flies off and down. The downy, as other woodpeckers, has a 
 special arrangement of its physical machinery to enable it to climb 
 trees in its own manner. In order to grasp the bark on the side of the 
 tree more firmly, its fourth toe is turned backward 
 to work as companion with the thumb. Thus it is 
 able to clutch the bark as with a pair of nippers, 
 two claws in front and two claws behind; and 
 as another aid, the tail is arranged to prop the 
 bird, like a bracket. The tail is rounded in 
 shape and the middle feathers have_ rather strong ^^.^^'^ ^ 
 quills; but the secret of the adhesion of the tail 
 to the bark lies in the great profusion of barbs which, at the edge 
 of the feathers, offer bristling tips, and when applied to the side 
 of the tree act like a wire brush with all the wires pushing downward. 
 This explains why the woodpecker cannot go backward without lifting 
 the tail. 
 
 But even more wonderful than this, is the mechanism by which 
 the downy and hairy woodpeckers get their food, which consists 
 largely of wood-borers or larvae working under the bark. When the 
 woodpecker wishes to get a grub in the wood, it seizes the bark firmly 
 with its feet, uses its tail as a brace, throws its head and upper part of 
 the body as far back as possible, and then drives a powerful blow 
 with its strong beak. The beak is adapted for just this purpose, 
 as it is wedge-shaped at the end, and is used like a mason's drill 
 sometimes, and sometimes like a pick. When the bird uses its beak as a 
 pick, it strikes hard, deliberate blows and the chips fly; but when it is 
 drilling, it strikes rapidly and not so hard and quickly drills a small, 
 deep hole leading directly to the burrow of the grub. When finally the 
 grub is reached, it would seem well nigh impossible to pull it out 
 through a hole which is too small and deep to admit of the beak 
 
70 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 being used as pincers. This is another story and a very interesting 
 one; the downy and hairy can both extend their tongues far beyond the 
 point of the beak, and the tip of the 
 tongue is hard and horny and covered 
 with short backward-slanting hooks 
 acting Hke a spear or harpoon, and 
 when thrust into the grub pulls it out 
 easily (see initial). The bones of the 
 tongue have a spring arrangement; 
 when not in use, the tongue lies soft in 
 the mouth, like a wrinkled earth- 
 worm, but when in use, the bones 
 spring out, stretching it to its full 
 length and it is then slim and small. 
 The process is like fastening a pencil 
 to the tip of a glove finger; when 
 drawn back the finger is wrinkled 
 together, but when thrust out, 
 straightens. This spring arrangement 
 of the bones of the woodpecker's 
 tongue is a marvellous mechanism 
 and should be studied through pic- 
 tures; see Birds, Eckstrom, Chap- 
 ter XIV; The Bird, Beebe, p. 122; 
 "The Tongues of Woodpeckers," 
 Lucas, U. S. Department of Agricul- 
 ture. 
 
 Since the food of the downy and 
 the hairy is where they can get it all winter, there is no need for them to 
 go South ; thus they stay with us and work for us the entire year. We 
 should try to make them feel at home with us in our orchards and shade 
 trees by putting up pieces of beef fat, to convince them of their welcome. 
 No amount of free food will pauperize these birds, for as soon as they 
 have eaten of the fat, they commence to hunt for grubs on the tree and 
 thus earn their feast. They never injure live wood. 
 
 James AVhitcomb Riley describes the drumming of the woodpecker as 
 "weeding out the lonesomeness" and that is exactly what the drumming 
 of the woodpecker means. The male selects some dried limb of hard 
 wood and there beats out his well-known signal which advertises far and 
 near, "Wanted, a wife." And after he wins her, he still drums on for a 
 time to cheer her while she is busy with her family cares. The wood- 
 pecker has no voice for singing, like the robin or thrush; and luckil}', he 
 does not insist on singing, like the peacock whether he can or not. He 
 chooses rather to devote his voice to terse and business-like conversation ; 
 and when he is musically inclined, he turns drummer. He is rather 
 particular about his instrument and having found one that is sufficiently 
 resonant he returns to it day after day. While it is ordinarily the male 
 that drums I once observed a female drumming. I told her that she was 
 a bold minx and ought to be ashamed of herself; but within twenty 
 minutes she had drummed up two red-capped suitors who chased each 
 other about with great animosity, so her performance was evidently not 
 considered improper in woodpecker society. I have watched a rival pair 
 
 Friend Downy. 
 Drawing by A. L. Fuertes. 
 
Bird Study 71 
 
 of male downies fight for hours at a time, but their duel was of the French 
 brand,— much fuss and no bloodshed. They advanced upon each other 
 with much haughty glaring and scornful bobs of the head, but when they 
 were sufficiently near to stab each other they beat a mutual and circum- 
 spect retreat. Although we hear the male downies drumming every 
 spring, I doubt if they are calHng for new wives; I believe they are, in- 
 stead, calling the attention of their lawful spouses to the fact that it is 
 time for nest building to begin. I have come to this conclusion because 
 the downies and hairies which I have watched for years have always come 
 in pairs to partake of suet during the entire winter; and while only one at 
 a time sits at meat and the lord and master is somewhat bossy, yet they 
 seem to get along as well as most married pairs. 
 
 The downy 's nest is a hole, usually in a partly decayed tree; an old 
 apple tree is a favorite site and a fresh excavation is made each year. 
 There are from four to six white eggs, which are laid on a nice bed of chips 
 as fine almost as sawdust. The door to the nest is a perfect circle and 
 about an inch and a quarter across. 
 
 The hairy woodpecker is fully one-third larger than the downy, 
 measuring nine inches from tip of beak to tip of tail, while the downy 
 measures only about six inches. The tail feathers at the side are white 
 for the entire length, while they are barred at the tips in the downy. 
 There is a black "parting" through the middle of the red patch on the 
 back of the hairy's head. The two species are so much alike that it is 
 difficult for the beginner to tell them apart. Their habits are very 
 similar, except that the hairy lives in the woods and is not so commonly 
 seen in orchards or on shade trees. The food of the hairy is much like 
 that of the downy and it is, therefore, a beneficial bird and should be 
 protected. 
 
 LESSON XIV 
 
 The Downy Woodpecker 
 
 Leading thought — The downy woodpecker remains with us all winter, 
 feeding upon insects that are wintering in crevices and beneath the bark 
 of our trees. It is fitted especially by shape of beak, tongue, feet and tail 
 to get such food and it is a "friend in need" to our forest, shade and 
 orchard trees. 
 
 Methods — If a piece of beef fat be fastened upon the trunk or branch 
 of a tree, which can be seen from the schoolroom windows, there will be 
 no lack of interest in this friendly little bird; for the downy will sooner 
 or later find this feast spread for it and will come every day to partake. 
 Give out the questions, a few at a time, and discuss the answers with the 
 pupils. 
 
 Observations — i. What is the general color of the downy above and 
 below? The color of the top of the head? Sides of the head? The 
 throat and breast? The color and markings of the wings? Color and 
 markings of the middle and side tail-feathers? 
 
 2. Do all downy woodpeckers have the red patch at the back of the 
 head? If not, why? 
 
 3. What is the note of the downy? Does it make any other sound? 
 Have you ever seen one drumming? At what time of the year? On 
 what did it drum ? What did it use for a drumstick ? What do you sup- 
 pose was the purpose of this music? 
 
y2 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 4. How does the downy climb a tree trunk? Kow does it descend? 
 How do its actions differ from those of the nuthatch? 
 
 5. How are the woodpecker's toes arranged to help it climb a tree 
 trunk? How does this arrangement of toes differ from that of other 
 
 birds? 
 
 6. How does the downy use its tail to assist it in climbing? What 
 is the shape of the tail and how is it adapted to assist? 
 
 7. What does the downy eat and where does it find its food? 
 Describe how it gets at its food. What is the shape of its bill and how is 
 it fitted for getting the food? Tell how the downy 's tongue is used to 
 spear the grub. 
 
 8. Why does the downy not go South in winter? 
 
 9. Of what use is this bird to us? How should we protect it and 
 entice it into our orchards? 
 
 10. Write an English theme on the subject "How the downy builds 
 its nest and rears its young". 
 
 Supplementary reading — The Woodpeckers, Eckstorm: Bird Neigh- 
 bors, Blanchan- Winter Neighbors Burroughs. 
 
 A few seasons ago a doivny woodpecker, probably the individual one who is now 
 my wint'^r neighbor, began to drum early in March in a partly decayed apple-tree 
 that stands in the edge of a narroiv strip of ivoodland near me. When the morning 
 was still and mild I wotild often hear him through my window before I was up, or by 
 half-past six o'clock, and he would keep it up pretty briskly till nine_ or ten o'clock, 
 in this respect resembling the grouse, which do most of their drumming in the forenoon. 
 His drum was the stub of a dry limb about the size of one's wrist. The heart was 
 decayed and gone, but the outer shell ivas loud and resonant. The bird zvould keep 
 his position there for an hour at a time. Between his drummings he would preen his 
 plumage and listen as if for the response of the female, or for the drum of some rival. 
 How sivift his head would go when he was delivering his blows upon the_ limb! His 
 beak ivore the surface perceptibly. When he wished to change the key, which was quite 
 often, he would shift his position an inch or tivo to a knot which gave out a higher, 
 shriller note. When I climbed up to examine his drum he ivas much disturbed. I did 
 not know he was in the vicinity, but it seems he saw me from a near tree, and came 
 in haste to the neighboring branches, and with spread plumage and a sharp note de- 
 manded plainly enough zvhat my business was with his drum. I ivas invading his 
 privacy, desecrating his shrine, and the bird ivas much put out. After some weeks 
 the female appeared; he had literally drummed up a mate; his urgent and oft-repeated 
 advertisement was answered. Still the drumming did not cease, but was quite as 
 fervent as before. If a mate coidd be won by drumming she could be kept and enter- 
 tained by more drumming; courtship should not end with marriage. If the bird felt 
 musical before, of course he felt much more so now. Besides that, the gentle deities 
 needed propitiating in behalf of the nest and young as well as in behalf of the mate. 
 After a time a second female came, when there ivas war between the two. I did not see 
 them come to blows, but I saw one female pursuing the other about the place, and giving 
 her no rest for several days. She was evidently trying to run her out of the neighbor- 
 hood. Now and then she, too, would drum briefly as if sending a triumphant message 
 to her mate. — Winter Neighbors, John Burroughs. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 73 
 
 THE SAPSUCKER 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 The sapsucker is a woodpecker 
 that has strayed from the paths of 
 virtue; he has fallen into tempta- 
 tion by the wayside, and instead of 
 drilling a hole for the sake of the 
 grub at the end of it, he drills for 
 drink. He is a tippler, and sap is 
 his beverage ; and he is also fond of 
 the soft, inner bark. He often 
 drills his holes in regular rows and 
 thus girdles a limb or a tree, and for 
 this is pronounced a rascal by men 
 who have themselves ruthlessly cut 
 from our land millions of trees that 
 should now be standing. It is 
 amusing to see a sapsucker take his 
 tipple, unless his saloon happens to 
 be one of our prized young trees. 
 He uses his bill as a pick and makes 
 the chips fly as he taps the tree; 
 then he goes away and taps another 
 tree. After a time he comes back 
 and holding his beak close to the 
 hole for a long time seems to be 
 sucking up the sap ; he then throws 
 back his head and "swigs" it down 
 
 with every sign of delirious enjoyment. The avidity with which these 
 birds come to the bleeding wells which they have made, has in it all the 
 fierceness of a toper crazy for drink; they are particularly fond of the sap 
 of the mountain ash, apple, thorn apple, canoe birch, cut-leaf birch, red 
 maple, red oak, white ash and young pines. However, the sapsucker 
 does not live solely on sap, he also feeds upon insects whenever he can 
 find them. When feeding their young, the sapsuckers are true fly- 
 catchers snatching insects while on the wing. The male has the crown 
 and throat crimson, edged with black with a black Hne extending back of 
 the eye, bordered with white above and below. There is a large, black 
 circular patch on the breast which is bordered at the sides and below with 
 lemon yellow. The female is similar to the male and has a red forehead, 
 but she has a white bib instead of a red one beneath the chin. The 
 distinguishing marks of the sapsucker should be learned by the pupils. 
 The red is on the front of the head instead of on the crowTi, as is the case 
 with the downy and hairy; when it is flying the broad, white stripes 
 extending from the shoulders backward, form a long, oval figure, which is 
 very characteristic. 
 
 The sapsuckers spend the winter in the Southern States where they 
 drill wells in the white oak and other trees. From Virginia to Northern 
 New York and New England, where they breed, they are seen only during 
 migration, which occurs in April; then the birds appear two and three 
 together and are very bold in attacking shade trees, especially the white 
 
 The yellow bellied sapsucker. 
 Drawing by L. A. Fuertes. 
 
74 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 birch. They nest only in the Northern United States and northward. 
 The nest is usually a hole in a tree about forty feet from the ground, and 
 is likely to be in a dead birch. 
 
 LESSON XV 
 The Sapsucker 
 
 Leading thought — The sapsucker has a red cap, a red bib and a yel- 
 low breast; it is our only woodpecker that does injury to trees. We 
 should learn to distinguish it from the downy and hairy, as the latter are 
 among the best bird friends of the trees. 
 
 MetJiods — Let the observations begin with the study of the trees which 
 have been attacked by the sapsucker, which are almost everywhere 
 common, and thus lead to an interest in the culprit. 
 
 Observations — i. Have you seen the work of the sapsucker? Are 
 the holes drilled in rows completely around the tree? If there are two 
 rows or more, are the holes set evenly one below another? 
 
 2. Do the holes sink into the wood, or are they simply through the 
 bark? Why does it injure or kill a tree to be girdled with these holes? 
 Have you ever seen the sapsuckers making these holes? If so, how did 
 they act? 
 
 3. How many kinds of trees can you find punctured by these holes? 
 Are they likely to be young trees? 
 
 4. How can you distinguish the sapsucker from the other wood- 
 peckers? How have the hairy and downy which are such good friends of 
 the trees been made to suffer for the sapsucker's sins? 
 
 5. What is the color of the sapsucker as follows: Forehead, sides 
 of head, back, wings, throat, upper and lower breast? What is the 
 difference in color between the male and female? 
 
 6. In what part of the country do the sapsuckers build their nests? 
 Where do they make their nests and how? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Bird Neighbors, Blanchan; Birds, Bees and 
 Sharp Eyes, John Burroughs. 
 
 In the following ivintcr the same bird (a sapsucker) tapped a maple-tree in front 
 of my window in fifty-six places; and, whoi the day was sunny and the sap oozed out 
 he spent most of his time there. He knew the good sap-days, and was on hand promptly 
 for his tipple; cold and cloudy days he did not appear. He k}iew which side of the 
 tree to tap, too, and avoided the sunless northern exposure. When one series of well- 
 holes failed to supply him, he luould sink another, drilling through the bark with great 
 ease and quickness. Then, when the day was warm, and the sap ran freely, he would 
 have a regular sugar-maple debauch, sitting there by his wells hour after hour, and as 
 fast as they became filled sipping out the sap. This he did in a gentle, carressing 
 manner that was very suggestive. He made a row of wells near the foot of the tree, and 
 other rows higher up, and he would hop up and doivn tlw trunk as they became filled. — 
 Winter Neighbors, John Burroughs. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 75 
 
 THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER 
 
 Teacher s Story 
 
 The red-head is well named, for his 
 helmet and visor show a vivid glow- 
 in s: crimson that stirs the sensibili- 
 ties of the color lover. It is 
 readily distinguished from the other 
 woodpeckers because its entire head 
 and bib are red. For the rest, it is 
 a beautiful dark metallic blue with 
 the lower back, a band across the 
 wing, and the under parts white; 
 its outer tail feathers are tipped 
 with white. The female is colored 
 like the male, but the young have 
 the head and breast gray, streaked 
 with black and white, and the 
 wings barred with black. It may 
 make its nest by excavating a hole 
 in a tree or a stump or even in a 
 telegraph pole; the eggs are glossy 
 white. This woodpecker is quite 
 different in habits from the hairy 
 and downy, as it likes to flit along 
 from stump to fence-post and 
 catch insects on the wing, like a 
 fly-catcher. The only time that it pecks wood is when it is making a hole 
 
 for its nest. 
 
 As a drummer, the red-head is most adept and his roll is a long one. 
 He is an adaptable fellow, and if there is no resonant dead limb at hand, 
 he has been known to drum on tin roofs and Hghtning rods; and once we 
 also observed him executing a most brilliant solo on the wire of a barbed 
 fence. He is especially fond of beechnuts and acorns, and being a thrifty 
 fellow as well as musical, in time of plenty he stores up food against time 
 of need. He places his nuts in crevices and forks of the branches or m 
 holes in trees or any other hiding place. He can shell a beechnut quite 
 as cleverly as can the deer mouse; and he is own cousin to the Carpenter 
 Woodpecker of the Pacific Coast, which is also red-headed and which dnlls 
 holes in the oak trees wherein he drives acorns like pegs for later use. 
 
 The red-headed woodpecker. 
 
 Drawing by L. A. Fuertes. 
 
 LESSON XVI 
 The Red-headed Woodpecker 
 
 Leading thought— The red-headed woodpecker has very different habits 
 from the downvand is not so useful to us. _ It lives upon nuts and fruit 
 and such insects as it can catch upon the wmg. , i ^, 
 
 Methods— li there is a red-head in the vicinity of your school the 
 children will be sure to see it. Write the following questions upon the 
 blackboard and ofTer a prize to the first one who will make a note on 
 where the red-head stores his winter food. 
 
76 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Observations — i. Can you tell the red-head from the other wood- 
 peckers? What colors especially mark his plumage? 
 
 2. Where does the red-head nest? Describe eggs and nest? 
 
 3. What have you observed the red-head eating? Have you 
 noticed it storing nuts and acorns for the winter? Have you noticed it 
 flying off with cherries or other fruit? 
 
 4. AVhat is the note of the red-head? Have you ever seen one 
 drumming? What did he use for a drum? Did he come back often to 
 this place to make his music? 
 
 Supplementary reading — "The House That Fell" in Nestlings of Forest 
 and Marsh; Our Birds and their Nestlings, p. 90; Birds, Bees and 
 Sharp Eyes, John Burroughs. 
 
 Another trait our wood peckers have that endears them to me, and that has never been 
 pointedly noticed by our ornithologists, is their habit of drumming in the spring. They 
 are songless birds, and yet all are musicians; they make the dry limbs eloquent of the 
 coming change. Did you think that loud, sonorous hammering which proceeded from 
 the orchard or from the near woods on that still March or April morning was only some 
 bird getting its breakfast? It is downy, but he is not rapping at the door of a grub; 
 he is rapping at the door of spring, and the dry limb thrills beneath the ardor of his 
 blows. Or, later in the season, in the dense forest or by some remote mountain lake, 
 does that measured rhythmic beat that breaks upon the silence, first three strokes follow- 
 ing each other rapidly, succeeded by tivo louder ones with longer intervals between them, 
 and that has an effect upon the alert ear as if the solitude itself had at least found a 
 voice — does that suggest anything less than a deliberate musical_ performance? In 
 fact, our ivoodpeckers are just as characteristically drummers as is the ruffed grouse, 
 and they have their particular limbs and stubs to which they resort for that purpose. 
 Their need of expression is apparently just as great as that of the song-birds, and it 
 is not surprising that they should have found out that there is music in a dry, seasoned 
 limb ivhich can be evoked beneath their beaks. 
 
 The woodpeckers do not each have a particular dry limb to which they resort at all 
 times to drum, like the one I have described. The woods are full of suitable branches, 
 and they drum more or less here and there as they are in quest of food; yet I am con- 
 vinced each one has its favorite spot, like the grouse, to which it resorts, especially in 
 the morning. The sugar-maker in the maple woods may notice that this sound pro- 
 ceeds from the same tree or trees about his camp with great regularity. A woodpecker 
 in my vicinity has drummed for two seasons on a telegraph-pole, and he makes the wires 
 and glass insulators ring. Another drums on a thin board on the end of a long grape- 
 arbor, and on still mornings can be heard a long distance. 
 
 A friend of mine in a Southern city tells me of a red-headed woodpecker that drums 
 upon a lightning-rod on his neighbor's house. Nearly every clear, still morning a.t 
 certain seasons, he says, this musical rapping may be heard. "H<? alternates his 
 tapping u'ith his stridulous call, and the effect on a cool, autumn-like morning is very 
 pleasing." — John Burroughs, in Birds, Bees and Sharp Eyes. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 77 
 
 Young -flickers "Two is company, 
 
 three is a crowd." 
 
 Photo by J. M. Schreck. 
 
 THE FLICKER OR YELLOW-HAMMER 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 The first time I ever saw a flicker I 
 said, "What a wonderful meadow- 
 lark and what is it doing on that 
 ant hill?" But, another glance 
 revealed to me a red spot on the 
 back of the bird's neck, and as soon 
 as I was sure that it was not a 
 bloody gash, I knew that it marked 
 no meadow-lark. The top of the 
 flicker's head and its back are slaty- 
 gray, which is much enlivened by 
 a bright red band across the nape 
 of the neck. The tail is black above 
 and yellow tipped with black below; 
 the wings are black, but have a 
 beautiful luminous yellow beneath, 
 which is very noticeable during 
 flight. There is a locket adorning 
 the breast which is a thin, black 
 crescent, much narrower than that 
 of the meadow-lark. Below the 
 locket, the breast is yellowish white 
 thickly marked with circular, black spots. The throat and sides of the 
 head are pinkish brown, and the male has a black mustache extending 
 backward from the beak with a very fashionable droop. Naturally 
 enough the female, although she resembles her spouse, lacks his mus- 
 tache. The beak is long, strong, somewhat curved and dark colored. 
 This bird is distinctly larger than the robin. The white patch on the 
 rump shows little or none when the bird is at rest, for this white mark is 
 a "color call," it being a rear signal by means of which the flock of 
 migrating birds are able to keep together in the night. The yellow- 
 hammer's flight is wave-Hke and jerky and quite different from that 
 of the meadow-lark; nor does it stay so constantly in the meadows 
 but often frequents woods and orchards. 
 
 The flicker has many names, such as golden-winged woodpecker, 
 yellow-hammer, high-hole, yarup, wake-up, clape and many others. It 
 earned the name of high-hole because of its habit of excavating its nest 
 high up in trees, usually between ten and twenty-five feet from the 
 ground. It especially loves an old apple tree as a site for a nest, and 
 most of our large old orchards can boast of a pair of these handsome birds 
 during the nesting season of May and June. The flicker is not above 
 renting anv house he finds vacant, excavated by some other birds last 
 year. He "earned his name of yarup or wake-up from his spring song, 
 which is a rollicking, jolly "wick-a, wick-a, wick-a-wick" a song com- 
 monly heard the last of March or early April. The chief food of the flicker 
 is ants, although it also eats beetles, flies and wild fruit, but does little or 
 no darnage to planted crops. So long has it fed upon ants, that its tongue 
 has become modified, like that of the ant-eater; it is covered with a 
 sticky substance; and when it is thrust into an ant hill, all of the little 
 
78 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 citizens, disturbed in their communal labors, at once I ravely attack the 
 intruder and become glued fast to it, and are thus withdrawn and trans- 
 ferred to the capacious stomach of the bird. It has been known to eat 
 three thousand ants at a single meal. 
 
 Those who have observed the flicker during the courting season declare 
 him to be the most siUy and vain of all bird wooers. Mr. Baskett says: 
 "When he wishes to charm his sweetheart he mounts a small twig near 
 her, and lifts his wings, spreads his tail, and begins to nod right and left as 
 he exhibits his mustache to his charmer. He sets his jet locket first on 
 one side of the twig and then on the other. He may even go so far as to 
 turn his head half around to show her the pretty spot on his back hair. 
 In doing all this he performs the most ludicrous antics and has the silliest 
 expression of face and voice as if in losing his heart, as some one phrases 
 it, he had lost his head also." 
 
 The nest hole is quite deep and the white eggs are from four to ten in 
 number. The feeding of the young flickers is a painful process to watch. 
 The parent takes the food into its own stomach and partially digests it, 
 then thrusting its own bill down the throat of the young one it pumps the 
 soft food into it "kerchug, kerchug," until it seems as if the young one 
 must be shaken to its foundations. The young flickers as soon as they 
 leave the nest climb around freely on the home tree in a delightful, playful 
 
 manner. 
 
 Flicker coming from tJie m st. 
 Photo by George Fiske, Jr. 
 
Bird Study 79 
 
 LESSON XVII 
 
 The Flicker 
 
 Leading thought — The flicker is a true woodpecker but has changed its 
 habits and spends much of its time in meadows hunting for ants and other 
 insects; it makes its nest in trees, Hke its relatives. It can be distin- 
 guished from the meadow-lark by the white patch above the tail which 
 shows during flight. 
 
 Methods — This is one of the most important of birds of the meadow 
 and the work may be done in September when there are plenty of young 
 flickers, which have not learned to be wary. The observations may be 
 made in the field, a few questions given at a time. 
 
 Observations — i. Where do you find the flicker in the summer and 
 early autumn? How can you tell it from the meadow-lark in color and 
 
 in flight ? 
 
 2. What is it doing in the meadows? How does it manage to trap 
 
 ants '^ 
 
 3. What is the size of the flicker as compared to the robin ? What 
 is its general color as compared to the meadow-lark? 
 
 4. Describe the colors of the flicker as follows : Top and sides of the 
 head, back of the neck, lower back, tail, wings, throat and breast. The 
 color and shape of the beak. Is there a difference in markings between 
 the males and females? 
 
 5. Does the patch of white above the tail show, except when the 
 bird is flying? Of what use is this to the bird? 
 
 6. Whatisthe flicker's note? At what time of spring do you hear it 
 
 first? 
 
 7. Where does the flicker build its nest and how? What is the 
 color of the eggs? How many are there? 
 
 8. How does it feed its young? How do the young flickers act? 
 
 9. How many names do you know for the flicker? 
 Supplementary reading— ''The Bird of Many Names," Nestlings of 
 
 Forest and Marsh; A Fellow of Expedients, Long; Our Birds and Their 
 Nestlings, p. 187; Audubon Leaflet No. 5. 
 
 The high-hole appears to drum more promiscuously than does the downy. He 
 utters his long, loud spring call, whick-whick-whick , and then begins to rap unth hts 
 beak upon his perch before the last note has reached your ear I have seen him drum 
 sitting upon the ridge of the barn. The log-cock, or pileated woodpecker, the largest 
 and wildest of our- Northern species, I have never heard drum. His blows should wake 
 
 ^ ''when the woodpecker is searching for food, or laying siege to some hidden grub, 
 the sound of his hammering is dead or snuffled, and ts heard but a few' yards. It ts 
 only upon dry, seasoned timber, freed of its bark, that he beats his reveille to spring and 
 woos his mate.—]onN Burroughs, in Birds, Bees and bhaqj byes. 
 
8o Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE MEADOW-LARK 
 
 Teaclicr's Story 
 
 The first intimation we have in early spring, that 
 the meadow-lark is again with us, comes to us 
 through his soft, sweet, sad note which Van Dyke 
 describes so graphically when he says it, "leaks 
 slowly upward from the ground." One wonders 
 how a bird can express happiness in these melan- 
 choly, sweet, slurred notes and yet undoubtedly it 
 is a song expressing joy, the joy of returning home, 
 the happiness of love and of nest building. But 
 after one has spent a winter in the Gulf States, and 
 has witnessed the slaughter there of this most 
 valuable bird; and after the northern stomach and 
 heart have turned sick at the sight of breasts once so full of song done 
 brown on the luncheon table, one no longer wonders that the meadow- 
 lark's song of joy is fraught with sadness. There should be national laws 
 to protect the birds that are of value to one part of the United States from 
 being slaughtered in their winter haunts, unless they are there a nuisance 
 and injurious to crops, which is not the case with the meadow-lark. 
 
 The meadow-lark, as is indicated by its name, is a bird of the meadow. 
 It is often confused with another bird of the meadow which has ver}^ 
 different habits, the flicker. The two are approximately of the same size 
 and color and each has a black crescent or locket on the breast and each 
 shows the "white feather" during flight. The latter is the chief dis- 
 tinguishing character; the outer tail feathers of the meadow-lark are 
 white, while the tail feathers of the flicker are not white at all, but it has 
 a single patch of white on th:= rump. The flight of the two is quite 
 different. The lark lifts itself by several sharp movements and then 
 soars smoothly over the course, while the flicker makes a continuous up 
 and down, wave-like flight. The songs of the two would surely never be 
 confused, for the meadow-lark is among our sweetest singers, to which 
 class the flicker with his "flick a flick" hardly belongs. 
 
 The color s of the meadow-lark are most harmonious shades of brown 
 and yeiiow, well set off by the black locket on its breast. Its wings are 
 light brown, each feather being streaked with black and brown ; the line 
 above the eye is yellow, bordered with black above and below; a buff line 
 extends from the beak backward over the crown. The wings are light 
 brown and have a mere suggestion of white bars; portions of the outer 
 feathers on each side of the tail are white, but this white does not show 
 except during flight. The sides of the throat are greenish, the middle 
 part and breast are lemon-yellow, with the large, black crescent just below 
 the throat. The beak is long, strong and black, and the meadow-lark is 
 decidedly a low-browed bird, the forehead being only slightly higher than 
 the upper part of the beak. It is a little larger than the robin which it 
 rivals in plumpness. 
 
 The meadow-lark has a particular liking for meadows which border 
 streams. It sings when on the ground, on the bush or fence and while on 
 the wing; and it sings during the entire period of its northern stay, from 
 April to November, except while it is moulting in late summer. Mr. 
 Mathews, who is an eminent authority on bird songs, says that the 
 
Bird Study 
 
 8i 
 
 meadow-larks of New York have a different song from those of Vermont 
 or Nantucket, although the music has always the same general character- 
 istics. The western species has a longer and more complex song than 
 ours of the East. It is one of the few California birds that is a genuine 
 joy to the eastern visitor; during February and March its heavenly 
 music isas pervasive as the California sunshine. 
 
 The meadow-lark. 
 Drawing by L. A. Fuertes. 
 
 The nest is built in a depression in the ground near a tuft of grass; it is 
 constructed of coarse grass and sticks and is lined with finer grass; there 
 is usually a dome of grass blades woven above the nest; and often a long, 
 covered vestibule leading to the nest is made in a similar fashion. This is 
 evidently for protection from the keen eyes of hawks and crows. The 
 eggs are laid about the last of May and are usually from five to seven in 
 number; they are white, speckled with brown and purple. The young 
 larks are usuallv large enough to be out of the way before haying time in 
 July. 
 
82 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 The food of the meadow-lark during the entire year, consists almost 
 exclusively of insects which destroy the grass of our meadows. It eats 
 great quantities of grasshoppers, cut worms, chinch bugs, army worms, 
 wire worms, weevils, and also destroys some weed seeds. Each pupil 
 should make a diagram in his note-book showing the proportions of the 
 meadow-lark's different kinds of food. This may be copied from Audubon 
 Leaflet No. 3. The killing of the meadow-lark in New York State is a 
 punishable offence, as it should be in every state of the Union. Everyone 
 who owns a meadow should use his influence to the uttermost to protect 
 this valuable bird. It has been estimated that the meadow-larks save to 
 every township where hay is produced, twenty-flve dollars each year on 
 this crop alone. 
 
 The meadow-lark's covered nest. 
 Photo by Robert Matheson 
 
 LESSON XVIII 
 The Meadow-Lark 
 
 Leading thought — The meadow-lark is of great value in delivering tne 
 grass of our meadows from insect destroyers. It has a song which we all 
 know; it can be identified by color as a large, light brown bird with white 
 feathers on each side of the tail, and in flight, by its quick up and down 
 movements finishing with long, low, smooth sailing. 
 
 Af£'i//o(f— September and October are good months for observations on 
 the flight, song and appearance of the meadow-lark, and also for learning 
 
Bird Study 83 
 
 how to distinguish it from the flicker. The notes must be made by the 
 pupils in the field, and after they know the bird and its song let them, if 
 they have opportunity, study the bird books and bulletins, and prepare 
 written accounts of the way the meadow-lark builds its nest and of its 
 economic value. 
 
 Observations — i. Where have you seen the meadow-lark? Did 
 you ever see it in the woods? Describe its flight. How can you identify 
 it by color when it is flying? How do its white patches and its flight 
 differ from those of the flicker? 
 
 2. Try and imitate the meadow-lark's notes by song or whistle. 
 Does it sing while on the ground, or on a bush or fence, or during flight? 
 
 3. Note the day when you hear its last song in the fall and also its 
 first song in the spring. Does it sing during August and September? 
 Why? Where does it spend the winter? On what does it feed while in 
 the South? How are our meadow-larks treated when on their southern 
 sojourn? 
 
 4. Is the meadow-lark larger or smaher than the robin? Describe 
 from your own observation, as far as possible, the colors of the meadow- 
 lark as follows: Top of head; line above the eye; back; wings; tail; 
 throat; breast; locket; color and shape of beak. Make a sketch of your 
 own or a copy from Louis Fuertes' excellent picture of the meadow-lark in 
 the Audubon Leaflet, and color it accurately. 
 
 5. When is the nest built; where is it placed; of what materialis it 
 built ? How is it protected from sight from above ? Why this protection, 
 How^ many eggs? What are their colors and markings? 
 
 6. What is the food of the meadow-lark? Copy the diagram from 
 the Audubon leaflet, showing the proportions of the different kinds of 
 insects which it destroys. Why should the farmers of the South also 
 protect the meadow-lark by law? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Audubon Education Leaflet No. 3; Farmers' 
 Buhetin No. 54, U. S. Dept. of Agr.; "A Pioneer," in Nestlings of Forest 
 and Marsh, Wheelock. 
 
 Sweet, sweet, sweet! O happy that I am! 
 
 {Listen to the meadow-larks, across the fields that sing!) 
 Sweet, sweet, sweet! O subtle breath of balm, 
 
 O winds that blow, O buds that grow, O rapture of the spring! 
 
 Sweet, sweet, sweet! O happy ivorld that is! _ _ 
 
 Dear heart, I hear across the fields my matchng pipe and call. 
 
 Sweet, sweet, sweet! O world so full of bliss. 
 
 For life is love, the world is love, and love ts over all! 
 
 — Ina Coolbrith. 
 
84 
 
 Handbook of Naturc-Siitdy 
 
 THE ENGLISH SPARROW 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 So dainty in plumage and hue, 
 
 A study in grey and in brown. 
 How little, hoiv little we hneiv 
 
 The pest he ivoidd prove to the town! 
 From dawn until daylight grou's dim, 
 
 Perpetual chatter and scold. 
 No winter migration for him. 
 
 Not even afraid of the cold! 
 Scarce a song-bird he fails to molest, 
 
 Belligerent, meddlesome thing! 
 Wherever he goes as a guest 
 
 He is sure to remain as a King. 
 
 — Mary Isabella Forsyth. 
 
 The English sparrow, like the poor and the house-fly, is always with 
 us ; and since he is here to stay, let us make him useful if we can devise 
 any means of doing so. There is no bird that gives the pupils a more 
 difficult exercise in describing colors and markings than does he; and his 
 wife is almost equally difficult. I have known fairly skilled ornithologists 
 to be misled by some variation in color of the hen sparrow, and it is safe 
 to assert that the majority of people "do not know her from Adam." 
 The male has the top of the head gray with a patch of reddish brown on 
 either side; the middle of the throat and upper breast is black; the sides 
 of the throat white ; the lower breast and under parts grayish white; the 
 
Bird Study 85 
 
 back is brown streaked with black ; the tail is brown, rather short, and not 
 notched at the tip ; the wings are brown with two white bars and a jaunty 
 dash of reddish brown. The female has the head grayish brown, the 
 breast, throat and under parts grayish white; the back is brown streaked 
 with black and dirty yellow, and she is, on the whole, a "washed out" 
 looking lady bird. The differences in color and size between the English 
 sparrow and the chippy are quite noticeable, as the chippy is an inch 
 shorter and far more slender in appearance, and is especially marked by 
 the reddish brown crown. 
 
 When feeding, the English sparrows are aggressive, and their lack of 
 table manners make them the "goops" among all birds; in the winter 
 they settle in noisy flocks on the street to pick up the grain undigested by 
 the horses, or in barnyards where the grain has been scattered by the 
 cattle. They only eat weed seeds when other food fails them in the 
 winter, for they are a civilized bird even if they do not act so, and they 
 much prefer the cultivated grains. It is only during the nesting season 
 that they destroy insects to any extent ; over one-half the food of nestlings 
 is insects, such as, weevils, grasshoppers, cutworms, etc.; but this good 
 work is largely offset by the fact that these same nestlings will soon give 
 their grown-up energies to attacking grain fields, taking the seed after 
 sowing, later the new grain in the milk, and later still the ripened grain in 
 the sheaf. Wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn, sorghum and rice are thus 
 attacked. Once I saw on the upper Nile a native boat loaded with millet 
 which was attacked by thousands of sparrows; when driven off by the 
 sailors they would perch on the rigging, like flies, and as soon as the men 
 turned their backs they would drop like bullets to the deck and gobble 
 the grain before they were again driven off. English sparrows also 
 destroy for us the buds and blossoms of fruit trees and often attack the 
 ripening fruit. 
 
 The introduction of the EngUsh sparrow into America is one of the 
 greatest arguments possible in favor of nature-study; for, ignorance of 
 nature-study methods in this single instance, costs the United States 
 millions of dollars every year. The English sparrow is the European 
 house sparrow and people had a theory that it was an insect eater, but 
 never took the pains to ascertain if this theory were a fact. About 1850, 
 some people with more zeal than wisdom introduced these birds into New 
 York,, and for twenty years afterwards there were other importations of 
 the sparrows. In twenty years more, people discovered that they had 
 taken great pains to establish in our country one of the worst nuisances 
 in all Europe. In addition to all the direct damage which the English 
 sparrows do, they are so quarrelsome that they have driven away many 
 of our native beneficial birds from our premises, and now vociferously 
 acclaim their presence in places which were once the haunts of birds with 
 sweet songs. After thev drive off the other birds they quarrel among 
 themselves, and there is no rest for tired ears in their vicmity. There are 
 various noises made by these birds which we can understand if we are 
 willing to take the pains: The harassing chirping is their song; they 
 squall when frightened and peep plaintively when lonesome, and make a 
 disagreeable racket when fighting. 
 
 But to "give the devil his due" we must admit that the house sparrow 
 is as clever as it is obnoxious, and its success is doubtless partly rhie to its 
 superior cleverness and keenness. It is quick to take a hint, if sufficiently 
 
86 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 pointed ; firing a shotgun twice into a flock of these birds has driven them 
 from our premises; and tearing down their nests assiduously for a month 
 seems to convey to them the idea that they are not welcome. Another 
 instance of their cleverness I witnessed one day; I was watching a robin, 
 worn and nervous with her second brood, fervently hunting earthworms 
 in the lawn to fill the gaping mouths in the nest in the Virginia creeper 
 shading the piazza. She finally pulled up a large, pink worm and a hen 
 sparrow flew at her viciously; the robin dropped the worm to protect 
 herself, and the sparrow snatched it and carried it off triumphantly to the 
 grape arbor where she had a nest of her own full of gaping mouths. She 
 soon came back, and at a safe distance watched the robin pull out another 
 worm, and by the same tactics again gained the squirming prize. Three 
 times was this repeated in an hour, and then the robin, discouraged, flew 
 up into a Norway spruce and in a monologue of sullen duckings tried to 
 reason out what had happened. 
 
 The Enghsh sparrow's nest is quite in keeping with the bird's other 
 quahties; it is usually built in a hole or box or in some protected comer 
 beneath the eaves; it is also often built in vines on buildings and occa- 
 sionally in trees. It is a good example of "fuss and feathers"; coarse 
 straw, or any other kind of material, and feathers of hens or of other 
 birds,' mixed together without fashion or form, constitute the nest. In 
 these' sprawling nests the whitish, brown or gray-flecked eggs are laid 
 and the young reared; and so far as I can ascertain, no one has ever 
 counted the number of broods reared in one season. The nesting begins 
 almost as soon as the snow is off the ground and lasts until late fall. 
 
 During the winter, the sparrows gather in flocks in villages and cities, 
 but in the spring they scatter out through the country where they can 
 find more grain. The only place where this bird is welcome is possibly 
 in the heart of a great citv, where no other bird could pick up a Hveli- 
 hood. It is a true cosmopolite and is the first bird to greet the traveler 
 in Europe or northern Africa. These sparrows will not build in boxes 
 suspended by a wire ; and they do not like a box where there is no restmg 
 place in front of the door leading to the nest. 
 
 After the pupils have made observations upon the habits of the house 
 sparrow, they may find, in the following books and bulletins, facts which 
 will teach further the economic importance of this bird : Birds in Their 
 Relation to Man, bv Weed and Dearborn, p. 144- The following bulle- 
 tins of the U. S. Department of Agriculture: "English Sparrow m 
 North America;" "Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture," S. D. Judd, 
 Bulletin 15; "The Food of Nestlings," Yearbook 1900. 
 
 LESSON XIX 
 The English Sparrow 
 
 Leading thought — The English sparrow was introduced into America 
 by people who knew nothing of its habits. It has finally over-run our 
 whole countrv and, to a great extent, has driven out from towns and 
 villages our useful American song birds and it should be discouraged and 
 not allowed to nest around our houses and grounds. As a sparrow it has 
 interesting habits which w^e should observe. 
 
 Methods — Let the pupils make their observations in the street or 
 wherever they find the birds. The greatest value of this lesson is to teach 
 
Bird Stiidy 87 
 
 the pupils to observe the coloring and markings of a bird accurately and 
 describe them clearly. This is the best of training for later work with 
 the wild birds. 
 
 Observations — i. How many kintls of birds do you find in a flock of 
 English sparrows ? 
 
 2 . The ones with the black cravat are naturally the men of the 
 family, while their sisters, wives and mothers are less ornamented. 
 Describe in your note-book or from memory the colors of the cock sparrow 
 as follows: Top of head; sides of the head; the back; the tail; the 
 wings; wing bars; throat and upper breast; lower breast and under 
 parts. 
 
 3. Describe the hen sparrow in the same manner and note the 
 difference in markings between the two. Are the young birds, when they 
 first fly, like the father or the mother? 
 
 4. Compare the English sparrow with the chippy and describe the 
 differences in size and color. 
 
 5. Is the tail when the bird is not flying, square across the end or 
 
 notched ? 
 
 6. AYhat is the shape of the beak? For what sort of food is this 
 shaped beak meant? 
 
 7. What is the food of the English sparrows and w^here do they find 
 it? Describe the actions of a flock feeding in the yard or street. Are 
 the English sparrows kindly or quarrelsome in disposition ? 
 
 8. Why do the Enghsh sparrows stay in the North during the coldest 
 of winters? Do they winter out in the country or in villages? 
 
 g. Describe by observation how they try to drive away the robins or 
 
 other native birds. 
 
 10. Describe the nest of this sparrow. Of what material is it made? 
 How is it supported? How sheltered? Is it a well-built nest? 
 
 11. Describe the eggs? How many broods are raised a year? What 
 kind of food do the parents give the nestlings ? 
 
 12. If you have ever seen these sparrows do anything interesting 
 describe the circumstance? 
 
 13. In what ways are these birds a nuisance to us? 
 
 14. How much of Enghsh sparrow talk do you understand? 
 
 15. How can we build bird-boxes so that the English sparrows will 
 not try to take possession of them ? 
 
 Supplementary reading— "A Street Troubadour," in Lives of the 
 Hunted, Thompson Seton. First Book of Birds, Miller, p. 81. "Bliz- 
 zard" and "Three Sparrows that live in the House," from True Bird 
 Stories, Miller. 
 
 Do not tire the child with questions; lead him to question yon, instead. Be 
 sure, in any case, that he is more interested in the subject than ui the questions 
 about the subject. 
 
88 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE CHIPPING SPARROW 
 
 Teacher s Story 
 
 HIS midget lives in our midst, and yet, not among all 
 bird kind, is there one which so ignores us as does the 
 chippy. It builds its nest about our houses, it hunts 
 for food all over our premises, it sings like a tuneful 
 grasshopper in our ears, it brings up its young to dis- 
 regard us, and every hour of the day it "tsip-tsips" us 
 to scorn. And, although it has well earned the name 
 of "doorstep sparrow," since it frugally gathers the 
 crumbs about our kitchen doors, yet it rarely be- 
 comes tame or can be induced to eat from the hand, unless it is trained 
 so to do as a nestling. 
 
 Its cinnamon-brown cap and tiny black forehead, the gray streak over 
 the eye and the black through it, the gray cheeks and the pale gray, 
 unspotted breast distinguish it from the other sparrows, although its 
 brown back streaked with darker, and brown wings and blackish tail 
 have a very sparrowish look; the two whitish wing bars are not striking; 
 it has a bill fitted for shelling seeds, a characteristic of all the sparrows. 
 Despite its seed-eating bill, the chippy's food is thirty-eight per-cent 
 insects, and everyone should read what Mr. Forbush says about the good 
 work this little bird does in our gardens and to our trees. It takes in 
 large numbers cabbage caterpillars, the pea louse, the beet leaf-miners, 
 leaf hoppers, grasshoppers, cutworms, and does its best to annihilate the 
 caterpillars of the terrible gypsy and browntail moths. In fact, it works 
 for our benefit even in its vegetable food, as this consists largely of the 
 seeds of weeds and undesirable grasses. It will often fly up from its 
 perch after flies or moths, like a flycatcher; and the next time we note it, 
 it will be hopping around hunting for the crumbs we have scattered for it 
 on the piazza floor. The song of the chippy is more interesting to it than 
 to us; it is a continuous performance of high, shrill, rapid notes, all ahke 
 so far as I can detect ; when it utters many of these in rapid succession it 
 is singing, but when it gives them singly they are call notes or mere 
 conversation. 
 
 One peculiarity of the nest has given this sparrow the common name 
 of hair-bird, for the Hning is almost always of long, coarse hair, usually 
 treasure trove from the tails of horses or cattle switched off against boards, 
 burs or other obstacles. Of the many nests I have examined, black 
 horsehair was the usual lining; but two nests in our yard show the 
 chippv to be a resourceful bird; evidently the hair market was exhausted 
 and the soft, dead needles of the white pine were used instead and made 
 a most satisfactory lining. The nest is tiny and shallow; the outside is 
 of fine grass or rootlets carefully but not closely woven together; it is 
 placed in vine or tree, usually not more than ten or fifteen feet from the 
 ground; a vine of a piazza is a favorite nesting site. Once a bold pair 
 built directly above the entrance to our front door and mingled cheer- 
 fully with other visitors. Usually, however, the nest is so hidden that it 
 is not discovered until after the leaves have fallen. The eggs are light 
 blue tinged with green, with fine, purphsh brown specks or markings 
 scrawled about the larger end. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 89 
 
 The chippy comes to us 
 in April and usually raises 
 two broods of from three to 
 five "piggish" youngsters, 
 which even after they are fully 
 grown follow pertinaciously 
 their tired and "frazzled out" 
 parents and beg to be fed; 
 the chippy parents evidently 
 have no idea of discipline 
 but indulge their teasing 
 progeny until our patience, at 
 least, is exhausted. The 
 
 The chipping sparrow. 
 
 young differ from the parents in having streaked breasts and lacking the 
 reddish crown. In the fall the chippy parents lose their red-brown 
 caps and have streaked ones instead; and then they fare forth in flocks 
 for a seed-harvest in the fields. Thereafter our chippy is a stranger to 
 us; we do not know it in its new garb, and it dodges into the bushes as 
 we pass, as if it had not tested our harmlessness on our own door-stone. 
 Reference — Wild Life, Ingersol, p. 132. 
 
 LESSON XX 
 
 Leading thought — The chipping sparrow is a cheerful and useftil little 
 neighbor. It builds a nest, lined with horsehair, in the shrubbery and 
 vines about our homes and works hard in ridding our gardens of insect 
 pests and seeds of weeds. 
 
 Methods — Begin this lesson with a nest of the chippy, which is so 
 unmistakable that it may be identified when found in the winter. Make 
 the study of this nest so interesting that the pupils will wait anxiously 
 to watch for the birds which made it. As soon as the chippies appear, 
 the questions should be asked, a few at a time, giving the children several 
 weeks for the stud v. 
 
 The Xcst 
 
 Observations — i. AVhcre was this nest found? How high from the 
 ground ? 
 
 2. Was it under shelter? How was it supported? 
 
 3. Of what material is the outside of the nest? How is it fastened 
 together? How do you suppose the bird wove this material together? 
 
 4. Of what material is the lining? Why is the bird that built this 
 nest called the "hair bird?" From what animal do 3'ou think the lining 
 of the nest came? How do you suppose the bird got it? 
 
 5 . Do you think the nest was well hidden when the leaves were about 
 it? Measure the nest across and also its depth; do you think the l)ird 
 that made it is as large as the English sparrow? 
 
 The Bird 
 
 6. How can vou tell the chippy from the English sparrow? 
 
 7. Describe m 3'our note-book or orally the colors of the chippy as 
 follows: beak, forehead, crown, marks above and through the eyes. 
 
90 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 cheeks, throat, breast, wings and tail. Note if the wings have whitish 
 bars and how many. 
 
 8. Describe the shape of the beak as compared with that of the robin. 
 What is this shaped bill meant for? 
 
 9. What is the food of the chippy? Why has it been called the 
 doorstep-sparrow ? 
 
 10. Note if the chippy catches flies or moths on the wing like the 
 phoebe-bird. 
 
 11. Why should we protect the chippy and try to induce it to live 
 near our gardens ? 
 
 12. Does it run or hop when seeking food on the ground? 
 
 13. How early in the season does the chippy appear and where does it 
 spend the winter? 
 
 14. Can you describe the chippy's song? How do you think it won 
 the name of chipping sparrow? 
 
 15. If you have the luck to find a pair of chippies nesting, keep a 
 diary of your observations in your note-book covering the following 
 points: Do both parents build the nest? How is the frame-work laid? 
 How is the finishing done ? The number and color of the eggs ? Do both 
 parents feed the yovmg? How do young chippies act when they first 
 leave the nest? How large are the young birds before the parents stop 
 feeding them ? What are the differences in color and markings between 
 parents and young? 
 
 THE FIELD-SPARROW 
 
 A bubble of music floats, the slope of the hillside over; 
 
 A little wandering, sparrow' s notes; and the bloom of yarrow and clover. 
 
 And the smell of sweet-fern and the bayberry leaf, on his ripple of song are stealing, 
 
 For he is a cheerfid thief, the ivealth of the fields revealing. 
 
 One syllable, clear and soft as a raindrop's silvery patter, 
 Or a tinkling fairy-bell; heard aloft, in the midst of the merry chatter 
 Of robin and linnet and wren and jay, one syllable, oft repeated; 
 He has but a ivord to say, and of that he ivill not be cheated. 
 
 The singer I have not seen; but the song I arise and follow 
 
 The brown hills over, the pastures green, and into the sunlit hollow. 
 
 With a joy that his life unto mine has lent, I can feel my glad eyes glisten, 
 
 Though he hides in his happy tent, ivhile I stand outside, and listen. 
 
 This way would I also sing, my dear little hillside neighbor! 
 
 A tender carol of peace to bring to the sunburnt fields of labor 
 
 Is better than making a loud ado; trill on, amid clover and yarrow! 
 
 There's a heart-beat echoing you, and blessing you, blithe little sparrow! 
 
 — Lucy Larcom 
 
Bird Study 
 
 91 
 
 
 
 THE SONG SPARROW 
 
 Teachers' Story 
 
 "He does not wear a Joseph's coat of many colors, smart and gay 
 His suit is Quaker brown and gray, with darker patches at his throat. 
 And yet of all the well-dressed throng, not one can sing so brave a song. 
 It makes the pride of looks appear, a vain and foolish thing to hear 
 His "Siveet, sweet, sweet, very merry cheer.'' 
 
 A lofty place he does not love, he sits by choice and well at ease 
 
 In hedges and in little trees, that stretch their slender arms above 
 
 The meadow brook; and then he sings till all the field with pleasure rings; 
 
 And so he tells in every ear, that lowly homes to heaven are near 
 
 In 'Siveet, sweet, sweet, very merry cheer.' " 
 
 — Hexry Va.v Dyke. 
 
 Children should commit to memory the poem from which the above 
 stanzas were taken; seldom in literature, have detailed accurate observa- 
 tion and poetry been so happily combined as in these verses. The lesson 
 might begin in March when we are all hstening eagerly for bird voices, 
 and the children should be asked to look out for a Httle, brown bird which 
 sings, "Sweet, sweet, sweet, very merr}^ cheer," or, as Thoreau interprets 
 it, "Maids! Maids! Maids! Hang on the teakettle, teakettle-ettle- 
 et'tle." In earlv childhood I learned to distinguish this sparrow by its 
 "Teakettle" song. Besides this song, it has others quite as sweet; and 
 when alarmed it utters a sharp "T'chink, t'chink." 
 
 The song sparrow prefers the neighborhood of brooks and ponds which 
 are bordered with bushes, and also the hedges planted by nature along 
 rail or other field fenc-es, and it has a special liking for the shrubbery about 
 gardens. Its movements and flight are very characteristic; it usually 
 sits on the tip-top of a shrub or low tree when it sings, but when disturbed 
 
92 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 never rises in the air but drops into a low flight and plunges into a thicket 
 with a defiant twitch of the tail which says plainly, "find me if you can." 
 
 The color and markings of this bird are typical of the sparrows. The 
 head is a warm brown with a gray streak along the center of the crown 
 and one above each eye, with a dark line through the eye. The back is 
 brown with darker streaks. The throat is white with a dark spot on 
 either side; the breast is white spotted with brown with a large, dark 
 blotch at its very center; this breast blotch distinguishes this bird from 
 all other sparrows. The tail and wings are brown and without buff or 
 white bars or other markings. The tail is long, rounded and very expres- 
 sive of emotions, and makes the bird look more slender than the English 
 sparrow. 
 
 The nest is usually placed on the ground or in low bushes not more 
 than five feet from the ground; it varies much in both size and material; 
 it is sometimes constructed of coarse weeds and grasses ; and sometimes 
 only fine grass is used. Sometimes it is lined with hair, and again, with 
 fine grass; sometimes it is deep, but occasionally is shallow. The eggs 
 have a whitish ground-color tinged with blue or green, but are so blotched 
 and marked with brown that they are safe from observation of enemies. 
 The nesting season begins in May, and there are usually three and some- 
 times four broods; but so far as I have observed, a nest is never used for 
 two consecutive broods. The song sparrow stays with us in NewYork 
 State very late in the fall, and a few stay in sheltered places all winter. 
 The quality in this bird which endears him to us all is the spirit of song 
 which stays with him ; his sweet trill may be heard almost any month of 
 the year, and he has a charming habit of singing in his dreams, if sudden 
 noise disturbs his slumber. 
 
 The song sparrow is not only the dearest of little neighbors, but it also 
 works lustily for our good and for its own food at the same time. It 
 destroys cutworms, plant-Hce, caterpillars, canker-worms, ground beetles, 
 grasshoppers and flies; in winter it destroys thousands of weed seeds, 
 which otherwise would surely plant themselves to o^ir undoing. Every 
 boy and girl should take great pains to drive away stray cats and to teach 
 the family puss not to meddle with birds ; for cats are the worst of all the 
 song sparrow's enemies, destroying thousands of its nestlings every year. 
 
 LESSON XXI 
 The Song Sp.\rrow 
 
 Leading thought — The beautiful song of this sparrow is heard earlier in 
 the spring than the notes of bluebird or robin. The dark blotch in the 
 center of its speckled breast distinguishes this sparrow from all others; 
 it is very beneficial and should be protected from cats. 
 
 Methods — All the observations of the song sparrow must be made in 
 the field, and they are easily made because the bird builds near houses, in 
 gardens, and in the shrubbery. Poetry and other literature about the 
 song sparrow should be given to the pupils to read or to memorize. 
 
 Observations — i . Have you noticed a little brown bird singing a very 
 sweet song in the early spring? Did the song sound as if set to the words 
 "Little Maid! Little Maid! Little Maid! Put on the teakettle, tea- 
 kettle-ettle ettle?" 
 
Bird Study 93 
 
 2. Where was this bird when you heard him sin.cjing? How hi^^h was 
 he perched above the ground? What other notes did you hear him utter? 
 
 3. Describe the colors and markings of the song sparrow on head, 
 back, throat, breast, wings and taih Is this bird as large as the English 
 sparrow? What makes it look more slim? 
 
 4. How can you distinguish the song sparrow from the other spar- 
 rows? When disturbed does it fly up or down? How does it gesture 
 with its tail as it disappears in the bushes? 
 
 5. Where and of what material does the song sparrow build its nest? 
 
 6. What colors and markings are on the eggs? Do you think these 
 colors and markings are useful in concealing the eggs when the mother 
 bird leaves the nest? 
 
 7 . How late in the season do you see the song sparrows and hear their 
 songs? Does this bird, when disturbed, fly up or down? 
 
 8. How can we protect these charming little birds and induce them to 
 build near our houses? 
 
 9. What is the food of the song sparrows and how do they benefit our 
 fields and gardens? 
 
 Supplementary reading— Onr Birds and Their Nestlings, Walker, pp. 
 43, 49, 50, 52; Second Book of Birds, Miller, p. 80; Birds of Song and 
 Story,' Cxrinnell, p. 73; The Song Sparrow, Van Dyke; Birds Through 
 an Opera Glass, Merriam, p. 66; Field Book of Wild Birds, Mathews, p. 
 109; Wild Life, Ingersoll, p. 144; Audubon Leaflet No. 31. 
 
 THE SIXG-AWAY BIRD 
 
 Have you ever heard of the Sing-away bird, 
 
 That sings where the Runaway River 
 Runs down with its rills from the bald-headed hills 
 
 That stand in the sunshine and shiver? 
 "Oh, sing! sing-away! sing-away!" 
 How the pines and the birches are stirred 
 By the trill of the Sing-away bird! 
 
 And the bald-headed hills, with their rocks and their rills. 
 
 To the tune of his rapture are ringing; 
 And their faces grow young, all the gray mists among, 
 
 While the forests break forth into singing. 
 "Oh sing! sing-away! sing-aivay!" 
 And the river runs singing along; 
 And the flying winds catch up the song. 
 
 'T was a white-throated sparrow, that sped a light arrow 
 
 Of song from his musical quiver, 
 And it pierced with its spell every valley and dell 
 
 On the banks of the Runaway River. 
 "Oh, sing! sing-away! sing-away!" 
 The song of the wild singer laid 
 The sound of a soul thai is glad. — Lucy Larcom. 
 
94 
 
 Hajidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The jnockingbird . 
 Drawing by L. A. Fuertes. 
 
 THE MOCKINGBIRD 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Among all the vocalists in the bird world, the mockingbird is unrivaled 
 in the variety and richness of his repertoire; and he has thus won his 
 place an\ong men, convincing many ignorant people by the means of his 
 voice that a bird is good for scmiething besides "victuals." The mocking- 
 birds go as far north as southern New England, but they are found at their 
 best in the Southern States and in California. On the Gulf Coast the 
 mockers begin singing in February ; in warmer climates they sing almost 
 the year through. During the nesting season, the father mocker is so 
 busy with his cares and duties during the day, that he does not have time 
 to sing and so devotes the nights to serenading; he may sing almost all 
 night long if there is moonlight, but even on dark nights he gives now 
 and then a happy, sleepy song. Not all mockingbirds are mockers; 
 some sing their own song which is rich and beautiful; while others learn 
 in addition, not only the songs of other birds, but their call notes as well. 
 One authority noted a mocker which imitated the songs of twenty 
 species of birds during a ten-minute performance. When singing, the 
 mocker shows his relationship to the brown thrasher by lifting the head 
 
Bird Study 95 
 
 and depressing and jerking the tail. A good mocker will learn a tune, or 
 parts of it, if it is whistled often enough in his hearing; he will also 
 imitate other sounds and will often improve on a song he has learned from 
 another bird by introducing frills of his own ; when learning a song, he 
 sits silent and listens intently, but will not try to sing it until it is learned. 
 Although the mockingbirds live in wild places, they prefer the haunts 
 of men, taking up their home sites in gardens and cultivated grounds. 
 Their flight is rarely higher than the tree tops and is decidedly jerky in 
 character with much twitching of the long tail. For nesting sites, they 
 choose thickets or the lower branches of trees, being especially fond of 
 orange trees ; the nest is usually from four to twenty feet from the ground. 
 The foundation of the nest is made of sticks, grasses and weed stalks 
 interlaced and crisscrossed; on these is built the nest of softer materials, 
 such as, rootlets, horsehair, cotton, or in fact, anything suitable which is 
 at hand. The nest is often in plain sight, since the mocker trusts to his 
 strength as a fighter to protect it. He will attack cats with great ferocity 
 and vanquish them; he will kill snakes; often good-sized black snakes 
 have been known to end thus. The mocker, in making his attack, hovers 
 above his enemy and strikes it at the back of the head or neck; he will 
 also drive away birds much larger than himself. 
 
 The female lays from four to six pale greenish or bluish eggs 
 blotched with brown and which hatch in about two weeks; ^ then 
 comes a period of hard work for the parents, as both are indefatigable 
 in catching insects to feed the young. The mocker, by the way, is a 
 funny sight when he is chasing a beetle on the ground, lifting his wings 
 in a' pugnacious fashion. The mockers often raise three broods a 
 season'; the young birds have spotted breasts, showing their relationship 
 to the thrasher. 
 
 As a wooer, the mocker is a bird of much ceremony and dances into his 
 lady's graces. Mrs. F. W. Rowe, in describing this, says that the birds 
 stand facing each other with heads and tails erect and wings drooping; 
 "then the dance would begin, and this consisted of the two hopping 
 sideways in the same direction and in rather a straight line a few inches at 
 a time, always keeping directly opposite each other and about the same 
 distance apart. They would chassez this way four or five feet, then go 
 back over the same line in the same manner." Mrs. Rowe also observed 
 that the male mockers have hunting preserves of their own, not allowing 
 any other males of their species in these precincts. The boundary was 
 sustained by tactics of both offense and defense; but certain other species 
 of birds were allowed to trespass without reproof. 
 
 Maurice Thompson describes in a delightful manner the "mountmg" 
 and "dropping' ' songs of the mocker which occur during the wooing season . 
 The singer flits up from branch to branch of a tree, singing as he goes, and 
 finalK on the topmost bough gives his song of triumph to the world; then, 
 reversing the process, he falls backward from spray to spray, as^if drunk 
 with the ecstasy of his own song, which is an exquisitely soft "gurghng 
 series of notes, liquid and sweet, that seem to express utter rapture." 
 The mockingbirds have the same colors in both sexes; the head is 
 black, the back is ashy-gray ; the tail and wvngs are so dark brown that 
 they look black; the tail is very long and has the outer tail feathers 
 entirely white and the tv\^o next inner ones are white for more than half 
 their length; the wings have a strikingly broad, white bar. which is ver>' 
 
96 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 noticeable when the bird is flying. The under parts and breast are 
 grayish white; the beak and legs are blackish. The food of the mocking- 
 birds is about half insects and half fruit. They live largely on the berries 
 of the red cedar, myrtle and holly, and we must confess are often too 
 devoted to the fruits in our orchards and gardens; but let us put down to 
 their credit that they do their best to exterminate the cotton boll cater- 
 pillars and moths, and also many other insects injurious to crops. 
 
 The mocker is full of tricks and is distinctly a bird of humor. He will 
 frighten other birds by screaming like a hawk and then seem to chuckle 
 over the joke. 
 
 Sidney Lanier describes him well. 
 
 Whatever birds did or dreamed, this bird could say. 
 Then down he shot, bounced airily along 
 The sward, twitched in a grassJiopper, made song 
 Midjlight, perched, prinked, and to his art again. 
 
 LESSON XXII 
 The Mockixg Bird 
 
 Leading thought — The mockingbird is the only one of our common 
 birds that sings regularly at night. It imitates the songs of other I'irds 
 and has also a beautiful song of its own. When feeding their nestlings, 
 the mockers do us great service by destroying insect pests. 
 
 Method — Studies of this bird are best made individually by the pupils 
 through watching the mockers which haunt the houses and shrubbery. 
 If there are mockingbirds near the schoolhouse the work can be done in 
 the most ideal way by keeping records in the school of all the observations 
 made by the pupils, thus bringing out an interesting mockingbird story. 
 The experiment in teaching songs to the birds may best be made with pet 
 mockers. 
 
 Observations — i. At what months of the year and for how many 
 months does the mxockingbird sing in this locality? 
 
 2. Does he sing only on moonlight nights? Does he sing all night? 
 
 3. Can you distinguish the true mockingbird song from the songs 
 which he has learned from other birds ? Describe the actions of a mocker 
 when he is singing. 
 
 4. How many songs of other birds have you heard a mocker give and 
 what are the names of these birds? 
 
 5. Have you ever taught a mocker a tune by whistling it in his 
 presence? If so, tell how long before he learned it and how he acted 
 while learning. 
 
 Describe the flight of the mockingbirds. Do they fly high in the air 
 like crows? 
 
 7. Do these birds like best to live in wild places or about houses and 
 gardens? 
 
 8. Where do they choose sites for their nests? Do they make an 
 effort to hide the nest? If not, why? 
 
 9. Of what material is the nest made? How is it lined? How far 
 from the ground is it placed? 
 
 10. What are the colors of the eggs? How many are usually laid? 
 How long before they hatch? 
 
Bird Study 97 
 
 11. Give instances of the parents' devotion to the young birds. 
 
 12. Have you seen two mockingbirds dancing before each other just 
 before the nesting season? 
 
 13. In the spring have you heard a mocker sing while mounting from 
 the lower to the upper branches of a tree and then after pouring forth his 
 best song fall backward with a sweet, gurgling song as if intoxicated with 
 his music? 
 
 14. How many broods does a pair of mockers raise during one season ? 
 How does the color of the breast of the young difEer from that of the 
 parent ? 
 
 15. How does the father bird protect the nestlings from other birds, 
 cats and snakes? 
 
 16. Does the mocker select certain places for his own hunting grounds 
 and drive off other mockers which trespass? 
 
 17. Describe the colors of the mockingbird as follows: Beak, head, 
 back, tail, wings, throat, breast, under parts and feet. 
 
 18. What is the natural food of the mockingbirds and how do they 
 benefit the farmer? How does the mocker act when attacking a ground 
 beetle? 
 
 19. Have you seen mockingbirds frighten other birds by imitating 
 the cry of a hawk? Have you seen them play other kinds of tricks? 
 
 20. Write a little story which shall include your own observations on 
 the ways of pet mockingbirds which 3^ou have known. 
 
 Supplementary reading — True Bird Stories, Miller, p. 142; Bob, by 
 Sidney Lanier; Second Book of Birds, Miller, p. 34; Birds of Song and 
 Story, Grinnell, p. 29; Stories About Birds, Kirby, p. 94. 
 
 "Soft and low the song began: I scarcely caught it as it ran 
 Through the melancholy trill of the plaintive tvhip- poor -will. 
 Through the ringdove's gentle ivail, chattering jay and ivhisiling quail, 
 Sparrow's twitter, catbird's cry, redbird's ivhistlc, robin's sigh; 
 Blackbird, bluebird, swalloiv, lark, each his native note might mark. 
 
 Oft he tried the lesson o'er, each time louder than before; 
 Burst at length the finished song, loud and clear it poured along; 
 All the choir in silence heard, hushed before this wondrous bird. 
 All transported and amazed, scarcely breathing, long I gazed. 
 Now it reached the loudest swell; lower, lower, noiv it fell, — 
 Lower, lower, lower still, scarce it sounded o'er the rill." 
 
 — Joseph Rodman Drakb. 
 
98 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Catbird on nest. 
 Photo by Robert Matheson. 
 
 THE CATBIRD 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "TJic Catbird sings a crooked song, in minors that are flat. 
 And, ivhen he can't control his voice he mews just like a cat. 
 Then nods his head ajid luh.isks his tail and lets it go at that.'' 
 
 — Oliver Davie. 
 
 As a performer, the catbird distinctly belongs to the vaudeville, even 
 going so far as to appear in slate-colored tights. His specialties range 
 from the most exquisite song to the most strident of scolding notes; his 
 nasal "n-y-a-a-h, n-y-a-a-h" is not so very much like the cat's mew after 
 all, but when addressed to the intruder it means "get out;" and not in the 
 whole gamut of bird notes is there another which so quickly inspires the 
 listener with this desire. I once trespassed upon the territory of a well- 
 grown catbird family and the squalling that ensued was ear-splitting; as 
 I retreated, the triumphant youngsters followed me for a few rods with 
 every sign of triumph in their actions and voices; they obviously enjoyed 
 my apparent fright. The catbirds have rather a pleasant "cluck, cluck" 
 when talking to each other, hidden in the bushes, and they also have a 
 variety of other notes. The true song of the catbird, usually given in the 
 early morning, is very beautiful. Mr. Mathews thinks it is a medley 
 gathered from other birds, but it seems to me very inrlividual. However, 
 true to his vaudeville training, this bird is likely to introduce into the 
 middle or at the end of his exquisite song some phrase that suggests his 
 cat call. He is, without doubt, a true mocker and will often imitate 
 the robin's song, and also if opportunity offers learns to converse fluently 
 in chicken language. One spring morning, I heard outside my window 
 
Bird Study 99 
 
 the mellow song of the cardinal, which is a rare visitor in New York, but 
 there was no mistaking the "tor-re-do, tor-re-do." I sprang from my bed 
 and rushed to the window only to see a catbird singing the cardinal song, 
 and thus telling me that he had come from the sunny South and the 
 happy companionship of these brilliant birds. Often when the catbird is 
 singing, he sits on the topmost spray of some shrub lifting his head and 
 depressing his tail, like a brown thrasher; and again, he sings completely 
 hidden in the thicket. 
 
 In appearance the catbird is tailor-made, belonging to the same social 
 class as the cedar-bird and the barn swallow. However, it affects quiet 
 colors, and its well-fitting costume is all slate-gray except the top of the 
 head and the tail which are black; the feathers beneath the base of the 
 tail are brownish. The catbird is not so large as the robin, and is of very 
 different shape; it is far more slender and has a long, emotional tail. 
 The way the catbird twitches and tilts its tail, as it hops along the ground 
 or alights in a bush, is very characteristic. It is a particularly aleii: and 
 nervous bird, always on the watch for intruders, and the first to give 
 warning to all other birds of their approach. It is a good fighter in 
 defending its nest, and there are several observed instances where it has 
 fought to defend the nest of other species of birds; and it has gone even 
 further in its philanthropy, by feeding their orphaned nestlings. 
 
 The catbird chooses a nesting site in a low tree or shrub or brier, where 
 the nest is built usually about four feet from the ground. The nest looks 
 untidy, but is strongly made of sticks, coarse grass, weeds, bark strips 
 and occasionally paper; it is lined with soft roots and is almost always 
 well hidden in dense foliage. The eggs are from three to five in number 
 and are dark greenish blue. Both parents work hard feeding the young 
 and for this "purpose destroy many insects which we can well spare. 
 Sixty-two per cent, of the food of the young has been found in one instance 
 to be cutworms, showing what a splendid work the parents do in our 
 gardens. In fact, during a large part of the summer, while these birds 
 are rearing their two broods, they benefit us greatly by destroying the 
 insect pests; and although later they may attack our fruits and berries, it 
 almost seems as if they had earned the right to their share. If we only 
 had the wisdom to plant along the fences some elderberries or Russian 
 mulberries, the catbirds as well as the robins would feed upon them instead 
 of the cultivated fruits. 
 
 The catbirds afford a striking example for impressing upon children 
 that each species of birds haunts certain kinds of places. The catbirds are 
 never found in deep woods nor in open fields, but always near low thickets 
 along streams, and in shrubbery along fences, in tangles of vines, and 
 especially do they like to build about our gardens, if we protect them. 
 They are very fond of bathing, and if fresh water is given them for this 
 purpose, we may have opportunity to witness the most thorough bath a 
 bird can'take. A catbird takes a long time to bathe and preen its feathers 
 and indulges in most luxurious sun baths and thus deservedly earns the 
 epithet of "well-groomed;" it is one of the most intelligent of all our birds 
 and soon learns "what is what," and repays in the most surprising way 
 the trouble of careful observation. 
 
loo Haftdbook of N ature-Study 
 
 LESSON XXIII 
 The Catbird 
 
 Leading thought — The catbird has a beautiful song as well as the harsh 
 "miou," and can imitate other birds, although not so well as the mocking- 
 bird. It builds in low thickets and shrubbery and during the nesting 
 season is of great benefit to our gardens. 
 
 Methods — First, let the pupils study and report upon the songs, 
 scoldings and other notes of this our northern mockingbird; then let 
 them describe its appearance and habits. Of course, the study must be 
 made outside of school hours in the field. 
 
 Observations — i. Do you think the squall of the catbird sounds like 
 the mew of a cat ? When does the bird use this note and what for ? What 
 other notes have you heard it utter? 
 
 2. Describe as well as you can the catbird's true song. Are there any 
 harsh notes in it? Where does he sit while singing? Describe his actions 
 while singing. 
 
 3 . Have you ever heard the catbird imitate the songs of other birds 
 or other noises? 
 
 4. Describe the catbird as follows: its size and shape compared to 
 the robin; the color and shape of head, beak, wings, tail, breast and 
 under parts. 
 
 5. Describe its peculiar actions and its characteristic movements. 
 
 6. Where do catbirds build their nests? How high from the ground? 
 What material is used? Is the nest compact and carefully finished? 
 Is it hidden? 
 
 7. What is the color of the eggs? Do both parents care for the 
 young? 
 
 8. What is the food of the catbird ? Why is it an advantage to us to 
 have catbirds build in our gardens? 
 
 9. Do you ever find catbirds in the deep woods or out in the open 
 meadows ? Where do you find them ? 
 
 10. Put out a pan of water where the catbirds can use it and then 
 watch them make their toilets and describe the process. Describe how 
 they take sun baths. 
 
 Supplementary reading — "Monsieur Mischief," Nestlings of Forest and 
 Marsh, Wheelock; Our Birds and Their Nestlings, Walker, pp. 167, 174; 
 Second Book of Birds, Miller, p. 37; Songs of Nature, Burroughs, p. 172: 
 Birds of Song and Story. Grinnell, p. 36. 
 
 "He sits on a bra itch of you blossoming bush. 
 This madcap cousin of robin and thrush, 
 And sings without ceasing the whole morning long; 
 Now wild, now tender, the wayward song 
 That flows from his soft, gray, fluttering throat; 
 But often he stops in his sweetest note. 
 And, shaking a flower from the blossoming bough. 
 Drawls out, "Mi-eu, mi-mv'" 
 
 — "The Catbird", EniTH M Thomas. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 lOl 
 
 THE BELTED KINGFISHER 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HIS patrol of our streams and lake shores, in his cadet 
 uniform, is indeed a military figure as well as a militant 
 personality. As he sits upon his chosen branch over- 
 hanging some stream or lake shore, his crest abristle, 
 his keen eye fixed on the water below, his whole bearing 
 alert, one must acknowledge that this fellow puts 
 "ginger" into his environment, and that the spirit 
 which animates him is very far from the "dolce far 
 niente" which permeates the ordinary fisherman. However, he does not 
 fish for fun but for business; his keen eye catches the gleam of a moving 
 fin and he darts from his perch, holds himself for a moment on steady 
 wings above the surface of the water, to be sure of his quarry, and then 
 there is a dash and a splash and he returns to his perch with the wriggling 
 fish in his strong beak; he at once proceeds to beat its life out against a 
 branch and then to swallow it sensibly, head first, so that the fins will not 
 prick his throat nor the scales rasp it. He swallows the entire fish, trust- 
 ing to his internal organs to select the nourishing part; and later he gulps 
 up a ball of the indigestible scales and bones. 
 
 The kingfisher is very different in form from an ordinary bird; he is 
 larger than a robin, and his head and fore parts are much larger in propor- 
 tion; this is the more noticeable because of the long 
 feathers of the head which he lifts into a crest, and 
 because of the shortness of the tail. The beak is very 
 long and strong in order to seize the fish and hold it 
 fast; but the legs are short and weak; the third and 
 fourth toes are grown together for a part of their 
 length; perhaps this is of use to the bird in pushing- 
 earth from the burrow, when excavating. The king- 
 fisher has no need for running and hopping, like the 
 robin and, therefore, does not need the robin's strong 
 legs and feet . His colors are beautiful and harmonious ; 
 the upper parts are grayish blue, the throat and collar 
 white, as is also the breast, which has a bluish gray 
 band across the upper part, this giving the name of 
 the Belted Kingfisher to the bird. The feathers of the wings are tipped with 
 white and the tail feathers narrowly barred with white. The under side 
 of the body is white in the males, while in the females it is somewhat chest- 
 nut in color. There is a striking white spot just in front of the eye. 
 
 The kingfisher parents build their nest in a burrow which they tunnel 
 horizontally in a bank; sometimes there is a vestibule of several feet 
 before the nest is reached, and at other times it is built very close to the 
 opening. Both parents are industrious in catching fish for their nestlings, 
 but the burden of this duty falls heaviest upon the male. Many fish 
 bones are found in the nest, and they seem so clean and white that they 
 have been regarded as nest lining. Wonderful tales are told of the way 
 the English kingfishers use fish bones to support the earth above their 
 nests, and tributes have been paid to their architectural skill. But it is 
 generally conceded that the lining of fish bones in nests of our kingfisher 
 is incidental, since the food of the young is largely fish, although frogs, 
 
 Kingfisher' s foot. 
 
 This shows the weak 
 toes; the thini and 
 fourth are joined 
 together, which un- 
 doubtedly assists 
 the bird in push- 
 ing out soil when 
 e.xcavating. 
 
I02 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 insects and other creatures are often eaten with reHsh. It is interesting 
 to note the process by which the young kingfisher gets its skill in fishing. 
 I have often seen one dive horizontally for a yard or two beneath the 
 water and come up indignant and sputtering because the fish had escaped. 
 It was fully two weeks after this before this one learned to drop like a 
 bullet on its quarry. 
 
 The note of the kingfisher is a loud rattle, not especially pleasant close 
 at hand, but not unmusical at a little distance. It is a curious coinci- 
 dence that it sounds very much like the clicking of the fisherman's reel; 
 it is a sound that conjures visions of shade-dappled streams and the danc- 
 ing, blue waters of tree-fringed lakes and ponds. 
 
 There seems to be a division of fishing ground among the kingfishers, 
 one bird never trespassing upon its neighbor's preserves. Unless it be 
 the parent pair working near each other for the nestlings, or the nestlings 
 still under their care, we never see two kingfishers in the same immediate 
 locality. 
 
 References — The Bird, p. 97; The Bird Book, pp. 154, 444. 
 
 The belted kingfisher. 
 
 Drawing by L. A. Fuertes. 
 
 LESSON XXIV 
 
 The Kingfisher 
 
 Leading thought — The kingfisher is fitted by 
 form of body and beak to be a fisherman. 
 
 Methods — If the school be near a stream or 
 pond the following observations may be made 
 by the pupils; otherwise let the boys who go 
 fishing make a study of the bird and report to 
 the school. 
 
 Observations — i. Where have you seen 
 the kingfisher? Have you often seen it on a 
 certain branch which is its favorite perch ? Is 
 this perch near the water? What is the 
 advantage of this position to the bird ? 
 
 2. What does the kingfisher feed upon? 
 How does it obtain its food? Describe the 
 actions of one of these birds while fishing. 
 
 3. With w^iat weapon does the kingfisher secure the fish? How long 
 is its beak compared with the rest of its body? How does it kill the fish? 
 Does it swallow the fish head or tail first? Why? Does it tear off the 
 scales or fins before swallowing it? How does it get rid of these and the 
 bones of the fish? 
 
 4. Which is the larger, the kingfisher or the robin? Describe the 
 difference in shape of the bodies of these two birds; also in the size and 
 shape of feet and beaks and explain why they are so different in form. 
 What is there peculiar about the kingfisher's feet? Do you know which 
 two toes are grown together? 
 
 5. What are the colors of the kingfisher in general? The colors of 
 head, sides of head, collar, back, tail, wings, throat, breast and under 
 parts ? Is there a white spot near the eye ? If so, where ? Do you know 
 the difference in colors between the parent birds? 
 
 6. Where is the nest built? How is it lined? 
 
Bird Study 103 
 
 7. What is the note of the kingfisher? Does it give it while perching 
 or while on the wing? Do you ever find more than one kingfisher on the 
 same fishing grounds? 
 
 Supplementary reading — The Second Book of Birds, Chapter XXX; 
 "The Halycon Birds," Child's Study of the Classics; Audubon Leaflet 
 No. 19; "Kooskosemus," Long; American Birds, Finley. 
 
 THE KINGFISHER {OF ENGLAND) 
 
 For the handsome Kingfisher, go not to the tree. 
 No bird of the field or the forest is he; 
 In the dry river rock he did never abide. 
 And not on the brown heath all barren and ivide. 
 
 He lives where the fresh, sparkling ivaters are flowing, 
 Where the tall heavy Typha and Loosestrife are growing; 
 By the bright little streams that all joyfully run 
 AwJiile in the sJiadoiv, and then i}i the sun. 
 
 He lives in a hole that is quite to his mind. 
 With the green mossy Hazel roots firmly entwined; 
 Where the dark Alder-bough waves gracefully o'er. 
 And the Sword-flag and Arrow-head grow at his door. 
 
 There busily, busily, all the day long, 
 He seeks for small fishes the shallows among; 
 For he builds his nest of the pearly fish-bone. 
 Deep, deep, in the bank, far retired, and alone. 
 
 Then the brown Water-Rat from his burrotv looks out. 
 To see what his neighbor Kingfisher' s about; 
 And the green Dragon-fly, flitting slowly away. 
 Just pauses one mom-ent to bid him good-day. 
 
 O happy Kingfisher! What care shoidd he know. 
 By the clear, pleasant streams, as he skims to and fro. 
 Now lost in the shadow, now bright in the sheen 
 Of the hoi summer sun, glancing scarlet and green! 
 
 — Marv Howitt. 
 
I04 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE SCREECH OWL 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "Disquiet yourselves not. 'Tis nothing but a little, downy owl.'" — Shelley. 
 
 Of all the fascinating 
 sounds to be heard at night 
 in the woods, the screech 
 owl's song is surely the 
 most so ; its fascination does 
 not depend on music but 
 upon the chills which it 
 sends up and down the 
 spine of the listener, thus 
 attacking a quite different 
 set of nerves than do other 
 bird songs. The weird wail, 
 tremulous and long drawn 
 out, although so blood- 
 curdling, is from the stand- 
 point of the owlet the most 
 beautiful music in the 
 world; by means of it he 
 calls to his mate, cheering 
 her with the assurance 
 of his presence in the 
 world ; evidently she is not 
 a nervous creature. The 
 screech owls are likely to 
 sing at night during any 
 part of the year; nor should 
 Screech owls. we infer that when they are 
 
 From Country Life in America. singing they are not hunt- 
 
 ing, for perchance their music frightens their victims into fatal activ- 
 ity.' Although the note is so unmistakable, yet there is great varia- 
 tion in the songs of individuals; the great variety of quavers in the 
 song offering ample opportunity for the expression of individuality. 
 Moreover, these owls often give themselves over to _ tremulous 
 whispering and they emphasize excitement by snapping their beaks in 
 an alarming manner. 
 
 Any bird that is flying about and singing in the night time must be able 
 to see where it is going, and the owls have special adaptations for this. 
 The eyes are very large and the yellow iris opens and closes about the pupil 
 quite similar to the arrangement in the cat's eye, except that the pupil in 
 the owl's eye is round when contracted instead of elongated ; in the night 
 this pupil is expanded until it covers most of the eye. The owl does not 
 need to see behind and at the sides, since it does not belong to the birds 
 which are the victims of other birds and animals of prey. The owl is a 
 bird that hunts instead of being hunted, and it needs only to focus its eyes 
 on the creature it is chasing. Thus, its eyes are in the front of the head 
 like our own; but it can see behind, in case of need, for the head turns 
 upon the neck as if it were fitted on a ball-bearing joint. I have often 
 
Bird Study 105 
 
 amused myself by walking around a captive screech owl, which would 
 follow me with its eyes by turning the head until it almost made the 
 circle, then the head would twist back with such lightning rapidity that I 
 could hardly detect the movement; it seemed almost as if the head was 
 on a pivot and could be moved around and around indefinitely. Al- 
 though the owl, like the cat, has eyes fitted for night hunting, it can also 
 see fairly well during the daytime. 
 
 A beak with the upper mandible ending in a sharp hook signifies that 
 its owner lives upon other animals and needs to rend and tear flesh. 
 The owl's beak thus formed is somewhat buried in the feathers of the face, 
 which gives it a striking resemblance to a Roman nose. This, with the 
 great, staring, round eyes, bestows upon the owl an appearance of great 
 wisdom. But it is not the beak which the owl uses for a weapon of 
 attack ; its strong feet and sharp, curved claws are its weapons for striking 
 the enemy and also for grappling with its prey. The outer toe can be 
 moved back at will, so that in grasping its prey or its perch, two toes may 
 be directed forward and two backward, thus giving a stronger hold. 
 
 The ear is very different in form from the ear of other birds; instead 
 of being a mere hole opening into the internal ear, it consists of a fold of 
 skin forming a channel which extends from above the eye around to the 
 side of the throat. (See The Bird, Beebe, p. 217). Thus equipped, 
 while hunting in the dark the owl is able to hear any least rustle of mouse 
 or bird and to know in which direction to descend upon it. There has 
 been no relation established between the ear tufts of the screech owl and 
 its ears, so far as I know, but the way the bird lifts the tufts when it is 
 alert, always suggests that this movement in some way opens up the ear 
 
 In color there are two types among the screech owls, one reddish 
 brown, the other gray. The back is streaked with black, the breast is 
 marked with many shaft-lines of black. The whole effect of the owl's 
 plumage makes it resemble a branch of a tree or a part of the bark, and 
 thus it is protected from prying eyes, during the daytime when it is sleep- 
 ing. Its plumage is very fluffy and its wing feathers, instead of being 
 stiff to the very edge, have soft fringes which cushion the stroke upon the 
 air. The owl's flight is, therefore, absolutely noiseless and the bird is thus 
 able to swoop down upon its prey without giving warning of its approach. 
 
 The screech owls are partial to old apple orchards for nesting sites. 
 They will often use an abandoned nest of a woodpecker; the eggs are 
 almost as round as marbles and as white as chalk, showing very clearly 
 that they are laid within a dark hole, otherwise their color would attract 
 the eyes of enemies. There are usually four eggs; the fub.sy little owlets 
 climb out of their home cave by the end of May and are the funniest little 
 creatures imaginable. They m.ake interesting but decidedly snappy pets; 
 they can be fed on insects and raw beef. It is most interesting to see one 
 wake up late in the afternoon after its daytime sleep. All day it has snt 
 motionless upon its perch with its toes completely covered with its fluffy 
 feather skirt. Suddenly its eyes open, the round pupils enlarging or con- 
 tracting with great rapidity as if adjusting themselves to the amount of 
 light. When the owl winks it is like a mioon in eclipse, so large are the 
 eyes, and so entirely are they obscured by the lids which seem like circular 
 curtains. When it yawns, it=: wide bill absurdly resembles a human mouth, 
 and the yawn is very human in its expression. It then stretches its wings 
 and it is astonishing how long this wing can be extended below the feet. 
 
io6 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 It then begins its toilet. It dresses its feathers with its short beak, 
 nibbhng industriously in the flufif; it scratches its under parts and breast 
 with its bill, then cleans the bill with its toot, meanwhile moving the head 
 up and down as if in an attempt to see better its surroundings. 
 
 The owls are loyal lovers and are said to remain mated through life, 
 the twain being very devoted to their nests and nestlings. Sometimes 
 the two wise-looking little parents sit together on the eggs, a most happy 
 way to pass the wearisome incubation period. 
 
 The screech owls winter in the north and they are distinctly fore- 
 sighted in preparing for winter. They have often been observed catching 
 mice, during the late fall, and placing them in some hollow tree for cold 
 storage, whence they may be taken in time of need. Their food consists 
 to som^e extent of insects, especially night- Hying moths and beetles, also 
 caterpillars and grasshoppers. However, the larger part of their food is 
 mice; sometimes small birds are caught and the English sparrow is a fre- 
 quent victim. Chickens are rarely taken, except when small, since this 
 owlet is not as long as a robin. It swallows its quarry as whole as possi- 
 ble, trusting to its inner organs to do the sifting and selecting. Later it 
 throws up pellets of the indigestible bones, hair, etc. By the study of 
 these pellets, found under owl roosts, the scientists have been able to 
 determine the natural food of the bird, and they all unite in assuring us 
 that the screech owl does the farmer much more good than harm, since it 
 feeds so largely upon creatures which destroy his crops. 
 
 LESSON XXV 
 
 The Sckeech Owl 
 
 Leading thought — This owl is especiall}- adapted to get its prey at night. 
 It feeds largely on field mice, grasshoppers, caterpillars and other in- 
 jurious insects and is therefore the friend of the farmer. 
 
 Method — This lesson should begin when the children first hear the cry 
 of this owl; and an owlet in captivity is a fascinating object for the 
 children to observe. However, it is so important that the children learn 
 the habits of this owl that the teacher is advised to hinge the lesson on any 
 observation whatever made by the pupils, and illustrate it with pictures 
 and stories. 
 
 Observations — i. Have you ever heard the screech owl? At what 
 time of the day or night? Why was this? Why does the owl screech? 
 How did you feel when listening to the owl's song? ^ 
 
 2. Describe the owl's eyes. Are they adapted to see by night? 
 What changes take place in them to enable the owl to see by daytime also? 
 In what way are the owl's eyes similar to the cat's? Why is it necessary 
 for an owl to see at night? Are the owl's eyes placed so that they can 
 see at the sides like other birds. How does it see an object at the sides or 
 behind it? 
 
 3. Note the owl's beak. For what purpose is a hooked beak? How 
 does the owl use its beak? Why do we think that the owl looks v.dse? 
 
 4. Describe the feet and claws of the screech owl. What are such 
 sharp hooked claws meant for? Does an owl on a perch always have three 
 toes directed forward and one backward ? 
 
Bird Study 107 
 
 5. Describe the colors of the screech owl. Are all these owls of the 
 same color? How do these colors protect the bird from its enemies? 
 
 6. How is the owl's plumage adapted to silent flight? Why is silent 
 flight advantageous to this bird? 
 
 7. How does the owl's ear differ from the ears of other birds? Of 
 what special advantage is this? As tlie owl hunts during the night, what 
 does it do in the daytmie? How and by what means does it hide itself? 
 
 8. Where does the screech owl make its nest? Do you know any- 
 thing about the devotion of the parent owls to each other and to their 
 young? How many eggs are laid? What is their color? At what time 
 of vear do the little owls appear? 
 
 '9 Where does the screech owl spend the winter? What do the 
 screech owls feed upon ? Do they chew their food ? How do they get rid 
 of the indigestible portion of their food? How does this habit help the 
 scientists to know the food of the owls? 
 
 10. How does the screech owl work in jury to the farmers? How does 
 it benefit them? Does not the benefit outweigh the injury? 
 
 11. How many other kinds of owls do you know? What do you 
 know of their habits? 
 
 Supplementary reading- — Audubon Educational Leaflets, Nos. 22, 12, 
 14; Second Book of Birds, Miller, Chap. 32-3; Familiar Wild Animals, 
 Lottridge; "The Boy and Hushwing," Kindred of the Wild; "Koos, Koos, 
 Koos" in Wilderness Ways; Wings and Fins. chap. 19; Heart of Oak 
 Books, Vol. 4, p. 51; The Aziola, Shelley; American Birds, Finley. 
 
 TWO WISE OWLS 
 
 We are two dusky owls, and ive live in a tree; 
 
 Look at her, — look at me! 
 Look at her, — she's my mate, and the mother of three 
 
 Pretty owlets, and we 
 Have a warm cosy nest, just as snug as can be. 
 
 We are both very ivise; for our heads, as you see, 
 
 (Look at her — look at me!) 
 Are as large as the heads of four birds ought to be; 
 
 And our horns, you'll agree. 
 Make ^ls look wiser still, sitting here on the tree. 
 
 And we care not how gloomy the night-time may be; 
 
 We can see, — we can see 
 Through the forest to roam, it suits her, it suits me; 
 
 And we're free, — we are free 
 To bring back what we find, to our nest in the tree. 
 
 — Anonymous. 
 
io8 
 
 Hmtdbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Red-tailed Jiaivk on nest. 
 Photo by R. W. Hegner. 
 
 THE HEN HAWKS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "Above the tumult of the canon lifted, the gray hawk breathless hung, 
 Or on tJie hill a u'inged shadoiv drifted ■u.-here furze and thornbtish clung." 
 
 — Bret Harte. 
 
 It is the teacher's duty and privilege to try to revolutionize some 
 popular misconceptions about birds, and two birds, in great need in this 
 respect, are the so-called hen hawks. They are most unjustly treated, 
 largely because most farmers consider that a "hawk is a hawk," and should 
 always be shot to save the poultry, although there is as much difference 
 in the habits of hawks as there is in those of men. The so-called hen 
 hawks are the red-shouldered and the red-tailed species, the latter being 
 somewhat the larger and rarer of the two; both are very large birds; the 
 red-shouldered has cinnamon brown epaulets, the tail blackish, crossed 
 by five or six narrow white bars, and the wing feathers are also barred. 
 The red-tailed species has dark brown wings, the feathers not barred, and 
 is distinguished by its tail which is brilliant cinnamon color with a black 
 bar across it near the end; it is silvery white beneath. When the hawk 
 is soaring, its tail shows reddish as it wheels in the air. Both birds are 
 brown above and whitish below, streaked with brown. 
 
 The flight of these hawks is alike and is very beautiful ; it consists of 
 soaring on outstretched wings in wide circles high in the air, and is the 
 ideal of graceful aerial motion. In rising, the bird faces the wind and 
 drops a little in the circle as its back turns to the leeward, and thus it 
 climbs an invisible winding stair until it is a mere speck in the sky. This 
 wonderful flight, on motionless wings, is what has driven to despair our 
 inventors of airships who have not been able to fathom the mystery of it 
 from a practical standpoint. When the bird wishes to drop, it lifts and 
 
Bird Sttidy 
 
 109 
 
 holds its wings above its back, and comes down like a lump of lead, only 
 to catch itself whenever it chooses to begin again to climb the invisible 
 spiral. And all this is done without fatigue, for these birds have been 
 observed to soar thus for hours together without coming to earth. When 
 thus soaring the two species may be distinguished from each other by 
 their cries; the red-tailed gives a high sputtering scream, which Chapman 
 likens to the sound of escaping steam; while the red-shouJdered calls in a 
 high not unmusical note "kee-you, kee-you" or "tee-ur, tee-ur." 
 
 The popular fallacy for the teacher to correct about these birds, is that 
 they are enemies of the farmers. Not until one has actually been seen to 
 catch the chickens should it be shot, for very few of them are guilty of this 
 sin. Sixty-six per cent, of the food of the red-tailed species consists of 
 injurious animals, i. e., mice and gophers, etc., and only 7 per cent, con- 
 sists of poultry; the victims are probably old or disabled fowls, and fall 
 an easy prey; this bird much prefers mice and reptiles to poultry. The 
 more common red-shouldered hawk feeds generally on mice, snakes, 
 frogs, fish and is very fond of grasshoppers. Ninety per cent, of its food 
 consists of creatures which injure our crops or pastures and scarcely i]4 
 per cent, is made up of poultry and game. These facts have been ascer- 
 tained by the experts in the department of Agriculture at Washington 
 who have examined the stomachs of hundreds of these hawks taken from 
 different locaHties. Furthennore, Dr. Fisher states that a pair of the red- 
 shouldered hawks bred for successive years within a few hundred yards of 
 a poultry farm, containing 800 young chickens and 400 ducks, and the 
 owner never saw them attempt to 
 catch a fowl. 
 
 However, there are certain 
 species of hawks which are to be 
 feared; these are the Cooper's 
 hawk and the sharp-shinned 
 hawk, the first being very destruc- 
 tive to poultry and the latter kill- 
 mg many wild birds. These are 
 both somewhat smaller than the 
 species we are studying. They 
 are dark gray above and have very 
 long tails, and when flying, they 
 flap their wings for a time and 
 then glide a distance. They do 
 not soar on motionless outspread 
 pinions by the hour. 
 
 When hawks are seen soaring, 
 they are likely to be hunting for 
 mice in the meadows below them ; 
 their eyes are remarkably keen; 
 they can see a moving creature 
 from a great height, and can 
 suddenly drop upon it Hke a 
 thunder bolt out of a clear sky. 
 Their wonderful eyes are far- 
 sighted when they are circling in 
 the sky, but as they drop, the 
 
 
 
 
 
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 The red-tailed hawk. 
 
no Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 focus of the eyes changes automatically with great rapidity, so that 
 by the time they reach the earth they are near-sighted, a feat quite im- 
 possible for our eyes unless aided by glasses or telescope. 
 
 These so-called hen hawks will often sit motionless, for hours at a 
 time, on some dead branch or dead tree; they are probably watching for 
 something eatable to stir within the range of their keen vision. When 
 seizing its prey, a hawk uses its strong feet and sharp, curved 
 talons. All hawks keep their claws sharp and poHshed, even as 
 the warrior keeps his sword bright, so as to be ready for use; 
 the legs are covered by a growth of feathers extending down from above, 
 looking like feather trousers. The beak is hooked and very sharp and is 
 used for tearing apart the flesh of the quarry. When a hawk fights some 
 larger animal or man, it throws itself over upon its back and strikes its 
 assailant with its strong claws as well as with its beak; but the talons are 
 its chief weapons. 
 
 Both species build a large, shallow nest of coarse sticks and grass, 
 lined with moss, feathers, etc. ; it is a rude, rough structure, and is placed 
 in tall trees from fifty to seventy-five feet from the ground. Only two to 
 four eggs are laid; these are whitish spotted with brown. These hawks 
 are said to remain mated for life and are devoted to each other and their 
 young. Hawks and eagles are very similar in form and habits, and if the 
 eagle is a noble bird so is the hawk. 
 
 LESSON XXVI 
 The Red-shouldered axd Red-tail£d Hawks 
 
 Leading thought — Ignorant people consider all hawks dangerous 
 neighbors because they are supposed to feed exclusively on poultry. 
 This idea is false and we should study carefully the habits of hawks before 
 we shoot them. The ordinary large reddish "hen-hawks," which circle 
 high above meadows, are doing great good to the farmer by feeding upon 
 the mice and other creatures which steal his grain and girdle his trees. 
 
 Methods— Begin by observations on the flight of one of these hawks 
 and supplement this with such obseryations as the pupils are able to 
 make, or facts which they can discover by talking with hunters or others 
 and b)' reading. 
 
 Observations — i. How can you tell a hawk, when flying, from a crow 
 or other large bird? Describe how it soars? Does it move off in any 
 direction; if so, does it move off in circles? How often does it make 
 strokes with its wings ? Does it rise when it is facing the wind and fall as 
 it turns its back to the wind? 
 
 2. Have you seen a hawk flap its wings many times and then soar 
 for a time? If so, what hawk do you think it was? How does it differ 
 in habits from the "hen-hawks?" 
 
 3. Have you noticed a hawk when soaring drop suddenly to earth? 
 If so, why did it do this? 
 
 4. How does a hawk hunt? How can it see a mouse in a meadow 
 when it is so high in the air that it looks like a circling speck in the sky? 
 If it is so far-sighted as this, how can it be near-sighted enough to catch 
 the mouse when it is close to it? Would you not have to use field glasses 
 or telescope to do this? 
 
Bird Study in 
 
 5. When a hawk ahghts what sort of a place does it choose? How 
 does it act? 
 
 6. Do hawks seize their prey with their ckiws or their beaks? What 
 sort of feet and claws has the hawk? Describe the beak? What do you 
 think this shaped beak is meant for? 
 
 7. Why do people shoot hawks? Why is it a sign of iguorance in 
 people to wish to shoot all hawks? 
 
 8. What is the food of the red-shouldered hawk as shown by the 
 bulletin of the U. S. Department of Agriculture or by the Audubon 
 leaflets? 
 
 2 9. Where does the hawk place its nest? Of what does it build its 
 
 nest? 
 
 10. Compare the food and the nesting habits of the red-shouldered 
 
 and red-tailed hawks? 
 
 11. How devoted are the hawks to their mates and their young? 
 Does a hawk, losing its mate, live alone ever after? 
 
 12. Describe the colors of the hen hawks and describe how you can 
 tell the two species apart by the colors and markings of the tail. 
 
 13. What is the cry of the hawk? How can you tell the two species 
 apart by this cry? Does the hawk give its cry only when on the wing? 
 
 14. Why should an eagle be considered so noble a bird and the hawk 
 be so scorned? What difference is there between them in habits? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Audubon Educational Leaflets Nos. 8, 9 and 
 10; "The Sparrow Hawk," Familiar Wild Animals, Lottridge; "Eyes as 
 Cameras," also pp. 101-102 The Bird Book, Eckstorm; pp. 317-319- 326, 
 Birds that Hunt and are Htmted; "Cloud Wings, The Eagle," in Wilder- 
 ness Ways; "The Sky King and His Family," "Hannah Lomond's 
 Bairn," in Neighbors with Wings and Fins, American Birds, Finley. 
 
 Reference books^The Bird, Beebe, pp. 389, 376, 208-211; Hawks and 
 Owls from the Standpoint of the Farmer, Fisher, U. S. Department of 
 Agriculture. 
 
 Yet, ere the noon, as brass the heaven turns. 
 
 The cruel sun smites with unerring aim. 
 The sight and touch of all things blinds and burns, 
 
 A)id hare, hot hills seem shimmering into -flame! 
 
 On outspread wings a hawk, far poised on high. 
 
 Quick swooping screams, and then is heard no more: 
 
 The strident shrilling of a locust nigh 
 
 Breaks forth, and dies in silence as before. 
 
 — "Summer Drought," by J. P. Irvine. 
 
112 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 ,'<--., 
 
 ±^:--\ I _..'._.. 
 
 Swallows and swifts. 
 Drawn by L. A. Faertes for General Biology by J. G. Needham. 
 
 THE SWALLOWS AND THE CHIMNEY SWIFT 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 ,HESE friendly little birds spend their time darting through 
 the air on swift wings, seeking and destroying insects 
 which are foes to us and our various crops. However, it 
 is safe to assume that they are not thinking of us as they 
 skim above our meadows and ponds, hawking our tiny 
 foes; for like most of us, they are simply intent upon 
 getting a living. Would that we might perform this 
 necessary duty as gracefully as they. 
 
 In general, the swallows have a long, slender, graceful 
 body, with a long tail which is forked ornotched, except 
 in the case of the eave swallow. The beak is short but 
 wide where it joins the head; this enables the bird to open its mouth wide 
 and gives it more scope in the matter of catching insects ; the swift flight 
 of the swallows enables them to catch insects on the wing; their legs are 
 short, the feet are weak and fitted for perching; it would be quite impos- 
 sible for a swallow to walk or hop like a robin or blackbird. 
 
 The eave, or cliff, swallows — These swallows build under the eaves of 
 bams or in similar locations. In early times they built against the sides 
 of cliffs; but when man came and built bams, they chose them for their 
 dwelling sites. The nest is made of mud pellets and is somewhat globular 
 
Bird Stiuiy 
 
 113 
 
 in shape, with an entrance at one side. When building on the sides of 
 cliffs or in unprotected portions of a bam, a covered passage is built 
 around the door, which gives the nest the shape of a gourd or retort; but 
 when protected beneath the eaves the birds seem to think this vestibule is 
 unnecessary. The mud nest is warmly lined with feathers and soft 
 materials, and there are often many nests built so closely together that 
 they touch. The eave swallow comes north about May ist, and soon 
 after that, may be seen along streams or other damp places gathering 
 mud for the nests. It seems necessary for the bird to find clay mud in 
 order to render the nest strong enough to support the eggs and nestlings. 
 The eggs are white, blotched with reddish brown. The parents cling to 
 
 The barn swallow's feather bed. 
 
 the edge of the nest when feeding the young. Both the bam and eave 
 swallows are blue above but the eave swallow has the forehead cream 
 white and the rump of pale brick-red, and its tail is square across the end 
 as seen in flight. The bam swallow has a chestnut forehead and its outer 
 tail feathers are long, making a distinct fork during flight, and it is not 
 red upon the rump. 
 
 The ham swallows — These birds choose a bam where there is a hole in 
 the gable or where the doors are kept open all the time. They build upon 
 beams or rafters, making a cup-shai)ed nest of layers of pellets of mud, 
 with grass between ; it is well lined with feathers. The nest is usually the 
 shape of half of a shallow cup which has been cut in two lengthwise, the 
 cut side being plastered against the side of the rafter. Sometimes the 
 
114 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 A bank swallow tenement. 
 
 Photo by J. T. Lloyd. 
 
 nests are more or less supported upon a beam or rafter; the eggs are 
 white and dotted with reddish brown. The bam swallows, aside from 
 
 their constant twittering, have also a 
 pretty song. Both parents work at 
 bviilding the nest and feeding the 
 young; there are likely to be several 
 pairs nesting in the same building. 
 The parents continue to feed the 
 young long after they have left the 
 nest; often a whole family may be 
 seen sitting on a telegraph wire or wire 
 fence, the parents still feeding the well- 
 grown youngsters. This species comes 
 north in the latter part of April and 
 leaves early in September. It winters 
 as far south as Brazil. 
 
 The bam swallow has a distinctly 
 tailor-made appearance ; its red-brown 
 vest and iridescent blue coat, with 
 deeply forked "coat tails" give it an 
 elegance of style which no other bird, 
 not even the chic cedar waxwing can 
 emulate. 
 
 The Bank Swallow — When we see a 
 sandy bank apparently shot full of 
 holes as by small cannon balls, we 
 may know that we have found a tenement of bank swallows. These 
 birds always choose the perpendicular banks of creeks or of railroad cuts 
 or of sand pits for their nesting sites; they require a soil sufficiently soft 
 to be tunneled by their weak feet, and yet not so loose as to cave in upon 
 the nest. The tunnel may extend from one to four feet horizontally in 
 the bank with just enough diameter to admit the body of the rather 
 small bird. The nest is situated at the extreme end of the tunnel and 
 is lined with soft feath- 
 ers and grasses. 
 
 The bank swallows 
 arrive late in April and 
 leave early in Septem- 
 ber. They may be dis- 
 tinguished from the 
 other species by their 
 grayish color above ; the 
 throat and breast are 
 white with a broad, 
 brownish band across 
 the breast; the tail is 
 slightly forked. The 
 rough-winged swallow, 
 which is similar in habits 
 to the bank swallow, 
 may be distinguished 
 from it by its gray breast 
 which has no dark band. 
 
 Bank swallow's nest with earth removed showing 
 
 tlie upward direction of the tunnel. 
 
 Photo by J T. Lioyd. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 115 
 
 Tree swallows. 
 Photo by A. A. Allen. 
 
 The Tree Swalloiv — This graceful little bird builds naturally in holes in 
 trees, but readily accepts a box if it is provided. It begins to build soon 
 after it comes north in late April and it is well for us to encourage the tree 
 swallows to live near our houses by building houses for them and driving 
 away the English sparrows. The tree swallows live upon many insects 
 which annoy us and injure our gardens and damage our orchards; they 
 are, therefore, much more desirable neighbors than the English sparrows. 
 The tree swallows congregate in great numbers for the southern migration 
 very early in the season, often in early August. They are likely to con- 
 gregate in marshes, as are also the other swallows. In color the tree 
 swallow has a green metallic back and head, a pure white breast with no 
 band across it, and these peculiarities 
 distinguish it from all other species. 
 
 The Purple Martin — The martin is 
 a larger bird than the largest swallow, 
 bemg eight inches in length, while the 
 bam swallow does not measure quite 
 seven. The male is shining, steel- 
 blue above and below; the female is 
 brownish above, has a gray throat, 
 bro^vnish breast and is white beneath. 
 The martins originally nested in hol- 
 low trees but for centuries have been 
 cared for by man. The Indians were 
 wont to put out empty gourds for 
 them to nest in ; and as soon as 
 America was settled by Europeans, 
 martin boxes were built extensively. 
 But when the English sparrows came, 
 they took possession of the boxes, and 
 the martins have to a large extent 
 
 A martin luiise. 
 
J J 5 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 disappeared, this is a pity since they are beneficial birds, feeding upon 
 insects which are injarious to our farms and gardens. They are 
 also delightful birds to have around, and we may possibly induce them to 
 come back to us by building houses for them and driving away the 
 sparrows. 
 
 The Chimney Swift 
 
 HEN the old-fashioned fire-places went out of use 
 and were walled up, leavmg the great old chimneys 
 useless, these sociable birds took possession of 
 them. Here they built their nests and reared their 
 young, and twittered and scrambled about, 
 awakening all sleepers in the neighborhood at 
 earhest dawn, and in many ways made themselves 
 a distinct part of family Hfe. With the disap- 
 pearance of these old chimneys and the growing use of the smaller 
 chimney, the swifts have been more or less driven from their close 
 association with people; and now their nests are often found in hay 
 barns or other secluded buildings, although they still gather in chim- 
 neys when opportunity offers. 
 
 The chimney swifts originally built nests in hollow trees and caves; 
 but with the coming of civilization they took possession of the chimneys 
 disused during the summer, and here is where we know them best. The 
 nests are shaped like little wall pockets; they are made of small sticks of 
 nearly uniform size which are glued together and glued fast to the chim- 
 ney wall by means of the saUva secreted in the mouth of the bird. After 
 the nesting season, the swifts often gather in great flocks and Hve together 
 in some large chimney; toward night-fall they may be seen circlmg about 
 in great numbers and dropping into the mouth of the chimney, one by 
 one, as if they were being poured into a funnel. In the morning they 
 leave in reverse manner, each swift flying about in widening circles as it 
 leaves the chimney. The swifts are never seen to alight anywhere except 
 in hollow trees or chimneys or similar places; their tiny feet have sharp 
 claws for clinging to the slightest roughness of the upright wall; the tail 
 acts as a prop, each tail feather en ding in a spine which is pressed against 
 the chimney side when the bird alights and thus enables it to clmg more 
 firmly. In this fashion the swifts roost, practically hung up against a 
 
 wall. 
 
 The swift has a short beak and wide mouth which it opens broadly to 
 engulf insects as it darts through the air. Chimney swifts have been 
 known to travel at the rate of no miles an hour. _ 
 
 This bird should never be confused with the swallows, for when flymg, 
 its tail seems simply a sharp point, making the whole body cigar-shaped. 
 This character alone distinguishes it from the long tailed swallows. In 
 color it is sootv brown, with a gray throat and breast; the wings are long 
 and narrow and apparently curved. The manner of flight and appear- 
 ance in the air make it resemble the bat more than it does the swallow. 
 
Bird Stvidy iij 
 
 Tree swallows. 
 Photo by A. A. Allen. 
 
 LESSON XXVII 
 The Swallows and Swifts 
 
 Leading thouglit — The swallows are very graceful birds and are exceed- 
 ingly swift fliers. They feed upon insects which they catch upon the 
 w^ns. There are five native swallows which are common — the eave, or 
 cliff, the barn, the bank, the tree swallow and the purple martin. The 
 chimney swift, although often called so, is not a swallow; it is more 
 nearly related to the hummingbird than to the swallows. 
 
 Method — The questions should be given as an outline for observation, 
 and may be written on the blackboard or placed in the field notebook. 
 The pupils should answer them individually and from field observation. 
 AVe study the swifts and swallows together to teach the pupils to distin- 
 guish them apart. 
 
 Observations — i. What is the general shape of the swallow? What 
 is the color of the forehead, throat, upper breast, neck, rump and tail? 
 
 2. Is the tail noticeably forked especially during flight? 
 
 3. Describe the flight of the swallow. What is the purpose of its 
 long, swift flight? How are the swallow's wings fitted for carrying the 
 bird swiftly? 
 
 4. Describe the form of the beak of the swallow. How does it get its 
 food ? What is its food ? 
 
 5. In what particular locations do you see the swallows darting 
 about? At what time of day do they seem most active? 
 
 6. Describe the swallow's legs and feet and explain why they look 
 so different from those of the robin and blackbird. 
 
 TJie Eave, or Cliff Swallow 
 
 7. Where do the eave swallows build their nests? Of what material 
 is the outside ? The lining? Describe the shape of the nest and how it is 
 supported. 
 
 8. How early in the spring do the eave swallows begin to make their 
 nests? Where and by what means do they get the material for nest 
 building? Are there a number of nests usually grouped together? 
 
 9. Describe the eave swallow's egg. Where do the parents sit when 
 feeding the young? AVhat is the note of the eave swallow? 
 
 10. AVhat are the differences between the barn and the eave swallow 
 in color and shape of tail? 
 
 The Barn Swallow 
 
 11. Where does ,the bam swallow place its nest? What is the shape 
 of the nest ? Of what material is it made ? 
 
ii8 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 1 2 . What is the color of the eggs ? Describe the feeding of the young 
 and the sounds made by them and their parents. Do both parents work 
 together to build the nesc and feed the young? 
 
 13. Is there usually more than one nest in the same locality? When 
 the young swallows are large enough to leave the nest, describe how the 
 parents continue to care for them. 
 
 14. Have you ever heard the bam swallows sing? Describe their 
 conversational notes. 
 
 15. When do the bam swallows migrate and where do they go during 
 the winter? How can you distinguish the bam swallow from the eave 
 swallow? 
 
 The Bank Swallow 
 
 16. Where do the bank swallows build? What sort of soil do they 
 
 choose? 
 
 17. How does a bank look which is tenanted by these birds? 
 
 18. How far do the bank swallows tunnel into the earth? What is 
 the diameter of one of these tunnels ? Do they extend straight or do they 
 rise or deflect? 
 
 19. With what tools is the tunnel excavated? Where is the nest 
 situated in the tunnel and how is it lined? 
 
 20. How can you distinguish this species from the barn and eave and 
 tree swallows ? At what time do the bank swallows leave us for migration 
 south ? 
 
 TJie Tree Swallow 
 
 2 1 . Where does the tree swallow 
 make its nest? How does its nest 
 differ from that of the bam, eave, or 
 bank swallow ? When does it begin 
 to build? 
 
 22. How can we encourage the 
 tree swallow to build near our 
 houses? Why is the tree swallow a 
 much more desirable bird to have in 
 bird houses than the English spar- 
 row ? 
 
 23. Describe the peculiar mi- 
 grating habits of the tree swallow. 
 How can you tell this species from 
 the bam, the eave and the bank 
 swallows? 
 
 The Purple Martin 
 
 24. Compare the purple martin 
 with the swallows and describe how 
 it differs in size and color. 
 
 2 5 . Where did the martins build 
 their nests before America was 
 civiHzed? Where do they like to nest now? How do the purple martins 
 benefit us and how can we induce them to come to us? 
 
 A tree swallow. 
 
 Photo by Geo. Fiske, Jr. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 119 
 
 The Chimney Swift 
 
 26. Where do the chimney swifts build their nests? Of what 
 materials is the nest made? What is its shape and how is it supported? 
 Where does the chimney swift get its glue for nest building? 
 
 27. Describe how the chimney swifts enter their nesting place at 
 night. Where and how do they perch ? Describe the shape of the swift's 
 tail and its use to the bird when roosting. 
 
 28. On what does the chimney swift feed and how does it procure this 
 food? Describe how its beak is especially fitted for this? 
 
 29. How can you distinguish the chimney swift from the swallows? 
 In what respect does the chimney swift resemble the swallows? In what 
 respects does it differ from them? 
 
 Stipplementary reading — "Chimney Swifts," Familiar Wild Animals, 
 Lottridge; The Chimney Swifts, Washington Irving; NestHngs of Forest 
 and Marsh, AVheelock, p. 191; "The Eave Swallow" and "The Purple 
 Martin" in The Bird Book, Eckstorm; The Second Bird Book, Miller; 
 True Bird Stories, Miller, p. 118; Our Birds and Their Nestlings, p. 155; 
 A Watcher in the Woods, Sharp, p. 163. 
 
 Nest of the ruhy-throat 
 
 hummingbird. 
 
 Photo by Geo. Fiske, Jr. 
 
I20 
 
 Handbook of NaHire-Study 
 
 A hummingbird taking sweetened water from a flower. 
 
 Photo by Mary Pierson Allen. Courtesy of Bird Lore. 
 
 THE HUMMINGBIRD 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Formerly it was 
 believed that this 
 daintiest of birds 
 found the nectar 
 of flowers ample 
 support for its 
 active life; but 
 the later methods 
 of discovering 
 what birds eat by 
 examining the 
 contents of their 
 stomachs, show 
 that the hum- 
 mingbird is an 
 insect eater of 
 most ravenous 
 appetite. Not 
 only does it catch insects in mid air, but undoubtedly takes them while 
 they are feasting on the nectar of the 
 tubular flowers which the humming- 
 bird loves to visit. Incidentally, the 
 hummingbird carries the pollen for 
 these flowers and may be counted 
 as a friend in every respect, since 
 usually the insects in the nectaries 
 of the flowers with long tubu- 
 lar corollas, are stealing nectar without 
 giving in return compensation to the 
 flower by carrying its pollen. Such in- 
 sects may be the smaller beetles, ants 
 and flies. The adaptations of the htmi- 
 mingbird's beak and long, double- 
 tubed tongue, are especially for secur- 
 ing this mingled diet of insects and 
 nectar. It is interesting to note that 
 the young hummingbirds have the 
 beak much shorter than when mature. 
 Its beak is exactly fitted to probe 
 those flowers where the hummimr- 
 bird finds its food. The tongue has the 
 outer edges curved over making a tube 
 on each side. These tubes are pro- 
 vided with minute brushes at the tips 
 and thus are fitted both for sucking 
 nectar and for sweeping up the insects. 
 
 The natural home of the humming- Til'o young hummingbirds in nest. 
 bird seems to have been in the Ameri- Half natural size. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 121 
 
 can tropics. Our one species east of the Rocky Mountains with which we 
 are all familiar has a ruby throat. This comes to us after a very long 
 journey each j^ear. One species on the Pacific Coast is known to travel 
 three thousand miles to the north for the summer and back again in 
 winter. 
 
 Hummingbirds are not supposed to sing, but to use their voices for 
 squeaking when angry cr frightened. However, I once had the privilege 
 of Hstening to a true song by a hummingbird on the Pacific Coast. The 
 midget was perched upon a twig and lifted up his voice with every 
 appearance of ecstasy in pouring forth his lay. To my uncultured ear 
 this song was a fine, shrill, erratic succession of squeaks, "as fine as a 
 cambric needle," said my companion. 
 
 The nest of the hummingbird is a most exquisite structure; it is about 
 three-fourths of an inch in diameter on the inside and about half an inch 
 deep. It is, in shape, a symmetrical cup; the outside is covered with 
 lichens to make it exactly resemble the branch on which it rests; the 
 inside is lined with the down of plant seeds and plant fibres. The lichens 
 are often fastened to the outside with the silk web of spiders or cater- 
 pillars. The nest is usually saddled on a branch of a tree from lo to 50 
 feet above the ground. The eggs are two in number and white; they 
 look like tiny beans. The young are black and look, at first glance, more 
 like insects than like birds. 
 
 LESSON XXVIII 
 
 The Hummingbird 
 
 Leading thoiight — The hummingbird in 
 flight moves its wings so rapidly that we 
 cannot see them. It can hold itself poised 
 above flowers while it thrusts its long beak 
 into them for nectar and insects. 
 
 Method — Give the questions to the pupils 
 and let them make the observations when 
 they have the opportunity. 
 
 Observations — i. Where do you find 
 the hummingbird? What flowers was it 
 visiting? At what time of day? Can you 
 tell whether it is a hummingbird or a hawk- 
 moth which is visiting the flowers? At 
 what time of day do the hawk-moths 
 
 appear 
 
 ? 
 
 hummingbird 
 
 ever ccnie 
 
 2. Does the 
 to rest? Describe its actions while resting. 
 
 3. What are the colors of the back, throat, breast and under parts? 
 How do you distinguish the mother hummingbird from her mate? 
 
 4. How does the hummingbird act when extracting the nectar? 
 How does it balance itself in front of a flower? Have you ever seen 
 hummingbirds catch insects in the air? If so, describe how they did it. 
 
 5. Describe the hummingbird's nest. How large is it in diameter? 
 What is the covering outside? With what is it lined? 
 
122 
 
 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Photo by A. A. Allen. 
 
 THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 The blackbirds are among our earliest visitors in the spring; they come 
 in flocks and beset our leafless trees like punctuation marks, meanwhile 
 squeaking like musical wheelbarrows. What they are, where they come 
 from, where they are going and what they are going to do, are the ques- 
 tions that naturally arise at the sight of these sable flocks. It is not 
 easy to distinguish grackles, cowbirds and rusty blackbirds at a glance, 
 but the red-wing proclaims his identity from afar. The bright red 
 epaulets, margined behind with pale yellow, is a uniform to catch the 
 admiring eye. The bird's glossy black plumage brings into greater con- 
 trast his bright decorations. That he is fully aware of his beauty, who 
 can doubt who has seen him come sailing down at the end of his strong, 
 swift flight, and balancing himself on some bending reed, drop his long 
 tail as if it were the crank of his music box, and holding both wings 
 lifted to show his scarlet decorations, sing his "quong quer ee-ee." Little 
 wonder that such a handsome, military looking fellow should be able now 
 and then to win more than his share of feminine admiration. But what 
 though he become an entirely successful bigamist or even trigamist, he has 
 proven himself to be a good protector of each and all of his wives and 
 nestlings; however, he often has but one mate. 
 
 "The red-wing flutes his 0-ka-lee" is Emerson's graphic description of 
 the sweet song of the red-wing ; he also has many other notes. He clucks 
 to his mates and clucks more sharply when suspicious, and has one alarm 
 note that is truly alarming. The male red-wings come from the South in 
 March; they appear in flocks, often three weeks before their mates arrive. 
 The female looks as though she belonged to quite a different species. 
 Although her head and back are black, the black is decidedly rusty; it is 
 quite impossible to describe her, she is so inconspicuously speckled with 
 brown, black, whitish buff and orange. Most of us never recognize her 
 unless we see her with her spouse. As she probably does most of the nest 
 
Bird Study 
 
 123 
 
 building, her suit of salt, pepper and mustard renders her invisible to the 
 keen eyes of birds of prey. Only when she is flying, does she show her 
 blackbird characteristics, — her tail 
 being long and of obvious use as a 
 steering organ ; and she walks with 
 long, stiff strides. The red-wings 
 are ever to be found in and about 
 swamps and marshes. The nest is 
 built usually in May; it is made of 
 grasses, stalks of weeds and is lined 
 with finer grass or reeds. It is 
 bulky and is placed in low bushes 
 or among the reeds. The eggs are 
 pale blue, streaked and spotted with 
 purple or black. The young resem- 
 ble the mother in color, the males 
 being obliged to wait a year for 
 their epaulets. As to the food of 
 the red-wings here in the North, 
 Mr. Forbush says : 
 
 "Although the red-wings almost 
 invariably breed in the swamp or 
 marsh, they have a partiality for 
 open fields and plowed lands ; how- 
 ever, most of the blackbirds that 
 nest in the smaller swamps adjacent 
 to farm lands get a large share of 
 their food from the farmer's fields. 
 They forage about the fields and 
 meadows when they first come 
 north in the spring. Later, they 
 follow the plow, picking up grubs, 
 worms and caterpillars; and should 
 there be an outbreak of canker- 
 worms in the orchard, the black- 
 birds will fly at least half a mile to 
 get canker-worms for their young. 
 Wilson estimated that the red- 
 wings of the United States would 
 
 four months destroy sixteen 
 
 m 
 
 thousand two hundred million 
 larvffi. They eat the caterpillars 
 
 The mother red-wing, her nest and nestlings. 
 
 Photo by A. A. Allen. 
 
 of the gypsy moth, the forest tent-caterpillar, and other hairy larvae. They 
 are among the most destructive birds to weevils, click beetles, and wire- 
 worms. Grasshoppers, ants, bugs, and flies form a portion of the red- 
 wing's food. They eat comparatively little grain in Massachusetts 
 although they get some from newly sown fields in spring, as well as 
 from the autumn harvest; but they feed very largely on the seeds of 
 weeds and wild rice in the fall. In the South they join with the bobolink 
 in devastating the rice fields, and in the West they are often so numerous 
 as to destroy the grain in the fields; but here the good they do far out- 
 weighs the injury, and for this reason they are protected by law." 
 
124 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON XXIX 
 The Red-winged Blackbird 
 
 The rcd-wiyiged blackbird. 
 After Audubon Leaflet No. 25. 
 
 Leading thought — The 
 red- winged blackbird 
 lives in the marshes 
 where it builds its nest 
 However, it comes over 
 to our plowed lands and 
 pastures and helps the 
 farmer by destroying 
 many insects which in- 
 jure the meadows, crops 
 and trees. 
 
 Method — The obser- 
 vations should be made 
 
 by the pupils individually in the field. These birds may be looked for in 
 flocks early in the spring, but the study should be made in May or June 
 when they will be found in numbers in almost any swamp. The questions 
 may be given to the pupils a few at a time or written in their field note- 
 books and the answers discussed when discovered. 
 
 Observations — i . How can you distinguish the red-winged blackbird 
 from all other blackbirds? Where is the red on his wings? Is there any 
 other color besides black on the wings? Where? What is the color of 
 the rest of the plumage ? . , ^ . . 
 
 2. AVhat is there peculiar in the flight of the red-wmg? Is its tail 
 long or short? How does it use its tail in flight? AVhat is its position 
 when the bird alights on a reed? 
 
 3. What is the song of the red-wing? Describe the way he holds his 
 wings and tail when singing, balanced on a reed or some other swamp 
 grass. Doesheshowoff his epaulets when singing? Why? What note 
 does he give v/hen he is surprised or suspicious? When frightened? 
 
 4. When does the red-wing first appear in the spring? Does he come 
 alone or in flocks? Does his mate come with him? Where do the red- 
 wings winter? Irx what localities do the red-wing blackbirds live ? Why 
 do they live there? What is the color of the mother red-wing? Would 
 you know by her looks that she was a blackbird? What advantage is it 
 to the pair that the female is so dull in color? 
 
 5. At what time do these birds nest? AVhere is the nest built? Of 
 what material? How is it concealed? What is the color of the eggs? 
 
 6. Do the young birds resemble in color their father or their mother? 
 Why is this an advantage? 
 
 7. Is the red-wing ever seen in fields adjoining the marshes? Uhat 
 is he doing there? Does he walk or hop when looking for food ? What 
 is the f ood^'of the red-wings ? Do they ever damage grain ? Do they not 
 protect grain more than they damage it? 
 
 8. What great good do the red-wings do for forest trees? For 
 
 orchards? . r ,1 
 
 At what time in the summer do the red-wmgs disappear from the 
 swamps? AVhere do they gather in flocks? Where is their special feed- 
 ing ground on the way south for the winter? 
 
Bird Study 
 
 125 
 
 THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 'I know his name, I know his note. 
 
 That so with rapture takes my soul; 
 Like flame the gold beneath his throat. 
 
 His glossy cope is black as coal. 
 O Oriole, it is the soig 
 
 Yon satig me from the Cottonwood, 
 loo young to feel that I was young, 
 
 Too glad to gness if life were good." — ^\'ILLIAM Dean Howells. 
 
 ANGLIXG from the slender, drooping branches of 
 the elm in ^vinter, these pocket nests look like some 
 strange persistent fruit; and, indeed, they are 
 the fruit of much labor on the part of the 
 oriole weavers, those skilled artisans of the bird 
 world. Sometimes the oriole "For the summer 
 voyage his hammock swings" in a sapling, placing 
 it near the main stem and near the top, otherwise 
 it is almost invariably hung at the end of branches 
 and is rarely less than twenty feet from the 
 ground. The nest is pocket-shaped, and usually 
 about seven inches long, and four and a half inches wide at the 
 largest part, which is the bottom. The top is attached to forked 
 twigs at the Y so that the mouth or door will be kept open to 
 allow the bird to pass in and out; when within, the weight of the 
 bird causes the opening to contract somewhat and protects the inmate 
 from prying eyes. Often the pocket hangs free so that the breezes may 
 rock it, but in one case we found a nest with the bottom stayed to a twig 
 by guy lines. The bottom is much more closely woven than the upper 
 part for a very good reason, since the open meshes admit air to the sitting 
 bird. The nest is lined with hair or other soft material, and although this 
 is added last, the inside of the nest is woven first. The orioles like to 
 build the framework of twine, and it is marvellous how they will loop this 
 around a twig almost as evenly knotted as if crocheted ; in and out of this 
 net the mother bird with her long, sharp beak weaves bits of wood fibre, 
 strong, fine grass and scraps of weeds. The favorite lining is horse hair, 
 which simply cushions the bottom of the pocket. Dr. Detwiler had a pet 
 oriole which built her nest of his hair which she pulled from his head; is 
 it possible that orioles get their supply of horse hair in a similar way? If 
 we put in convenient places, bright colored twine or narrow ribbons the 
 orioles will weave them into the nest, but the strings should not be long, 
 lest the birds become entangled. If the nest is strong the birds will use 
 it a second vear. 
 
 That Lord Baltimore founo in new America a bird weanng his 
 colors, must have cheered him greatly; and it is well for us that this 
 brilliant bird brings to our minds kindly thoughts of that tolerant, high- 
 minded English 'nobleman. The oriole's head, neck, throat and 
 part of the back are. black; the wings are black but the feathers are 
 margined with white; the tail is black except that the ends of the outer 
 feathers are yellow; all the rest of the bird is golden orange, a luminous 
 
126 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The Baltimore oriole. 
 
 color which makes him seem a splash of brilliant sunshine. The female, 
 although marked much the same, has the back so dull and mottled that 
 
 it looks olive-brown; 
 the rump, breast, and 
 under parts are yel- 
 low but by no means 
 showy. The advan- 
 tage of these quiet 
 colors to the mother 
 bird is obvious since it 
 is she that makes the 
 nest and sits in it 
 without attracting at- 
 tention to its location. 
 In fact, when she is 
 sitting, her brilliant 
 mate places himself 
 far enough away to 
 distract the atten- 
 tion of meddlers, yet 
 near enough for her 
 to see the flash of his 
 breast in the sunshine 
 and to hear his rich and cheering song. He is a good spouse and 
 brings her the materials for the nest which she weaves in, hanging 
 head downward from a twig and using her long sharp beak for a 
 shuttle. And his glorious song is for her alone; some hold that no two 
 orioles have the same song; I know of two individuals at least whose 
 songs were sung by no other birds; one gave a phrase from the Wald- 
 vogel's song in Sigfried; the other whistled over and over, "vSweet 
 birdie, hello, hello." The orioles can chatter and scold as well as sing. 
 
 The oriole is a brave defender of his nest and a m.ost devoted father, 
 working hard to feed his ever hungry nestlings ; we can hear these hollow 
 mites peeping for more food, "Tee dee dee. Tee dee dee", shrill and con- 
 stant, if we stop for a moment under the nest in June. The young birds 
 dress in the safe colors of the mother, the males not donning their bright 
 plumage until the second year. A brilliant colored fledgling would not 
 live long in a world where sharp eyes are in constant quest for little birds 
 to fill empty stomachs. 
 
 The food of the oriole places it among our most beneficial birds, since 
 it is always ready to cope with the hairy caterpillars avoided by most 
 birds; it has learned to abstract the caterpillar from his spines and is thus 
 able to swallow him minus his "whiskers." The orioles are waging a 
 great war against the terrible brown-tail and gipsy moths in New England; 
 they also eat click beetles and many other noxious insects. Once when 
 we were breeding big caterpillars in the Cornell insectary, an oriole came 
 in through the open windows of the greenhouse, and thinking he had 
 found a bonanza proceeded to work it, carrying off our precious crawlers 
 before we discovered what he was at. 
 
 The orioles winter in Central America and give us scarcely four months 
 of their company. They do not usually appear before May and leave in 
 early September. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 127 
 
 A}i oriole nest- An anchor to the windward. 
 Photo by C. R. Crosby. 
 
 LESSON XXX 
 
 The Oriole 
 
 Leading thought — The oriole is the most skillful of all our bird archi- 
 tects. It is also one of our prized song birds and is very beneficial to the 
 farmer and fruit grower because of the insect pests which it destroys. 
 
 Method — Begin during winter or early spring with a study of the nest, 
 which may be obtained from the elms of the roadsides. During the first 
 week in May, give the questions concerning the birds and their habits. 
 Let the pupil's keep the questions in their note-books and answer them 
 when they have opportunity. The observations should be summed up 
 once a week. 
 
 Observations by pupils — i. Where did you find the nest? On what 
 species of tree? Was it near the trunk of the tree or the tip of the 
 branch? 
 
 2. What is the shape of the nest? How long is it? How wide? Is 
 the opening as large as the bottom of the nest? How is it hung to the 
 twigs so that the opening remains open and does not pull together with 
 the weight of the bird at the bottom? Is the bottom of the nest stayed 
 to a twig or does it hang loose? 
 
128 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 3. With what material and how is the nest fastened to the branches? 
 Of what material is the outside made? How is it woven together? Is it 
 more loosely woven at the top than at the bottom ? How many kinds of 
 material can you find in the outside of the nest? 
 
 4. With what is the nest lined? How far up is it lined? With what 
 tool was the nest woven ? If you put out bright colored bits of ribbon and 
 string do you think the orioles will use them? Why should you not put 
 out long strings? 
 
 5. At what date did you first see the Baltimore oriole? Why is it 
 called the Baltimore oriole? How many other names has it? Describe 
 in the following way the colors of the male oriole: top of head, back, 
 wings, tail, throat, breast, under parts. What are the colors of his mate? 
 How would it endanger the nest and nestlings if the mother bird were as 
 bright colored as the father bird ? 
 
 6. Which weaves the nest, the father or the mother bird? Does 
 the former assist in any way in nest building? 
 
 7. Where does the father bird stay and what does he do while the 
 mother bird is sitting on the eggs? 
 
 8. What is the oriole's song? Has he more than one song? What 
 other notes has he? After the young birds hatch does the father bird 
 help take care of them? 
 
 9. By the middle of June the young birds are usually hatched and if 
 you know where an oriole nest is hung, listen and describe the call of the 
 nestlings for food. 
 
 10. Which parent do the young birds resemble in their colors? Why 
 is this a benefit? 
 
 11. What is the oriole's food? How is the oriole of benefit to us in 
 ways which other birds are not? 
 
 12. Do the orioles use the same nest two years in succession? How 
 long does the oriole stay in the North ? Where does it spend its winters ? 
 
 ''Hush! 'tis he! 
 My oriole, my glance of summer fire, 
 Is come at last, and, ever on the watch. 
 Twitches the packthread I had lightly wound 
 About the bough to help his housekeeping, — - 
 Twitches and scouts by turns, blessing his luck. 
 Yet fearing me who laid it in his way. 
 Nor, more than wiser we in our affairs. 
 Divines the Providence that hides and helps. 
 Heave, ho! Heave, ho! he whistles as the twine 
 Slackens its hold; once more, now! and a flash 
 Lightens across the sunlight to the elm 
 Where his mate dangles at her cup of felt.'" 
 
 — "Under the Willows", Lowell. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 129 
 
 THE CROW 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 .f?9#^H0REAU says: "What a perfectly New England 
 sound is this voice of the crow! If you stand still 
 anywhere in the outskirts of the town and listen, this 
 is perhaps the sound which you will be most sure to 
 hear, rising above all sounds of human ipdustry and 
 leadmg your thoughts to some far-away bay in the 
 woods. The bird sees the white man come and the 
 Indian withdraw, but it withdraws not. Its untamed 
 voice is still heard above the tinkling of the forge. 
 It sees a race pass away, but it passes not away. 
 It remains to remind us of aboriginal nature." 
 
 The crow is probably the most intelligent of all our native birds, it is 
 quick to learn and clever in action, as many a farmer will testify who has 
 tried to keep it out of com fields with various devices, the harmless 
 character of which the crow soon understood periectly. Of all our birds, 
 this one has the longest hst of virtues and of sins, as judged from our 
 standpoint; but we should hsten to both sides of the case before we pass 
 judgment. I find with crows, as with people, I like some more than I do 
 others. I do not like at all the cunning old crow which steals the suet I 
 put on the trees in winter for the chickadees and nuthatches; and I have 
 hired a boy with a shotgun to protect the eggs and nestlings of the robins 
 and other birds in my neighborhood from the ravages of one or two cruel 
 
 A pet crow. 
 Photo bv S. .\. Lottride. 
 
i^o Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 old crows that have developed the nest-hunting habit. On the other 
 hand, I became a sincere admirer of a crow flock which worked in a field 
 close 'to my country home, and I have been the chosen friend of several 
 tame crows who were even more interesting than they were mischievous. 
 The crow is larger than any other of our common blackbirds; the 
 northei-n raven is still larger, but is very rarely seen. Although the 
 crow's feathers are black, yet in the sunlight a beautiful purple iridescence 
 plays over the plumage, especially about the neck and back; it has a 
 compact but not ungraceful body, and long, powerful wings; its tail is 
 medium sized and is not notched at the end; its feet are long and strong; 
 the track shows three toes directed forward and one long one directed 
 backward. The crow does not sail through the air as does the hawk, but 
 progresses with an almost constant flapping of the wings. Its beak is 
 very strong and is used for tearing the flesh of its prey and for defense, 
 and in fact, for almost anything that a beak could be used for; its eye is 
 all black and is very keen and inteUigent. AVhen hunting for food m the 
 field, it usually walks, but sometimes hops. The raven and the fish crows 
 are the nearest relatives of the American crow, and next to them the 
 jays. We should hardly think that the bluejay and the crow were 
 related to look at them, but when we come to study their habits, much is 
 to be found in common. 
 
 The crow's nest is usually very large; it is made of sticks, of grape 
 vines and bark, sod, horse-hair, moss and grasses. It is placed in trees or 
 in tall bushes rarely less than twenty feet from the ground. The eggs are 
 pale bluish green or nearly white with brownish markings. The young 
 crows hatch in April or May. Both parents are devoted to the care of the 
 young, and remain with them during most of the summer. I have often 
 seen a 'mother crow feeding her young ones which were following her with 
 obstreperous caws, although they were as large as she. 
 
 While the note of the crow is harsh when close at hand, it has a musical 
 quality in the distance. Mr. Mathews says: "The crow when he sings 
 is nothing short of a clown ; he ruffles his feathers, stretches his neck, like 
 a cat with a fish bone in her throat, and with a most tremendous effort 
 delivers a series of hen-Hke squawks." But aside from his caw, the crow 
 has some very seductive soft notes. I have held long conversations with 
 two pet crows, talking with them in a high, soft tone and finding that they 
 answered readily in a Hke tone in a most responsive way. I have also 
 heard these same tones among the wild crows when they were talking 
 together, one note is a gutteral tremolo, most grotesque. 
 
 "Crows gather in flocks for the winter; these flocks number from fifty to 
 several hundred individuals, all having a common roosting place, usually 
 in pine or hemlock forests or among other evergreens. They go out from 
 these roosts during the day to get food, often making a journey of many 
 miles. During the nesting season they scatter in pairs and do not gather 
 again in flocks until the young are fully grown. 
 
 When crows are feeding in the fields there is usually, if not always, a 
 sentinel posted on some high point so that he can give warning of danger. 
 This sentinel is always an experienced bird and is keen to detect a 
 dangerous from a harmless intruder. I once made many experiments 
 with these sentinels; I finally became known to those of a particular flock 
 and I was allowed to approach within a few yards of where the birds were 
 feeding, a privilege not accorded to any other person in the neighborhood. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 131 
 
 The crow is a general feeder and will eat almost any food; generally, 
 however, it finds its food upon the ground. The food given to nestlings 
 is very largely insects, and many pests are thus destroyed. The crows 
 damage the farmer by pulling the sprouting com and by destroying the 
 eggs and young of poultry. They also do much harm by destroying the 
 eggs and nestlings of our native birds which are beneficial to the' farmer; 
 they also do some harm by distributing the seeds of poison ivy and other 
 noxious plants. All these must be set down in the account against the 
 crow, but on the credit side must be placed the fact that it does a tremen- 
 dous amount of good work for the farmer by eating injurious insects, 
 especially the grubs and cut-worms which work in the ground, destroying 
 the roots of grasses and grains. It also kills many mice and other rodents 
 which are destructive to crops. 
 
 The best method of preventing crows from taking sprouting com is to 
 tar the seed com, which is planted around the edge of the field. 
 
 If any of the pupils in your school have had any experience with tame 
 crows they will relate interesting incidents of the love of the crow for glit- 
 tering objects. I once knew a tame crow which stole all of the thimbles 
 in the house and buried them in the garden; he would watch to see when 
 a thimble was laid aside when the sewing was dropped, and would seize it 
 almost immediately. This same crow persisted in taking the clothes-pins 
 off the line and burying them, so that he was finally imprisoned on wash- 
 days. He was fond of playing marbles with a little boy of the family. 
 The boy would shoot a marble into a hole and then Billy, the crow, would 
 take a marble in his beak and drop it into the hole. The bird understood 
 the game perfectly and was highly indignant if the boy took his turn and 
 made shots twice in succession. 
 
 References — The American Crow, Barrows & Schwartz, Bulletin 
 No. 6, Division of Ornithology, U. S. Department of Agriculture; Birds 
 in Relation to Man, Weed & Dearborn; Bird Neighbors, Blanchan; 
 Birds of Villages and Field, Merriam; Outdoor Studies, Needham. 
 
 LESSON XXXI 
 
 The Crow 
 
 Leading thouglit — The crow has the keenest intelligence of any of our 
 common birds. It does good work for us and also does damage. We 
 should study its ways before we pronounce judgment, for in some locali- 
 ties it may be a true friend and in others an enemy. 
 
 Methods — This work should begin in winter with an effort on the part 
 of the boys to discover the food of the crows while snow is on the ground. 
 This is a good time to study their habits and their roosts. The nests are 
 also often found in winter, although usually built in evergreens. The 
 nesting season is in early April, and the questions about the nests should 
 be given then. Let the other questions be given when convenient. The 
 flight, the notes, the sentinels, the food, the benefit and damage may all 
 be taken as separate topics. 
 
 The following topics for essay's should be given to correlate with work 
 in English: "What a pet crow of my acquaintance did;" "Evidences of 
 crow intelligence;" "A plea a crow might make in self-defence to the 
 farmer who wished to shoot him;" "The best methods of preventing crows 
 from stealing planted com." 
 
1^2 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Observations — i. How large is the crow compared with other black- 
 birds? 
 
 2. Describe its colors when seen in the sunlight? 
 
 3. Describe the general shape of the crow. 
 
 4. Are its w4ngs long and slender or short and stout? 
 
 5. Is the tail long or short? Is it notched or straight across the end? 
 
 6. Describe the crow's feet. Are they large and strong or slender? 
 How many toes does the track show in the snow or mud? How many 
 are directed forward and how many backward? 
 
 7. Describe a crow's flight compared with that of the hawk, 
 
 8. Describe its beak and what it is used for. 
 g. What is the color of the crow's eye? 
 
 10. When hunting tor food does the crow hop or walk? 
 
 11. Which are the crow's nearest relatives? 
 
 12. Where and of what material do the crows build their nests? 
 
 13 . Describe the eggs. At what time of the year do the young crows 
 hatch? Do both parents take care of and feed the young? How long 
 do the parents care for the young after they leave the nest? 
 
 14. What are the notes of the crow? If you have heard one give any 
 note except "caw," describe it. 
 
 15. Where and how do crows live in winter? Where do they live in 
 summer? 
 
 16. Do they post sentinels if they are feeding in the fields? If so, 
 describe the action of the sentinel on the approach ot people. 
 
 17. Upon what do the crows feed? What is fed to the nestlings? 
 
 18. How do the crows work injury to the farmer? How do they 
 benefit the farmer? Do you think they do more benefit than harm to the 
 farmer and fruit-grower? 
 
 19. Have you known of instances ot the crow's fondness for shining 
 or glittering articles, like pieces of crockery or tin? 
 
 Supplementary reading— "The Story ot Silver Spot" in Wild Animals 
 I have Known, Seton, Second Book of Birds, p. 117; "Jim's Babies" in 
 Nestlings of Forest and Marsh ; "How the Crow Baby was Punished, ' ' True 
 Bird Stories; "The Children of a Crow," and "The Scare Crow" by Ceha 
 Thaxter; Our Birds and their Nestlings; "Crow Ways," Ways of Wood 
 Folk, Long; "Not so Black as he is Painted," Outdoor Studies. Needham; 
 The Crows, John Hay; "Jack Crow," American Birds, Finley. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 133 
 
 The cardinal grosbeak. 
 After Audubon Leaflet No. i: 
 
 THE CARDINAL GROSBEAK 
 
 Teacher'i Story 
 
 There never lived a Lord Cardinal who 
 
 possessed robes ot state more brilliant m 
 
 color than the plumage of this bird. By 
 
 the way, I wonder how many of us ever 
 
 think when we see the peculiar red, called 
 
 cardmal, that it gained its name from the 
 
 dress of this high f unctionaryof the church ? 
 
 The cardinal grosbeak is the best name for 
 
 the redbird because that describes it 
 
 exactly, both as to its color and its chief 
 
 characteristic, since its beak is thick and 
 
 large; the beak is also red, which is a rare 
 
 color in beaks, and in order to make its 
 
 ''MU "% redness more emphatic it is set m a frame 
 
 ^K \ of black feathers. The use of such a large 
 
 ^K V beak is unmistakable, for it is strong 
 
 ^K ^ enough to crush the hardest of seed shells 
 
 ^^K or to crack the hardest and driest of 
 
 MK grains. 
 
 ^W "What cheer! U'liat cheer! 
 
 That is the grosbeak's way, 
 
 Wtth his sooty face and hts coat of red" 
 
 sings Maurice Thompson. But besides 
 the name given above, this bird has been called in different localities 
 the redbird, Virginia redbird, crested redbird, winter redbird, Virginia 
 nightingale, the red corn-cracker, but it remained for James Lane 
 Allen to give it another name in his masterpiece, "The Kentucky 
 Cardinal." 
 
 The cardinal is a trifle smaller than the robin and is by no means slim 
 and graceful, like the catbird or the scarlet tanager, but is quite stout and 
 is a veritable chunk of brilliant color and bird dignity. The only other 
 bird that rivals him in redness is the scarlet tanager which has black 
 wings; the summer tanager is also a red bird, but is not so vermilion and 
 is more slender and lacks the crest. The cardinal surely finds his crest 
 useful in expressing his emotions; when all is serene, it lies back flat on 
 the head, but with any excitement, whether of joy or surprise or anger, it 
 lifts until it is as peaked as an old-fashioned nightcap. The cardinal's 
 mate is of quiet color, her back is greenish gray and breast bufty, while 
 her crest, wings and tail reflect in faint ways the brilliancy of his costume. 
 
 The redbird's song is a stirring succession of syllables uttered in a rich, 
 ringing tone, and may be translated in a variety of ways. I have heard 
 him smg a thousand times "tor-re'-do, tor-re'-do, tor-re'-do," but Dr. 
 Dawson has heard him sing "che'-pew, che'-pew, we'-woo, we'-woo;" 
 "bird-ie, bird-ie, bird-ie; tschew, tschew, tschew;" and "chit-e-kew, 
 chit-e-kew; he-weet- he-weet." His mate breaks the custom of other 
 birds of her sex and sings a sweet song, somewhat softer than his. Both 
 birds utter a sharp note "tsip, tsip." 
 
 The nest is built in bushes, vines or low trees, often in holly, laurel or 
 other low evergreens, and is rarely more than six or eight feet above the 
 
134 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 ground. It is made of twigs, weed stems, tendrils, the bark of the grape 
 vine and coarse grass; it is hned with fine grass and rootlets; it is rather 
 loosely constructed but firm and is well hidden, for it causes these birds 
 great anguish to have their nest discovered. Three or four eggs are laid, 
 which are bluish white or grayish, dully marked with brown. The father 
 cardinal is an exemplary husband and father; he cares for and feeds his 
 mate tenderly and sings to her gloriously while she is sitting; and he 
 works hard catching insects for the nestlings. He is also a brave defender 
 of his nest and will attack any intruder, however large, with undaunted 
 courage. The fledglings all have the dull color of the mother and have 
 dark-colored bills. Their dull color protects the young birds from the 
 keen eyes of their enemies while they are not yet able to take care of 
 themselves. If the male fledglings were the color of their father, probably 
 not one would escape a tragic death. While the mother bird is hatching 
 the second brood the father keeps the first brood with him and cares for 
 them ; often the whole family remains together during the winter, making 
 a small flock. However, the flocking habit is not characteristic of these 
 birds, and we only see them in considerable numbers when the exigencies 
 of seeking food in the winter naturally bring them together. 
 
 The car dinals are fond of the shrubbery and thickets of river bottoms, 
 near grain fields, or where there is plenty of wild grass, and they only visit 
 our premises when driven to us by winter hunger. Their food consists of 
 the seeds of rank weeds, com, wheat, rye, oats, beetles, grasshoppers, 
 flies, and to some extent, wild and garden berries ; but they never occur in 
 sufficient numbers to be a menace to our crops. The cardinals may often 
 be seen in the com fields after the harvest, and will husk an overlooked ear 
 of corn and crack the kernels with their beaks in a most dexterous man- 
 ner. During the winter we may coax them to our grounds by scattering 
 corn in some place not frequented by cats; thus, we may induce them to 
 nest near us, since the cardinal is not naturally a migrant but likes to stay 
 in one locality summer and winter. It has been known to come as far 
 north as Boston and southem New York, but it is found in greatest num- 
 bers in our Southem States. Many nestlings were formerly taken, to ship 
 in cages to Europe, but the National Association for Bird Protection has 
 put a stop to this. In Ohio, no cardinal is allowed to be caged, and this 
 same law should protect this beautiful bird in every Southem state, since 
 it does not live long or happily in confinement. The cardinal's song is not 
 at its best in a cage, but as the poet Naylor says: 
 
 "Along the diist-white river road. 
 The saucy rcdbird chirps and trills; 
 His liquid notes resound and rise 
 Until they meet the cloudless skies. 
 And echo o'er the distant hills." 
 
 LESSON XXXII 
 The Cardinal Grosbeak 
 
 Leading thought — The cardinal is the most brilliantly colored of all our 
 birds and because of its color and song, it has been destroyed by thousands 
 as cage birds. We should seek to preserve it as a beautiful ornament to 
 our groves and grounds. 
 
Bird Study 135 
 
 Methods — This work must be done by personal observation m the field. 
 The field notes should be discussed in school. The effect of the whole 
 lesson should be to stimulate an interest in protecting these beautiful 
 birds. If possible, send for outline figures of the cardinal for the children 
 to color; these outlines may be had at the cost of fifteen cents per dozen 
 from the Audubon Society, 141 Broadway, New York City. 
 
 Observations — i. Do you know the cardinal.? Why is it so called? 
 
 2. How many names do you know for this bird ? 
 
 3. Is the cardinal as large as the robin.'' Is it graceful in shape or 
 Stout ? 
 
 4. Is there any color except red upon it? If so, where? 
 
 5. What other vividly red birds have we and how can we distinguish 
 them from the cardinal? 
 
 6. Describe the cardinal's crest and how it looks when lifted. Why 
 do you think it lifts it ? 
 
 7. Describe its beak as to color, shape and size. What work is such 
 a heavy beak made for? 
 
 8. Is the cardinal's mate the same color as he? Describe the color of 
 her head, back, wings, tail, breast. 
 
 9. Can you imitate the cardinal's song? W^hat words do you think 
 he seems to sing? Does his mate sing also? Is it usual for mother birds 
 to sing? What other notes besides songs do you hear him utter? 
 
 10. Where does the cardinal usually build its nest? How high from 
 the ground? Of what materials? Is it compact or bulky? How many 
 eggs and what are their colors? 
 
 11. How does the father bird act while his mate is brooding? How 
 does he help take care of the young in the nest? 
 
 12. How do the fledglings differ in color from their father? From 
 their mother? Of what use to the young birds is their sober color? 
 
 13. What happens to the fledglings of the first brood while the mother 
 is hatching the eggs of the second brood ? 
 
 14. In what localities do you most often see the cardinals? Do you 
 ever see them in flocks? 
 
 15. What is the food of the cardinals? What do they feed their 
 nestlings? 
 
 16. How can you induce the cardinals to build near your home? 
 
 17. What do you know about the laws protecting the redbirds? 
 Supplementary reading — The Second Book of Birds, Miller, p. S;^', 
 
 True Bird Stories, Miller, p. 86; The Song of the Cardinal, Porter; 
 Audubon Educational Leaflet No. 18. 
 
 "Upon the f^ray old forest's ritn 
 I snuffed the crab-tree's sweet perfume; 
 And farther, ivhere the lij^ht was dim, I saw the bloom 
 Of May apples, beneath the tent 
 Of umbrel leaves above them bent; 
 Where oft was shifting light and shade 
 The blue-eyed ivy ivildly strayed; 
 The Solomon s seal, in graceful play. 
 Swung ^vhere the straggling siinliglit lay 
 The same as when I earliest heard 
 J. Ik Cardinal bird." 
 
 — W. S. Gallagher. 
 
136 
 
 Hatidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 GEESE 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 called a goose should be considered most com- 
 plimentary, for of all the birds the goose is probably 
 the most intelligent. An observant lady who 
 keeps geese on her farm assures me that no animal, 
 not even dog or horse, has the intelligence of the 
 goose. She says that these birds learn a lesson 
 after a few repetitions, and surely her geese were 
 patterns of obedience. While I was watching them 
 one morning, they started for the brook via the 
 com field; she called to them sharply, "No, no, 
 you mustn't go that way!" They stopped and conferred; she spoke 
 again and they waited, looking at her as if to make up their minds to this 
 exercise of self-sacrifice ; but when she spoke the third time they left the 
 com field and took the other path to the brook. She could bring her 
 geese into their house at any time of day by calling to them, "Home, 
 home!" As soon as they heard these words, they would start and not 
 stop until the last one was housed. 
 
 In ancient Greece maidens made pets of geese; and often there was 
 such a devotion between the bird and girl that when the latter died her 
 statue with that of the goose was carved on her burial tablet. The 
 loyalty of a pet goose came under the observation of Miss Ada Georgia. 
 A lone gander was the special pet of a small boy in Elmira, N. Y., who 
 took sole care of him. The bird obeyed commands hke a dog but would 
 never let his little master out of his sight if he could avoid it ; occasionally 
 he would appear in the school yard, where the pupils would tease him by 
 pretending to attack his master at the risk of being whipped with his 
 wings so severely that it was a test of bravery among the boys to so chal- 
 lenge him. His fidelity to his master was extreme ; once when the boy 
 
 ^-v^ 
 
Bird Study 137 
 
 was ill in bed, the bird wandered about the yard honking disconsolately 
 and refused to eat; he was driven to the side of the house where his mas- 
 ter could look from the window and he immediately cheered up, took his 
 food and refused to leave his post beneath the window while the illness 
 lasted. 
 
 The goose is a stately bird whether on land or water; its long legs give 
 it good proportions when walking, and the neck being so much longer 
 than that of the duck gives an appearance of grace and dignity. The 
 duck on the other hand is beautiful only when on the water or on the 
 wing; its short legs, placed far back and far out at the sides, make it a 
 most ungraceful walker. The beak of the goose is harder in texture and 
 is not flat like the duck's; no wonder the bird was a favorite with the 
 ancient Greeks for the high ridge from the beak to the forehead resembles 
 much the famous Grecian nose. The plumage of geese is very beautiful 
 and abundant and for this reason they are profitable domestic birds. 
 The "picking" occurs late in summer when the feathers are nearly ready 
 to be molted; at this time the geese flap their wings often and set 
 showers of loose feathers flying. A stocking or a bag is slipped over the 
 bird's head and she is turned breast side up, with her head firmly between 
 the knees or under the arm of the picker. The tips of the feathers are 
 seized with the fingers and come out easily; onh^ the breast, the under 
 parts and the feathers beneath the wings are plucked. Geese do not seem 
 to suffer while being plucked except through the temporary inconvenience 
 and ignominy of having their heads thrust into a bag; it hurts their 
 dignity more than their bodies. 
 
 The wings of geese are very large and beautiful ; although our domestic 
 geese have lost their powers of flight to a great extent, yet they often 
 stretch their wings and take little flying hops, teetering along as if they 
 can scarcely keep to earth; this must surely be reminiscent of the old 
 instinct for traveling in the skies. The tail of the goose is a half circle 
 and is spread when flying; although it is short, it seems to be sufficiently 
 long to act as a rudder. The legs of the goose are much longer than those 
 of the duck; they are not set so far back toward the rear of the body, and, 
 therefore, the goose is the much better runner of the two. The track 
 made by the goose's foot is a triangle with two scallops on one side made 
 by the webs between the three front toes; the hind toe is placed high up; 
 the foot and the unfeathered portion of the leg, protected by scales, are 
 used as oars when the bird is swimming. When she SAvims forward 
 rapidly, her feet extend out behind her and act on the principle of a 
 propeller; but when swimming around in the pond she uses them at 
 almost right angles to the body. Although they are such excellent oars 
 they are also efflcient on land; although when running, her body may 
 waddle somewhat, her head and neck are held aloft in stately dignity. 
 
 The Toulouse are our common gray geese; the Embdens are pure 
 white with orange bill and bright blue eyes. The African geese h ave a 
 black head with a large black knob on the base of the black bill; the neck 
 is long, snakelike, light gray, with a dark stripe down the back; the ^^'ings 
 and tail are dark gray; there is a dewlap at the throat. The brown 
 Chinese geese have also a black beak and a black knob at the base of the 
 bill. The neck is light brown with a dull yellowish stripe down the neck. 
 The back is dark brown, breast, wings and tail grayish broAATi. The white 
 Chinese are shaped like the bro^^^^ Chinese but the knob and bill are 
 orange and the eyes light blue. 
 
1^8 Handbook of Nature-Stitdy 
 
 The Habits of Geese 
 
 Geese are monogamous and are loyal to their mates. Old-fashioned 
 people declare that they choose their mates on Saint Valentine's Day, but 
 this is probably a pretty myth; when once mated, the pair live together 
 year after year until one dies; an interesting instance of this is one of the 
 traditions in my own family. A fine pair of geese belonging to my 
 pioneer grandfather had been mated for several years and had reared 
 handsome families; but one spring a conceited young gander fell in love 
 with the old goose, and as he was young and lusty, he whipped her legiti- 
 mate lord and master and triumphantly carried her away, although she 
 was manifestly disgusted with this change in her domestic fortunes. The 
 old gander sulked and refused to be comforted by the blandishments of 
 any young goose whatever. Later the old pair disappeared from the 
 farmyard and the upstart gander was left wifeless. It was inferred that 
 the old couple had run away with each other into the encompassing 
 wilderness and much sympathy was felt for them because of this sacrifice 
 of their lives for loyalty. However, this was misplaced sentiment, for 
 later in the summer the happy pair was discovered in a distant "slashing" 
 with a fine family of goslings and were all brought home in_ triumph. 
 The old gander, while not able to cope with his rival, was still able to 
 trounce any of the animal marauders which approached his home and 
 
 family. 
 
 The goose lines her nest with down and the soft feathers which she 
 plucks from her breast. The gander is very devoted to his goose while 
 she is sitting; he talks to her in gentle tones and is fierce in her defence. 
 The eggs are about twice as large as those of the hen and have the ends 
 more rounded. The period of incubation is four weeks. The goslings 
 are beautiful little creatures, covered with soft down, and have large, 
 bright eyes. The parents give them most careful attention from the first. 
 One family which I studied consisted of the parents and eighteen goslings. 
 The mother was a splendid African bird; she walked with dignified step, 
 her graceful neck assuming serpentine curves; and she always carried her 
 beak "Hfted," which gave her an appearance of majestic haughtiness. 
 The father was just a plebeian white gander, probably of Embden descent 
 but he was a most efficient protector. The family always formed a 
 procession in going to the creek, the majestic mother at the head, the 
 goslings following her and the gander bringing up the rear to be sure 
 there were no stragglers; if a goshng strayed away or fell behind, the male 
 went after it, pushing it back into the family circle. When entering the 
 coop at night he pushed the little ones in gently with his bill ; when the 
 goslings took their first swim both parents gently pushed them into the 
 water, "rooted them in," as the farmer said. Any attempt to take 
 liberties with the brood was met with bristling anger and defiance on the 
 part of the gander; the mistress of the farm told me that he had whipped 
 her black and blue when she tried to interfere with the goslings. 
 
 The gander and goose always show suspicion and resentment by open- 
 ing the^Qouth wide, making a hissing noise, showing the whole round 
 tongue in mocking defiance. When the gander attacks, he thrusts his 
 head forward, even with or below the level of his back, and seizes his victim 
 firmly with his hard, toothed bill so that it cannot get away, and then with 
 his strong wings beats the life out of it. I remember vividly a whipping 
 
Bird Study 139 
 
 which a gander gave me when I was a child, holding me fast by the blouse 
 while he laid on the blows. 
 
 Geese feed much more largely upon land vegetation than do ducks; 
 a good growth of clover and grass make excellent pasture for them ; in the 
 water, they feed upon water plants but do not eat insects and animals to 
 any extent. 
 
 Undoubtedly goose language is varied and expresses many things. 
 Geese talk to each other and call from afar; they shriek in warnmg and m 
 general make such a turmoil that people do not enjoy it. The goslmgs, 
 even when almost grown, keep up a constant "pee wee, pee wee," which is 
 nerve-racking. There is a good opportunity for some interesting investi- 
 gations in studying out just what the different notes of the geese mean. 
 
 The goose is very particular about her toilet, she cleans her breast 
 and back and beneath her wings with her bill, and she cleans her bill 
 with her foot, she also cleans the top of her head with her foot and the 
 under side of her wing with the foot of that side. When oiling her 
 feathers, she starts the oil gland flowing with her beak, then rubs her head 
 over the gland until it is well oiled; she then uses her head as a "dauber" 
 to apply the oil to the feathers of her back and breast. When thus pol- 
 ishing her feathers, she twists the head over and 
 over and back and forth to add to its efficiency. 
 
 WILD GEESE 
 
 HERE is a sound, that, to the weather-wise farmer, 
 means cold and snow, even though it is heard 
 through the hazy atmosphere of an Indian summer 
 day; and that is the honking of wild geese as they 
 pass on their southward journey. And there is not a 
 more interesting sight anywhere in the autumn 
 landscape than the wedge-shaped flock of these long-necked birds with 
 their leader at the front apex. "The wild goose trails his harrow," 
 sings the poet; but only the aged can remember the old-fashioned harrow 
 which makes this simile graphic. The honking which reveals to us the 
 passing flock, before our eyes can discern the birds against the sky, is 
 the call of the wise old gander who is the leader, to those following him, 
 and their return salute. He knows the way on this long thousand-mile 
 journey, and knows it by the topography of the country. If ever fog 
 or storm hides the earth from his view, he is likely to become confused, 
 to the dismay of his flock, which follows him to the earth with many 
 lonely and distressful cries. 
 
 The northern migration takes place in April and May, and the southern 
 from October to December. The journey is made with stops for rest and 
 refreshment at certain selected places, usually some secluded pond or 
 lake. The food of wild geese consists of water plants, seeds and com, 
 and some of the smaller animals living in water. Although the geese come 
 to rest on the water, they go to the shore to feed. In California, the 
 wild geese are dreaded visitors of the cornfields, and men with guns are 
 employed regularly to keep them off. 
 
 The nests are made of sticks lined with down, usually along the shores 
 of streams, sometimes on tree stumps and sometimes in deserted nests of 
 the osprey. There are only four or five eggs laid and both parents are 
 
I40 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 devoted to the young, the gander bravely defending his nest and family 
 
 from the attacks of any enemies. 
 
 Although there are several species of wild geese on the Atlantic 
 
 Coast, the one called by this name is usually the Canada goose. This 
 
 bird is a superb creature, 
 brown above and gray be- 
 ' neath, with head, neck, tail, 
 bill and feet of black. These 
 black trimmings are highly 
 ornamental and, as if to 
 emphasize them, there is 
 a white crescent-shaped 
 "bib" extending from just 
 back of the eyes under- 
 neath the head . This white 
 patch is very striking, and 
 gives one the impression of 
 a bandage for sore throat. 
 It is regarded as a call- 
 color, and is supposed to 
 help keep the flock to- 
 gether; the side tail-coverts 
 are also white and make 
 another guide to follow. 
 Often some wounded or 
 - wearied bird of the migrat- 
 ing flock spends the winter 
 in farmyards with domes- 
 tic geese. One morning a 
 neighbor of mine found 
 that during the night a wild 
 gander, injured in some 
 way, had joined his flock. 
 The stranger was treated 
 with much courtesy by its 
 new companions as well as 
 by the farmer's family and 
 soon seemed perfectly at 
 home. The next spring he 
 mated with one of the 
 domestic geese. In the late 
 summer, my neighbor. 
 Wild geese -flying in even ranks. mindful of wild geese hab- 
 
 Photographed directly underneath by A. R. Dugmore. itS, clipped the wingS of the 
 
 Courtesy of Country Life in America. gander SO that he WOUld be 
 
 unable to join any passing flock of his wild relatives. As the migrating 
 season approached, the gander became very uneasy; not only 
 was he uneasy and unhappy always but he insisted that his 
 wife share his misery of unrest. He spent days in earnest remon- 
 strance with her and, lifting himself by his cropped wings to the top of 
 the barnyard fence, he insisted that she keep him company on this, for 
 web feet, uneasy resting-place. Finally, after many days of tribulation, 
 
Bird Study 141 
 
 the two valiantly started south on foot. News was received of their prog- 
 ress for some distance and then they were lost to us. During the winter our 
 neighbor visited a friend living eighteen miles to the southward and 
 found in his barnyard the errant pair. They had become tired of 
 migrating by tramping and had joined the farmer's flock; but we were 
 never able to determine the length of time required for this journey. 
 
 LESSOX XXXIII 
 
 Geese 
 
 Leading thought — Geese are the most intelligent of the domesticated 
 birds, and they have many interesting habits. 
 
 Method — This lesson should not be given unless there are geese where 
 the pupils may observe them. The questions should be given a few at a 
 time and answered individually by the pupils after the observations are 
 made. 
 
 Observations — i. What is the chief difference between the appearance 
 of a goose and a duck? How does the beak of the goose differ from that 
 of the duck in shape and in texture? Describe the nostrils and their 
 situation. 
 
 2. What is the difference in shape between the neck of the goose and 
 that of the duck? 
 
 3. What can you say about the plumage of geese? How are geese 
 "picked?" At what time of year? From what parts of the body are the 
 the feathers plucked? 
 
 4. Are the wings of the goose large compared with the body? How 
 do geese exercise their wings? Describe the tail of the goose and how it 
 is used. 
 
 5. How do the legs and feet of the goose differ from those of the duck? 
 Describe the goose's foot. How many toes are webbed? Where is the 
 other toe? What is the shape of the track made by the goose's foot? 
 Which portions of the legs are used for oars? When the goose is swim- 
 ming forward where are her feet? When turning around how does she 
 use them? Does the goose waddle when walking or running as a duck 
 does? Why? Does a goose toe-in when walking? Why? 
 
 6. Describe the shape and color of the following breeds of domestic 
 geese : The Toulouse, the Embden, the African, and Chinese. 
 
 Habits of Geese 
 
 1. What is the chief food of geese? What do they find in the water 
 to eat? How does their food differ from that of ducks? 
 
 2. How do geese differ from hens in the matter of mating and nesting? 
 At what time of year do geese mate ? Does a pair usually remain mated 
 for life ? 
 
 3. Describe the nest and compare the eggs with those of hens. 
 Describe the young goslings in general appearance. With what are they 
 covered? What care do the y)arents give to their goslings? Describe 
 how the parents take their family afield. How do they induce their 
 goslings to go into the water for the first time? How do they protect 
 them from enemies? 
 
142 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Stiuiy 
 
 4. How does the gander or goose fight? AVhat are the chief weapons? 
 How is the head held when the attack is made ? 
 
 5. How does the goose clean her feathers, wings and feet ? How does 
 she oil her feathers? Where does she get the oil and with what does she 
 apply it ? 
 
 6. How much of goose language do you understand? What is the 
 note of alarm? How is defiance and distrust expressed? How does a 
 goose look when hissing? What is the constant note of the gosling? 
 
 7. Give such instances as you may know illustrating the intelligence 
 of geese, their loyalty and bravery. 
 
 8. Write an English Theme on "The Canada Goose, its appearance, 
 nesting habits, and migrations." 
 
 Supplementary reading — Birds that Hunt and are Hunted, Blanchan; 
 "In Quest of Waptonk The Wild," Northern Trails, Long; "The Home- 
 sickn~essofKehonka," Kindred of the Wild, Roberts; Wild Geese, Celia 
 Thaxter. 
 
 €> 
 
 A sea-gull 
 Photo by G. K. Gilbert. 
 
Bird Study 
 
 143 
 
 THE TURKEY 
 
 TeacJier's Story 
 
 HAT the turkey and not the eagle should have been 
 choseiT for our national bird, was the conviction of 
 Benjamin Franklin. It is a native of our country, 
 it is beautiful as to plumage, and like the American 
 Indian, it has never yielded entirely to the in- 
 fluences of civilization. Through the hundreds of 
 years of domestication it still retains many of its 
 wild habits. In fact, it has many qualities in 
 common with the red man. Take for instance its 
 sun dance, which any one can witness who is 
 willing to get up early enough in the morning and who has a flock of 
 turkeys at hand. Miss Ada Georgia made a pilgrimage K) witness this 
 dance" and she describes it thus: "While the dawn was still faint and 
 gray, the long row of birds on the ridge-pole stood up, stretched legs and 
 wings and flew down into the orchard beside the barnyard and began a 
 curious, high-stepping, 'flip-flop' dance on the frosty grass. It consisted 
 of little, awkward, up-and-down jumps, varied by forward springs of 
 about a foot, with lifted wings. Both hens and males danced, the latter 
 alternately strutting and hopping and all 'singing,' the hens calling 
 'Quit, quit,' the males accompanying with a high-keyed rattle, sounding 
 like a hard wood stick drawn rapidly along a picket fence. As the sun 
 came up and the sky brightened, the exhibition ended suddenly when 
 'The Captain,' a great thirty pound gobbler and leader of the flock, made 
 a rush at one of his younger brethren who had dared to be spreading a tail 
 too near to his majesty." 
 
144 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The bronze breed resembles most closely our native wild turkey and is 
 therefore chosen for this lesson. The colors and markings of the plumage 
 form the bronze turkey's chief beauty. From the skin of the neck, reach- 
 ing half way to the middle of the back is a collar of glittering bronze with 
 greenish and purple iridescence, each feather tipped with a narrow jet 
 band. The remainder of the back is black except that each feather is 
 edged with bronze. The breast is like the collar and at its center is a 
 tassel of black bristles called the beard which hangs limply downward 
 when the birds are feeding; but when the gobbler stiffens his muscles to 
 strut, this beard is thrust proudly forth. Occasionally the hen turkeys 
 have a beard. The long quills, or primaries, of the wings are barred 
 across with bands of black and white; the secondaries are very dark, 
 luminous brown, with narrower bars of white. Each feather of the fan- 
 shaped tail is banded with black and brown and ends with a black bar 
 tipped with white; the tail coverts are lighter brown but also have the 
 black margin edged with white. The colors of the hen are like those of 
 the gobbler except that the bronze brilliance of breast, neck and wings is 
 dimmed by the faint line of white which tips each feather. 
 
 The heads of all are covered with a warty wrinkled skin, bluish white 
 on the crown, grayish blue about the eyes, and the other parts red. 
 Beneath the throat is a hanging fold called the wattle, and above the beak 
 a fleshy pointed knob called the caruncle, which on the gobbler is pro- 
 longed so that it hangs over and below the beak. When the bird is angry 
 these carunculated parts swell and grow more vivid in color, seeming to 
 be gorged with blood. The color of the skin about the head is more exten- 
 sive and brilliant in the gobblers than in the hens. The beak is slightly 
 curved, short, stout, and sharp-pointed, yellowish at the tip and dark at 
 the base. 
 
 The eyes are bright, dark hazel with a thin red line of iris. Just back 
 of the eye is the ear, seemingly a mere hole, and 3^et it leads to a very 
 efficient ear, upon which every smallest sound impinges. 
 
 The legs of the young turkeys are nearly black, fading to a brownish 
 gray when mature. The legs and feet are large and stout, the middle 
 toe of the three front ones being nearly twice the length of the one on 
 either side; the hind toe is the shortest of the four. On the inner side of 
 the gobbler's legs, about one-third the bare space above the foot, is a 
 wicked looking spur which is a most effective weapon. The wings are 
 large and powerful; the turkey flies well for such a large bird and usually 
 roosts high, choosing trees or the ridge-pole of the bam for this purpose. 
 
 In many ways the turkeys are not more than half domesticated. They 
 insistently prefer to spend their nights out of doors instead of under a 
 roof. They are also great wanderers and thrive best when allowed to 
 forage in the fields and woods for a part of their food. 
 
 The gobbler is the most vainglorious bird known to us; when he struts 
 to show his flock of admiring hens how beautiful he is, he lowers his wings 
 and spreads the stiff primary quills until their tips scrape the grotmd, lift- 
 ing meanwhile into a semi-circular fan his beautiful tail feathers; he pro- 
 trudes his chest, raises the iridescent plumage of his neck like a ruff to 
 make a background against which he throws back his red, white and blue 
 decorated head. He moves forward with slow and mincing steps and 
 calls attention to his grandeur by a series of most aggressive "gobbles." 
 But we must say for the gobbler that although he is vain he is also a brave 
 
Bird Study 145 
 
 fighter. When beginning a fight he advances with wings lowered and 
 sidewise as if guarding his body with the spread wing. The neck and the 
 sharp beak are outstretched and he makes the attack so suddenly, that it 
 is impossible to see whether he strikes with both wing and beak or only 
 with the latter, as with fury he pounces upon his adversary apparently 
 striving to rip his neck open with his spurs. 
 
 Turkey hens usually begin to lay in April in this latitude and much 
 earlier in more southern states. At nesting time each turkey hen strays 
 off alone, seeking the most secluded spot she can find to lay the large, oval, 
 brown-speckled eggs. Silent and sly, she slips away to the place daily, by 
 the most round-about ways, and never moving in the direction of the nest 
 when she thinks herself observed. Sometimes the sight of any person 
 near her nest will cause her to desert it. The writer has spent many hours 
 when a child, sneaking in fence comers and behind stumps and tree 
 trunks, stalking turkeys' nests. Incubation takes four weeks. The 
 female is a most persistent sitter and care should be taken to see that she 
 gets a good supply of food and water at this time. Good sound com or 
 wheat is the best food for her at this period. When sitting she is very 
 cross and will fight most courageously when molested on her nest. 
 
 Turkey nestlings are rather large, with long, bare legs and scra\\Tiy 
 thin necks, and they are very delicate during the first six weeks of their 
 lives. Their call is a plaintive "peep, weep," and when a little turkey 
 feels lost its cry is expressive of great fear and misery. But if the mother 
 is freely ranging she does not seem to be much affected by the needs of 
 her brood ; she will fight savagely for them if they are near her, but if they 
 stray, and they usually do, she does not seem to miss or hunt for them, 
 but strides serenely on her way, keeping up a constant crooning "kr-rit, 
 kr-rit," to encourage them to follow. As a consequence, the chicks are 
 lost or get draggled and chilled by struggling through wet grass and 
 leaves, that are no obstacle to the mother's strong legs, and thus many 
 die. If the mother is confined in a coop it should be so large and roomy 
 that she can move about without trampling on the chicks, and it should 
 have a dry floor since dampness is fatal to the little ones. 
 
 For the first week the chicks should be fed five times a day, and for 
 the next five weeks they should have three meals a day. They should be 
 given only just about enough to fill each little crop and none left over to be 
 trodden under their awkward little feet. Their quarters should be kept 
 clean and free from vermin. 
 
 LESSON XXXIV 
 
 Turkeys 
 
 Leading thought — The turkey is a native of America. It was intro- 
 duced into Spain from Mexico in about 1.5 18, and since then has been 
 domesticated. However, there are still in some parts of the country 
 flocks of wild turkeys. It is a beautiful bird and has interesting habits. 
 
 Method — If the pupils could visit a flock of turkeys the lesson would be 
 given to a better advantage. If this is impossible, ask the questions a few 
 at a time and let those pupils who have opportunities for observing the 
 turkeys give their answers before the class. 
 
 Observations — i. Of what breed are the turkeys you are studying, 
 Bronze, Black, Buff, White Holland or Narragansett? 
 
J 5 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 2 What is the general shape and size of the turkey ? Describe its 
 plumage, noting every color which you can see in it? Does the plumage 
 of the hen turkey differ from that of the .gobbler ? _ 
 
 c; What is the covering of the head of the turkey, wTiat is its color 
 and how far does it extend down the neck of the bird? Is it always the 
 same color, and if not, what causes the change? Is the head covering 
 ahke in shape and size on the male and the female? What is the part 
 called that hangs from the front of the throat below the beak? From 
 
 above the beak? . ^ • i^ 
 
 4. What is the color of the beak? Is it short or long, straight or 
 curved? Where are the nostrils situated? 
 
 5. What is the color of the turkey's eyes? Do you think it is a keen- 
 sighted bird ? , • 1 . 
 
 6. Where are the ears? Do they show as plainly as a chicken s ears 
 
 do ? Are turkeys quick of hearing ? 
 
 7. Do turkeys scratch like hens? Are they good runners ? Describe 
 the feet and legs as to shape, size and color. Has the male a spur on his 
 legs, and if so, where is it situated-? For what is it used? 
 
 ^ 8. Can turkeys fly well ? Are the wings small or comparatively large 
 and strong for the weight of the body? Do turkeys prefer high or low 
 places for perching when they sleep ? Is it well to house and confine them 
 in small buildings and parks as is done with other fowls ? 
 
 9. Tell, as nearly as you can discover by close observation, how the 
 gobbler sets each part of his plumage when he is "showing off" or strut- 
 ting? What do you think is the bird's purpose in thus exhibiting his fine 
 feathers? Does the "King of the flock" permit any such action by other 
 "gobblers" in his company? 
 
 10. Are turkeys timid and cowardly or independent and brave, ready 
 to meet and fight anything which they think is threatening to their com- 
 fort and safety? 
 
 11. When turkeys fight, w^hat parts of their bodies seem to be used 
 as weapons? Does the male "gobble" during a fight, or only as a chal- 
 lenge or in triumph when victorious? Do the hen turkeys ever fight, or 
 only the males? 
 
 12. How early in the spring does the turkey hen begin to lay? Does 
 she nest about the poultry yard and the bams or is she likely to seek some 
 secret and distant spot where she may hide her eggs? Describe the 
 turkey's egg, as well as you can, as to color, shape and size. Can one tell 
 it by the taste from an ordinary hen's egg? About how many eggs does 
 the turkey hen lay in her nest before she begins to "get broody" and want 
 
 to sit ? 
 
 13. How many days of incubation are required to hatch the turkey 
 chick? Is it as downy and pretty as other little chicks? How often 
 should the young chicks be fed, and what food do you think is best for 
 them? Are turkey chicks as hardy as other chicks? 
 
 14. Is the turkey hen generally a good mother? Is she cross or 
 gentle when sitting and when brooding her young? Is it possible to keep 
 the mother turkey as closely confined with her brood as it is with the 
 mother hen ? What supplies should be given to her in the way of food, 
 grits, dust-baths, etc.? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Birds that Hunt and are Hunted, Blanchan. 
 
Bird Study 147 
 
 LESSOM XXXV 
 
 The Study of Birds' Nests in Winter 
 
 There are very good reasons for not studying birds' nests in summer, 
 since too much famiHarity on the part of eager children is something the 
 birds do not understand and are Hkely, in consequence, to abandon both 
 nest and locaHty. But after the birds have gone to sunnier chmes and 
 the empty nests are the only mementos we have of them, then we may 
 study these habitations carefully and learn how to properly appreciate 
 the small architects which made them. I think that every one of us who 
 carefully examines the way that a nest is made must have a feeling of 
 respect for its clever little builder. 
 
 I know of certain schools where the children make large collections of 
 these winter nests, properly labelling each, and thus gaining a new 
 interest in the bird life of their locality. A nest when collected should be 
 labelled in the following manner? 
 
 Name of the bird w^hich built the nest. 
 
 Where the nest was found. 
 
 If in a tree, what kind? 
 
 How high from the ground? 
 
 Bird Homes, by A. R. Dugmore is a book which affords practical 
 help in determining the species of birds which made the nests. 
 
 After a collection of nests has been made let the pupils study them 
 according to the following outline: 
 
 1. Where was the nest found? 
 
 a. If on the ground, describe the locality, 
 
 b. If on a plant, tree or shrub, tell the species, if possible. 
 
 c. If on a tree, tell where it was on a branch, in a fork, or hanging 
 by the end of the twigs. 
 
 d. How high from the ground, and what was the locality? 
 
 e. If on or in a building, how situated? 
 
 2 . Did the nest have any arrangement to protect it from rain ? 
 
 3 . Give the size of the nest, the diameter of the inside and the outside ; 
 also the depth of the inside. 
 
 4. What is the form of the nest? Are its sides flaring or straight? 
 Is the nest shaped like a cup, basket or pocket? 
 
 5. What materials compose the outside of the nest and how are they 
 arranged ? 
 
 6. Of what materials is the lining made, and how are they arranged? 
 If hair or feathers are used, on what creature did they grow? 
 
 7. How are the materials of the nest held together, that is, are they 
 woven, plastered, or held in place by environment? 
 
 8. Had the nest anything peculiar about it either in situation, con- 
 struction or material that would tend to render it invisible to the casual 
 glance ? 
 
148 
 
 .Handbook of Nature-Stiidy 
 
 ''Noon time and June Uuic down 
 
 around the river.'' 
 
FisJi Study 
 
 149 
 
 II. FISH STUDY 
 
 "It remains yet u>iresolved ivhether the happiness of a man in this world doth consist 
 more in contemplation or action. Concerning which two opinions I shall forebear to 
 add a third by dcclari)ig my oivn, and rest myself contented in telling yon that both of 
 these m,eet together, and do most properly belong to the most honest, ingenious , qidet and 
 harjnless art of angling. And first I tell yon what some have observed, and I have 
 found to be a real truth, that the very sitting by the riverside is not only the quietest and 
 the fittest place for contemplation, but ivill invite an angler to it.'' — Isaak Walton. 
 
 ^EAR, human, old Isaak AValton discovered that nature- 
 study, fishing, and philosophy were akin and as inevitably 
 related as the three angles of a triangle. And yet it is 
 surprising how little the fish have been used as subjects 
 for nature lessons. Every brook and pond is a treasure 
 to the teacher who will find what there is in it and who 
 knows what may be gotten out of it. 
 Luckily there are some very good books on fishes which will assist 
 materially in making the fish lessons interesting: Fishes, by David Starr 
 Jordan, is a magnificent popular work in two volumes; American Food 
 and Game Fishes, by Jordan and Evermann, is one of the volumes of the 
 valuable Nature Library. While for supplementary reading the follow- 
 ing will prove instructive and entertaining: The Story of the Fishes, 
 Baskett; Fish Stories, by Holder and Jordan; "The Story of a Salmon," 
 in Science Sketches, by Jordan; Neighbors with Wings and Fins, Johon- 
 not; Half Hours with Fishes, Reptiles and Birds, Holder. 
 
 Almost any of the fishes found in brook or pond may be kept in an 
 aquarium for a few days of observation in the schoolroom. A water pail 
 or bucket does very well if there is no glass aquarium. The water should 
 be changed every day and at least once a day it should be aerated by 
 dipping it up and pouring it back from some distance above. The prac- 
 tice should be established, once for all, of putting these finny prisoners 
 back into the brook after they have been studied. 
 
 THE GOLDFISH 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 NCE upon a time, if stories are true, there lived 
 a king called Midas, whose touch turned 
 everything to gold. Whenever I see gold- 
 fish, I wonder if, perhaps, King Midas 
 were not a Chinese and if he perchance 
 did not handle some of the little fish in 
 Orient streams. But common man has 
 learned a magic as wonderful as that of King 
 Midas, although it does not act so im- 
 mediately, for it is through his agency in 
 selecting and breeding that we have gained these exquisite fish for our 
 aquaria. In the streams of China the goldfish, which were the ancestors 
 of these effulgent creatures, wore safe green col()rs Hke the shiners in 
 our brooks; and if any goldfish escape from our fountains and run wild, 
 their progeny return to their native olive-green color. There are many 
 
15° 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 such dull-colored goldfish in the Delaware and Potomac and other east- 
 ern rivers. It is almost inconceivable that one of the brilliant colored 
 fishes, if it chanced to escape into our ponds, should escape the fate of 
 being eaten by some larger fish attracted by such glittering bait. 
 
 The goldfish, as we see it in the aquarium, is brilliant orange above and 
 pale lemon-yellow below; there are many specimens that are adorned 
 with black patches. And as if this fish were bound to imitate the precious 
 metals, there are individuals which are silver instead of gold: they are 
 oxydized silver above and polished silver below. The goldfish are closely 
 related to the carp and can live in waters that are stale. However, the 
 water in the aquarium should be changed at least twice a week to keep it 
 clear. Goldfish should not be fed too lavishly. An inch square of one of 
 the sheets of prepared fish food, we have found a fair daily ration for five 
 medium sized fish ; these fish are more likely to die from overfeeding than 
 from starving. Goldfish are naturally long-lived; Miss Ada Georgia has 
 kept them until seven years old in a school aquarium; and there is on 
 record one goldfish that lived nine years. 
 
 Too often the wonderful common things are never noticed because of 
 their commonness; and there is no better instance of this than the form 
 and movements of a fish. It is an animal in many ways similar to ani- 
 mals that live on land; but its form and structure are such that it is 
 perfectly adapted to live in water all its life; there are none of the true 
 fishes which five portions of their lives on land as do the frogs. The first 
 peculiarity of the fish is its shape. Looked at from above, the broader 
 part of the body is near the front end which is rounded or pointed so as to 
 cut the water readily. The long, narrow, hind portion of the body with 
 the tail acts as a propeller. Seen from the side, the body is a smooth, 
 graceful oval and this form is especially adapted to move through the 
 water swiftly, as can be demonstrated to the pupil by cutting a model of 
 the fish from wood and trying to move it through the water sidewise. 
 
 Normally, the fish has seven fins, one along the back called the dorsal, 
 one at the end of the tail called the tail or caudal fin, one beneath the rear 
 end of the body called the anal, a pair on the lower side of the body called 
 the ventrals, and a pair just back of the gill openings called the pectorals. 
 All these fins play their own parts in the movements of the fish. The dor- 
 
 'Gili opening 
 Vfcntrol fin 
 
 Goldfish with the parts named. 
 This figure should be copied on the blackboard for reference. 
 
Fish Study 151 
 
 sal fin is usually higher in front than behind and can be lifted or shut down 
 hke a fan. This fin when it is lifted gives the fish greater height and it 
 can be twisted to one side or the other and thus be made a factor in 
 steering. The anal fin on the lower side acts in a similar manner. The 
 tail fin is the propeller and sends the body forward by pressing backward 
 on the water, first on one side and then on the other, being used Hke a 
 scull. The tail fin varies in shape very much in different species. In the 
 goldfish it is fanlike, with a deeply notched hind edge, but in some it is 
 rounded or square. 
 
 The paired fins correspond anatomically to our arms and legs, the 
 pectorals representing the arms, the ventrals the legs. Fins are made up 
 of rays, as the bony rods are called which support the membrane; these 
 rays are of two kinds, those which are soft, flexible, many jointed and 
 usually branched at the tip; and those which are bony, not jointed and 
 which are usually stiff spines. When the spines are present in a fin they 
 precede the soft rays. 
 
 Fishes' eyes have no eyelid but the eyeball is movable, and this often 
 gives the impression that the fish winks. Fishes are necessarily near- 
 sighted since the lens of the eye has to be spherical in order to see in the 
 water. The sense of smell is^located in a little sac to which the nostril 
 leads; the nostrils are small and often partitioned and may be seen on 
 either side of the snout. The nostrils have no connection whatever with 
 breathing, in the fish. 
 
 The tongue of the fish is very bony or bristly and immovable. There 
 is very Httle sense of taste developed in it. The shape, number and 
 position of the teeth vary according to the food habits of the fish. The 
 commonest tvpe of teeth are fine, sharp and short and are arranged m 
 pads, as seen in the bullhead. Some fish have blunt teeth suitable for 
 crushing shells. Herbivorous fishes have sharp teeth with serrated edges, 
 while those living upon crabs and snails have incisor-like teeth. In some 
 specimens we find several types of teeth, in others the teeth may be 
 entirely absent. The teeth are borne not only on the jaws but also in the 
 roof of the mouth, on the tongue and in the throat. 
 
 The ear of the fish has neither outside form nor opening and is very 
 imperfect in comparison with that of man. Extending along the sides of 
 the body from head to tail is a line of modified scales contammg small 
 tubes connecting with nerves; this is called the lateral line and it is 
 believed that it is in some way connected with the fish's senses, perhaps 
 with the sense of hearing. 
 
 Since fishes must push through water, which is more difhcult than 
 moving through air, thev need to have the body well protected. This 
 protection is, in most fishes, in the form of an armor of scales which are 
 smooth and allow the bodv to pass through the water with little friction. 
 These scales overlap like shingles in a roof and are all directed backward. 
 The study of the fish scale shows that it grows in layers. 
 
 In order to understand how the fish breathes we must examine its gills. 
 In front, just above the entrance to the gullet are several bony ridges 
 which bear two rows of pinkish fringes; these are the gill arches and the 
 fringes are the gills. The gills are filled with tiny bloodvessels, and as the 
 water passes over them, the impurities of the blood pass out through the 
 thin skin of the gills and the life-giving oxygen passes m. Since hsh 
 cannot make use of air unless it is dissolved in water, it is very important 
 
1^2 Handbook of Nature- Study 
 
 that the water in the aquarium jar should often be replenished. The gill 
 arches also bear a series of bony processes called gill-rakers. Their 
 function is to prevent the escape of food through the gills while it is being 
 swallowed, and they vary in size according to the food habits of the fish. 
 We note that the fish in the aquarium constantly opens and closes the 
 mouth; this action draws the water into the throat and forces it out over 
 the gills and through the gill openings; this then, is the act of breathing. 
 
 LESSON XXXVI 
 A Study of the Fish 
 
 Leading tliought — A fish lives in the water where it must breathe, move 
 and find its food. The water world is quite different from the air world 
 and the fish have developed forms, senses and habits which fit them for 
 life in the water. 
 
 Method — The goldfish is used as a subject for this lesson because it is 
 so conveniently kept where the children may see it. However, a shiner 
 or minnow would do as well. 
 
 Before the pupils begin the study, place the diagram shown on p. 150 
 on the blackboard, with all the parts labelled ; thus the pupils will be able 
 to learn the parts of the fish by consulting it, and not be compelled to 
 commit them to memory arbitrarily. It would be well to associate the 
 goldfish with a geography lesson on China. 
 
 Observatiojis — i. Where do fishes live? Do any fishes ever live any 
 part of their lives on land like the frogs? Could a salt-water fish five in 
 fresh water, or vice versa? 
 
 2. What is the shape of a fish when seen from above? Where is the 
 widest part? AVhat is its shape seen from the side? Think if you can in 
 how many ways the shape of the fish is adapted for moving swiftly through 
 the water. 
 
 3. How many fins has the fish? Make a sketch of the goldfish with 
 all its tins and name them from the diagram on the blackboard. 
 
 4. How many fins are there in all? Four of these fins. are in pairs; 
 where are they situated? What are they called? Which pair corres- 
 ponds to our arms? Which to our legs? 
 
 5. Describe the pectoral fins. How are they used? Are they kept 
 constantly moving? Do they move together or alternately? How are 
 they used when the fish swims backwards? 
 
 6. How are the ventral fins used? How do they assist the fish 
 when swimming? 
 
 7. Sketch a dorsal fin. How many spines has it? How many soft 
 rays are there in it ? What is the difference in structure between the stiff 
 spines in the front of the dorsal fin and the rays in the hind portion? Of 
 what use to the fish are these two different kinds of fin supports ? 
 
 8. Sketch the anal fin. Has it any spines in front? How many 
 rays has it? How is this fin used when the fish is swimming? 
 
 9. With what fin does the fish push itself through the water? 
 Make a sketch of the tail. Note if it is square, rounded, or notched at the 
 end. Are the rays of the tail fin spiny or soft in character? 
 
 10. Watch the goldfish swim and describe the action of all the fins 
 while it is in motion. In what position are the fins when the fish is at 
 rest? 
 
FisJi Study 
 
 153 
 
 11. What is the nature of the covering of the fish? Are the scales 
 large or small? In which direction do they seem to overlap? Of what 
 use to the fish is this scaly covering? 
 
 12. Can you see a line which extends from the upper part of the gill 
 opening, along the side to the tail? This is called the lateral line. Do 
 you think it is of any use to the fish? 
 
 13. Note carefully the eyes of the fish. Describe the i)upil and the 
 iris. Are the eyes placed so that the fish can see in all directions? Can 
 they be moved so as to see better in any direction? Does the fish wink? 
 Has it any eyelids? Do you know why fish are near-sighted? 
 
 14. Can you see the nostrils? Is there a little wartlike projection 
 connected with the nostril? Do you think fishes breathe through their 
 nostrils? 
 
 15. Describe the mouth of the fish. Does it open upward, down- 
 ward, or directly in front? What sort of teeth have fish? How does the 
 fish catch its prey? Does the lower or upper jaw move in the process of 
 eating? 
 
 16. Is the mouth kept always in motion? Do you think the fish is 
 swallowing water all the time ? Do you know why it does this ? Can you 
 see a wide opening along the sides of the head behind the gill cover? 
 Does the gill cover move with the movement of the mouth? Plow does a 
 fish breathe? 
 
 ■ 17. What are the colors of the goldfish above and below? What 
 would happen to our beautiful goldfish if they were put in a brook with 
 other fish? Why could they not hide? Do you know what happens to 
 the colors of the goldfish when they run wild in our streams and ponds? 
 
 18. Can you find in books or cyclopedias where the goldfish came 
 from? Are they gold and silver in color in the streams where they are 
 native? Do you think that they had originally the long, slender, swallow 
 tails which we see sometimes in goldfish? How have the beautiful colors 
 and graceful forms of the gold and silver fishes been developed ? 
 
 'I have my world, and so have you, 
 A tiny universe for two, 
 A bubble by the artist blown. 
 Scarcely more fragile than our own. 
 Where you have all a whale could wish, 
 Happy as Eden's primal fish. 
 Manna is dropt you thrice a day 
 From some kind heaven not far away, 
 And still yon snatch its softeni)ig crumbs. 
 Nor, more than we, tJiink whence it comes. 
 No toil seems yours but to explore 
 Your cloistered realm from shore to shore; 
 Sometimes you trace its limits round, 
 Sometimes its limpid depths you sound. 
 Or hover motionless midway. 
 Like gold-red clouds at set of day; 
 Erelong yon whirl with sudden tvhim 
 
 Off to your globe's most distant rim. 
 Where, greatencd by the watery lens, 
 Alethinks no dragon of the fens 
 Flashed hnger scales against the sky. 
 Roused by Sir Breis or Sir Guy; 
 And the one eye that meets my view, 
 Lidless and strangely largening, too. 
 Like that of conscience in the dark. 
 Seems to make me its single mark. 
 Wliat a benignant lot is yours 
 That have an oxen All-out-of-doors, 
 No words to spell, no sums to do. 
 No Nepos and no parlyvoo! 
 How happy you, without a thought 
 Of sucli cross tilings as JSlustand Ought- 
 I too the happiest of boys 
 To see and share your golden joys!" 
 
 -"The Oracle of the Goldfishes," Lowell. 
 
154 
 
 Handbook of Nattire-Stttdy 
 
 ^ 
 
 Bullhead at bottom of a pond. 
 Photo by Verne Morton. 
 
 THE BULLHEAD 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "The bull-head does usually divell and hide himself in holes or amongst stones- in 
 clear water; ami in very hot days ivill lie a long time very still and sun himself and will 
 be easy to be seen on any fiat stone or gravel; at which time he will suffer an angler to 
 put a hock baited with a small worm very near into his mouth; and he never refuses to 
 bite, nor indeed, to be caught with the worst of anglers.' 
 
 -IsAAK Waltox. 
 
 give 
 
 HEN one looks a bullhead in the face one is 
 glad that it is not a real bull for its barbels 
 
 it an appearance quite fit for the 
 making of a nightmare; and yet from 
 the standpoint of the bullhead, how 
 truly beautiful those fleshy feelers are ! 
 For without them how could it feel its 
 way about searching for food in the 
 mud where it lives? Two of these barbels stand straight up; the 
 two largest ones stand out on each side of the mouth, and two pairs of 
 short ones adorn the lower lip, the smallest pair at the middle. 
 
 As the fish moves about, it is easy to see that the large barbels at the 
 side of the mouth are of the greatest use; it keeps them m a constantly 
 advancing movement, feeling of everything it meets. The upper ones 
 stand straight up, keeping watch for whatever news there may be from 
 above- the two lower ones spread apart and follow rather than precede 
 the fish seeming to test what lies below. The upper and lower pairs seem 
 to test things as they are, while the large side pair deal with what is going 
 to be. The broad mouth seems to be formed for taking m all things eatable, 
 for the bullhead lives on almost anvthing ahve or dead that it discovers as it 
 noses about in the mud. Nevertheless, it has its notions about its food 
 for I have repeatedly seen one draw material into its mouth through its 
 breathing motion and then spew it out with a vehemence one would hardly 
 expect from such a phlegmatic fish. 
 
Fish Stiidy 
 
 155 
 
 Although it has feelers which arc very efficient, it also has perfectly 
 good eyes which it uses to excellent purpose; note how promptly it moves 
 to the other side of the aquarium when we are tryingtostudy it. Theeyes 
 are not large; the pupils are black and oval and are rimmed with a narrow 
 band of shiny pale yellow. The eyes are prominent so that when moved 
 backward and forward they gain a view of the enemy in the rear or at the 
 front while the head is motionless. It seems strange to see such a pair of 
 pale yellow, almost white eyes in such a dark body. 
 
 The general shape of the front part of the body is fiat, in fact, it is 
 decidedly polywogy; this shape is especially fitted for groping about 
 muddy bottoms. The flat effect of the body is emphasized by the gill 
 covers opening below rather than at the sides, every pulsation widening 
 the broad neck. The pectoral fins also open out on the same plane as the 
 body although they can be turned at an angle if necessary; they are thick 
 and fleshy and the sharp tips of their spines offer punishment to whom- 
 soever touches them. The dorsal fin is far forward and not large; it is 
 usuallv raised at a threatening angle. 
 
 There is a httle fleshy dorsal fin near the tail which stands in line with 
 the body and one wonders what is its special use. The ventral fins are 
 small. The anal fin is far back and rather strong, and this with the long, 
 strong tail gives the fish good motor power and it can swim very rapidly 
 if occasion requires. 
 
 The bullhead is mud-colored and has no scales; and since it lives in the 
 rriud, it does not need scales to protect it; but because of its scaleless con- 
 dition it is a constant victim of the lampreys, and it would do well, 
 ndeed, if it could develop an armor of scales against this parasite. The 
 
 Bullhead guarding his nest. 
 After Gill. 
 
I r6 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 skin is vety thick and leathery so that it is always removed before the fish 
 is cooked.^ The bullhead is the earliest fish of the spring. This is 
 probably because it burrows deep into the mud in the fall and remains 
 there all winter; when the spiring freshets come, it emerges and is hungry 
 for fresh meat. 
 
 The family life of the bullheads and other catfishes seems to be quite 
 ideal. Dr. Theodore Gill tells us that bullheads make their nests by 
 removing stones and gravel from a more or less irregularly circular area 
 in shallow water, and on sandy or gravelly ground. The nest is somewhat 
 excavated, both parents removing the pebbles by sucking them into the 
 mouth and carrying them off for some distance. After the eggs are laid, 
 the male watches over and guards the nest and seems to have great family 
 responsibiHties. He is the more active of the two in stirring and mixing 
 the young fry after they are hatched. Smith and Harron describe the 
 process thus: "With their chins on the bottom, the old fish brush the 
 comers where the fry were banked, and with the barbels all directed for- 
 ward, and flexed where they touch the bottom, thoroughly agitate the 
 mass of fry, bringing the deepest individuals to the surface. This act is 
 usually repeated several times in quick succession." 
 
 "The nests are usually made beneath logs or other protecting objects 
 and in shallow water. The paternal care is continued for many days 
 after the birth of the young. At first these may be crowded together in 
 a dense mass, but as time passes they disperse more and more and spread 
 around the father. Frequently, especially when the old one is feeding, 
 some — one or more — of the young are taken into the mouth, but they are 
 instinctively separated from the food and spit out. At last the young 
 swarm venture farther from their birthplace, or perhaps they are led 
 away by their parents." 
 
 LESSON XXXVII 
 
 The Bullhead, or Horned Pout 
 
 Leading thought — The bvillhead lives in mud bottoms of streams and 
 ponds and is particularly adapted for life in such locations. 
 
 Method — A small bullhead may be placed in a small aquarium jar. 
 At first let the water be clear and add a little pond weed so as to observe 
 the natural tendency of the fish to hide. Later add mud and gravel to the 
 aquarium and note the behavior of the fish. 
 
 Observations — i. What at the first glance distinguishes the bullhead 
 from other fish? Describe these strange "whiskers" growing about the 
 mouth; how many are there and where are they situated? Which are 
 the longest pair? Can the fish move them in any direction at will? 
 
 2. Where do we find bullheads? On what do they feed? Would 
 their eyes help them to find their food in the mud? How do they find it? 
 
 3. Explain, if you can, why the bullhead has barbels, or feelers, 
 while the trout and bass have none. 
 
 4. What is the shape of the bullhead's mouth? 
 
 5. What is the general shape of the body? What is its color? Has 
 it any scales ? 
 
 6. Why should the bullhead be so flat horizontally while the sun- 
 fish is so flat in the opposite direction? 
 
Fish Study iijy 
 
 7. Describe the bullhead's eyes. Are they large? What is their 
 color? Where are they placed? 
 
 8. Describe the dorsal fin, giving its comparative size and position. 
 Do you see another dorsal fin ? Where is this peculiar fin and hov/ does it 
 differ from the others? 
 
 9. Describe the tail fin. Does it seem long and strong? Is the 
 bullhead a good swimmer? 
 
 10. Is the anal fin large or small as compared with that of the gold- 
 fish? 
 
 11. How do the pectoral fins move as compared with those of the 
 sunfish? Why is the position of the pectoral and dorsal fins of benefit to 
 this fish ? 
 
 12. How does the bullhead inflict wounds when it is handled? Tell 
 how these spines protect it from its natural enemies. 
 
 13. When is the best season for fishing for bullheads? Does the 
 place where they are found affect the flavor of their flesh? Why? 
 
 14. What is the spawning season? Do you know about the nests 
 the bullheads build and the care they give their young? 
 
 15. Write an essay on the nest-making habits of the bullheads and 
 the care given the young by the parents. 
 
 "And what fish will the natural boy naturally take? In America, there is but one 
 fish which enters fully into the spirit of the occasion. It is a fish of many species 
 according to the part of the country, and of as many sizes as there are sizes of boys. 
 This fish is the horned pout, and all tlte rest of the species of Ameinrtis. Horned pout 
 is its Boston jiame. Bullhead is good enough for New York; and for the rest of tl:e 
 coiintry, big and little, all the fishes of this tribe are called catfish. A catfish is a jolly 
 blundering sort of a fish, a regular Falstaff of the ponds. It has a fat jowl, and a fat 
 belly, which it is always trying to fill. Smooth and sleek, its skin is almost human in its 
 delicacy. It wears a long mustache, with scattering whiskers of other sort. Mean- 
 while it ahvays goes armed with a stvord, three sivords, and these it has always on hand, 
 ahvays ready for a struggle on land as ivell as in tJie ivater. The small boy often gets 
 badly stuck on these poisoned daggers, but, as the fish knows how to set them by a mus- 
 cular twist, the small boy learns how, by a like iintwist, he may tinset and leave them 
 harmless. 
 
 The catfish lives in sluggish waters. It loves the millpond best of all, and it lias no 
 foolish dread of hooks when it goes forth to bite. Its mouth is ivide. It swalloivs the 
 hook, and very soon it is in the air, its white throat gasping in tJic ttntried element. Soon 
 it joins its felloivs on the forked stick, and even then, uncomfortable as it may find its 
 new relations, it never loses sight of the humor of the occasion. Its large head and 
 expansive forehead betoken a large mind. It is the only fish whose brain contains a 
 Sylvian fissure, a piling up of tissue consequent on the abundance of gray matter. So 
 it understands and makes no complaint. After it has dried in the sun for an hour, pour 
 a little ivater over its gills, and it will wag its tail, and squeak with gratitude. And the 
 best of all is, there are horned pouts enough to go around." 
 
 "The female horned pout lays thotisands of eggs, and when these hatch, she goes 
 about near the shore with her school of little fishes, like a hen with myriad chicks. She 
 should be respected and let alone, for on Jier sticcess in rearing this breed of "bullying 
 little rangers' depends me sport of the small boy of the future." 
 
 — David Starr Jordan, in Fish Stories. 
 
158 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Fishing for suckers. 
 Photo by Verne Morton. 
 
 THE COMMON SUCKER 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 'E who loves to peer down into the depths of still waters, often 
 sees upon the sandy, muddy or rocky bottom several 
 long, wedge-shaped sticks lying at various angles one to 
 another. But if he thrust down a real stick, behold, these 
 inert, water-logged sticks move off deftly! And then he 
 knows that they are suckers. He may drop a hook baited 
 with a worm in front of the nose of one, and if he waits 
 long enough before he pulls up he may catch this fish, not by its gills 
 but by the pit of its stomach; for it not only swallows' the hook com- 
 pletely but tries to digest it along with the worm. Its food is made up 
 of soft-bodied insects and other small water creatures; it is also a mud 
 eater and manages to make a digestive selection from the organic 
 material of silt. For this latter reason, it is not a desirable food fish 
 although its flesh varies in flavor with the locality where it is found. 
 The suckers taken along the rocky shores of Cayuga Lake are fairly 
 palatable, while those taken in the mud of the Cayuga Inlet are very in- 
 ferior in flavor and often uneatable. 
 
 Seen from above, the sucker is wedge-shaped, being widest at the eyes; 
 seen from the side it has a flat lower surface and an ungracefully rounded 
 contour above which tapers only slightly toward the tail. The profile of the 
 face gives the impression of a Roman nose. The young specimens have 
 an irregular scale-mosaic pattern of olive-green blotches on a paler ground 
 color, while the old ones are quite brown above and on the sides. The 
 suckers differ from most other fishes in having the markings of the back 
 extend down the sides almost to the belly. This is a help in concealing 
 the fish, since its sides show from above quite as distinctly as its back 
 
Fish Study 150^ 
 
 because of its peculiar form. The scales are rather large and are notice- 
 ably larger behind than in the region of the head. Like other fish it is 
 white below. 
 
 The dorsal fin is placed about midway the length of the fish as measured 
 from nose to tail. It is not large and appears to have twelve rays, but 
 there is a short spine in front and a delicate soft ray behind so that it 
 really has fourteen. The tail is long and strong and deeply notched: 
 the anal fin extends back to where the tail begins. The ventral fins are 
 small and are directly opposite the hind half of the dorsal fin. The pec- 
 torals are not large but are strong and are placed low down. The sucker 
 has not a lavish equipment of fins but its tail is strong and it can swim 
 swiftly; it is also a tremendous jumper; it will jump from the aquarium 
 more successfully than any other fish. When resting on the bottom, it is 
 supported by its extended pectoral and ventral fins, which are strong 
 although not large. 
 
 The eyes are fairly large but the iris is not shiny; they are placed so 
 that the fish can easily see above it as well as at the sides; the eyes 
 move so as to look up or down and are very well adapted to serve a fish 
 that lives upon the bottom. The nostrils are divided, the partition pro- 
 jecting until it seems a tubercle on the face. The mouth opens below and 
 looks like the puckered opening of a bag. The lips are thick but are very 
 sensitive; it is by projecting these lips, in a way that reminds one of a 
 very short elephant's trtmk, that it is enabled to reach and find its food 
 in the mud or gravel; so although the sucker's mouth is not a beautiful 
 feature, it is doubly useful. The sucker has the habit of remaining 
 motionless for long periods of time. It breathes very slowly and appears 
 sluggish; it never seizes its food with any spirit but simply slowly en- 
 gulfs it; and for this reason it is considered poor game. It is only in the 
 spring when they may be speared through the ice that there is any fun in 
 catching suckers ; it is at this season of the year that they move to shallow 
 water to spawn; those in the lakes move to the rivers, those in the rivers 
 to the creeks, those in the creeks to the brooks. Even so lowly a creature 
 as the sucker seems to respond to influences of the springtime, for at that 
 period the male has a faint rosy stripe along his sides. In the winter these 
 fish burrow in the mud of the river or pond bottoms; they may be frozen 
 and thawed without harming them. 
 
 There are many species of suckers and they vary in size from six 
 inches to three feet in length. They inhabit all sorts of waters, but they 
 do not like a strong current and are, therefore, found in still pools. The 
 common sucker (Catostomiis conimersoni) , which is the subject of this 
 esson, sometimes attains the length of twenty-two inches and the weight 
 of five pounds. The ones under observation were about eight inches 
 long, and proved to be the acrobats of the aquarium, since they were 
 likely at any moment to jump out; several times I found one languishing 
 on the floor. 
 
i6o 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON XXXVIII 
 
 The Commox Sucker 
 
 Leading thought— The sucker is especially adapted by shape for lying 
 on the bottom of ponds under still water where its food is abundant. 
 
 MetJiod — If still water pools along river or lakesides are accessible, it is 
 far more interesting to study a sucker in its native haunts, as an introduc- 
 tion to the study of its form and colors when it is in the aquarium. 
 
 Observations — i. Where do you find suckers? How do you catch 
 them? Do they take the hook quickly? What is the natural food of the 
 
 su.clcGr ? 
 
 2. What is the shape of this fish's body when seen from above? 
 From the side? What is the color above? On the sides? Below? Does 
 the sucker differ from most other fishes in the coloring along its sides? 
 What is the reason for this? What do suckers look like on the bottom 
 of the pond ? Are they easily seen ? 
 
 3. Describe or sketch a sucker, showing the position, size and shape 
 of the fins and tail. Are its scales large or small? How does it use its 
 fins when at rest? When moving? Is it a strong swimmer? Is it a high 
 
 jumper? 
 
 4. Describe the eyes; how are they especially adapted in position 
 and in movement to the needs of a fish that lives on the bottom of streams 
 and ponds? 
 
 5. Note the nostrils; what is there peculiar about them? 
 
 6. Where is the mouth of the sucker situated? What is its form ? 
 How is it adapted to get the food which the sucker likes best? 
 
 7. Tell all you know about the habits of the suckers. When do you 
 see them first in the spring? Where do they spend the winter? Where 
 do they go to spawn? How large is the largest one you have ever seen? 
 Why is their flesh usually considered poor in quality as food ? Is there a 
 difference in the flavor of its flesh depending upon the locality in which 
 the fish lives? Why? 
 
 ^^i^^K 
 
 The common sucker. 
 
Fisli Study 
 
 i6i 
 
 "I'm only wishing to go a fishing." 
 
 THE SHINER 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "This is a noteworthy and characteristic lineament, or cipher, or hieroglyphic, or 
 type of spring. Y'on look into sonic clear, sandy bottomed brook where it spreads into a 
 deeper bay, yet floiving cold from ice ajid snow not far off, and see indistinctly poised 
 over the sand on invisible fins, the oitt lines of the shiner, scarcely to be distinguished 
 from the sa)ids behind it as if it were transparent." — Thoreau. 
 
 HERE are many species of shiners and it is by no means 
 easy to recognize them nor to distinguish them from 
 chub, dace and minnows since all these belong to one 
 family; they all have the same arrangement of fins and 
 live in the same water; and the plan of this lesson can 
 with few changes be applied to any of them. 
 
 Never were seen more exquisite colors than shim mer 
 along the sides of the common shiner {Notropis cor- 
 nutus). It is pale olive-green above, just a sunny brook-color, this is 
 bordered at the sides by a line of iridescent blue-purple, while the shining 
 silver scales on the sides below, flash and glimmer with the changing hues 
 of the rainbow. The minnows are darker than the shiners; the horned 
 dace develops little tubercles on the head during the breeding season, 
 which are lost later. 
 
 The body of the shiner is ideal for slipping through the water. Seen 
 from above it is a narrow wedge, rounded in front and tapering to a point 
 behind; from the side, it is long, oval, lance-shaped. The scales are large 
 
l62 
 
 Hajuibook of Nature Sttidy 
 
 and beautiful, the lateral line looks like a series of dots embroidered at the 
 center of the diamond-shaped scales. 
 
 The dorsal fin is placed just back of the center of the body and is not 
 very large; it is composed of soft rays, the first two being stiff and un- 
 branched. The tail is long, large, graceful and deeply notched. The 
 anal fin is almost as large as the dorsal. The ventral pair is placed on 
 the lower side, opposite the dorsal fin ; the pectorals are set at the lower 
 margin of the body, just behind the gill openings. The shiner and its 
 relatives use the pectoral fins to aid in swimming, and keep them constantly 
 in motion when moving through the water. The ventrals are moved only 
 now and then and evidently help in keeping the balance. When the fish 
 moves rapidly forward, the dorsal fin is raised so that its front edge stands 
 at right angles to the body and the ventral and anal fins are expanded to 
 their fullest extent. But when the fish is lounging, the dorsal, anal and 
 ventral fins are more or less closed, although the tip of the dorsal fin swings 
 with every movement of the fish. 
 
 The eyes are large, the pupils being very large and black; the iris is 
 pale yellow and shining; the whole eye is capable of much movement 
 forward and back. The nostril is divided by a little projecting partition 
 which looks like a tubercle. The mouth is at the front of the head; to 
 see the capabilities of this mouth, watch the shiner yawn, if the water of 
 the aquarium becomes stale. Poor fellow! He yawns just as we do in 
 the effort to get more oxygen. 
 
 The shiners are essentially brook fish although they may be found in 
 larger bodies of water. They lead a precarious existence, for the larger 
 fish eat them in all their stages. They only hold their own by laying 
 countless numbers of eggs. They feed on water insects and get even with 
 their big fish enemies by eating their eggs. They are pretty and graceful 
 little creatures and may be seen swimming up the current in the middle of 
 the brook. They often occur in schools or flocks, especially when young. 
 
 iilii 
 
 WMwffi 
 
 kin:r-i-i'l-'-'-i-fTo: 
 
 ,yy' 
 
 The coniiiwn shiner. 
 
Fish Study 163 
 
 LESSON XXXIX 
 The Shiner 
 
 Leading tJiought — The shiners are among the most common of the Httle 
 fish in our small streams. They are beautiful in form and play an 
 important part in the life of our streams. 
 
 Method — Place in the aquarium shiners and as many as possible of the 
 other species of small fish found in our creeks and brooks. The aquarium 
 should stand where the pupil may see it often. The following questions 
 may be asked, giving the children plenty of time for the work of observa- 
 tion : 
 
 Observations — i. Do you know how the shiner differs in appearance 
 from the minnow and chub and dace ? 
 
 2. What is the shape of the shiner's body when seen from above? 
 "When seen from the side? Do you think that its shape fits it for moving 
 rapidly through the water? 
 
 3. What is the coloring above? On the sides? Below? 
 
 4. Are the scales large and distinct, or very small? Can you see the 
 lateral line? Where are the tiny holes, which make this line, placed in the 
 scales ? 
 
 5. Describe or sketch the fish, showing position, relative size and 
 shape of all the fins and the tail. 
 
 6. Describe the use and movements of each of the fins when the fish 
 is swimming. 
 
 7. Describe the eyes. Do they move? 
 
 8. Describe the nostrils. Do you think each one is double? 
 
 9. Does the mouth open upwards, downwards or forwards? Have 
 you ever seen the shiner yawn ? Why does it yawn ? Why do you yawn ? 
 
 10. Where do you find the shiners living? Do they haunt the 
 middle of the strearn or the edges? Do you ever see them in flocksor 
 schools ? 
 
 MIXXOWS 
 
 How silent comes the water round that bend; 
 
 Not the minutest whisper does it send 
 
 To the o'er hanging sallows; blades of grass 
 
 Slowly across Uie cliequer'd shadows pass. 
 
 Why, you might read two sonnets, ere they reach 
 
 To ivhere the hurrying freshnesses aye preach 
 
 A natural sermon o'er their pebbly beds; 
 
 Wliere swarms of minnows shoiu their little heads. 
 
 Staying their wavy bodies 'gainst the streams, 
 
 To taste the luxury of sunny beams 
 
 Tempered with coolness. How they ever wrestle 
 
 With tlieir own sweet delight, and ever nestle 
 
 Their silver bellies on the pebbly sand! 
 
 If you but scantily hold out the hand, 
 
 That very instant not one will remain: 
 
 But turn your eye, and there they are again. 
 
 The ripples seem right glad to reach those cresses. 
 
 And cool themselves among the em'rald tresses; 
 
 Th'7 while they cool themselves, they freshness gjve. 
 
 And moisture, that tite bowery green may live. 
 
 — JoHW Keats. 
 
164 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 A speckled trout on a orook bottom. 
 Photo by Vfrne Morton. 
 
 THE BROOK TROUT 
 
 Teaclier's Story 
 
 "Up and down the brook I ran, ivhcre beneath the banks so steep, 
 Lie the spotted trout asleep." — Whittier. 
 
 UT they were probably not asleep as Mr. Whittier might 
 have observed if he had cast a fly near one of them. 
 There is in the very haunts of the trout, a suggestion of 
 where it gets its vigor and wariness: The cold, clear 
 streams where the water is pure, brooks that wind in 
 and out over rocky and pebbly beds, here shaded 
 by trees and there dashing through the open, — it makes 
 us feel vigorous even to think of such streams. Under the overhanging 
 bank or in the shade of some fallen log or shelving rock, the brook trout 
 hides where he may see all that goes on in the world above and around 
 him without being himself seen. Woe to the unfortunate insect that falls 
 upon the surface of the water in his vicinity or even that flies low over the 
 surface for the trout will jump easily far out of the water to seize its prey ! 
 It is this habit of taking the insect upon and above the water's surface 
 which has made trout fly-fishing the sport that it is. Man's ingenuity is 
 fairly matched against the trout's cunning in this contest. I know of one 
 old trout that has kept fishermen in the region around on the qui vive for 
 years; and up to date he is still alive, making a dash now and then at a 
 tempting bait, showing himself enough to tantalize his would-be captors 
 with his splendid size, but always retiring at the sight of the line. 
 
 The brook trout varies much in color, depending upon the soil and the 
 rocks of the streams in which it lives. Its back is marbled with dark 
 olive or black, making it just the color of shaded water. This marbled 
 coloration also marks the dorsal and the tail fins. The sides, which vary 
 much in color, are marked with beautiful vermilion spots, each placed in 
 the center of a larger, brownish spot. In some instances the lower surface 
 
Fish Study 
 
 i6s 
 
 is reddish, in others whitish. All the fin? on the lower side of the body 
 have the Iront edges creamy or yellowish white, with a darker streak 
 behind. 
 
 The trout's head is quite large and somewhat blunt The large eye is 
 a little in front of the middle of the head. The dorsal fm is at about the 
 middle of the body, and when raised is squarish in outline. Behind the 
 dorsal fin, and near to the tail is the little, fleshy adipose fin, so called 
 because it has no rays The tail is fan-shaped, slightly notched at the end 
 and is large and strong. The anal fin is rather large, being shaped much 
 like the dorsal fin, only slightly smaller. The ventral fins are directly 
 below the dorsal fin and a little behind its middle. The pectorak are 
 low down, being below and just behind the gill arches. 
 
 Where the trout htde. 
 
 In size the brook trout seldom is longer than "^even or eight inches, but 
 in the rivers of the Northeastern United States specimens weighing from 
 six to eleven pounds are sometimes taken. It does not flourish in water 
 which is warmer than 68°, but prefers a temperature of about 50°. It 
 must have the pure water of mountain streams and cannot endure water 
 of rivers which is polluted by mills or the refuse of cities. Where it has 
 access to streams that flow into the ocean, it torms the salt water habit, 
 going out to sea and remaining there durmg the winter. Such specimens 
 become very large. 
 
 The trout can lay eggs when about six inches in length. The eggs are 
 laid from. September until late November, although, as Mr. Bream says, 
 the brook trout are spawned at some locality in almost every month of the 
 year except mid-summer One mother trout lays from 400 to 600 eggs, 
 but the large-sized ones Jay more. The period of hatching depends upon 
 the temperature of the water In depositing their eggs the trout seek 
 wat&r with gravelly bottom, often where some mountain brook opens into 
 
1 66 Handbook of Nature -Study 
 
 a larger stream. The nest is shaped by the tail of the fish, the larger 
 stones being carried away in the mouth. To make the precious eggs 
 secure they are covered with gravel. 
 
 There have been strict laws enacted by almost all of our states with 
 a view to protecting the brook trout and preserving it in our streams 
 The open season in New York is from the 15th of April to the ist of Sep- 
 tember, and it is illegal to take from a stream a fish that is less than five 
 inches in length. It is the duty of every decent citizen to abide by these 
 laws and to see to it that his neighbors observe them. The teacher cannot 
 emphasize enough upon the child the moral value of being law-abiding. 
 There should be in every school in the Union children's clubs which should 
 have for their purpose civic honesty and the enforcement of laws which 
 affect the city, village or township. 
 
 Almost any stream with suitable water may be stocked with trout from 
 the national or the state hatcheries, but what is the use of this expense if 
 the game laws are not observed and these fish are caught before they reach 
 maturity, as is so often the case? 
 
 References — American Food and Game Fishes. Jordan & Everman; 
 Guide to American Fishes, Jordan. 
 
 LESSON XL 
 The Brook Trout 
 
 Leading thougJit — The brook trout have been exterminated in our 
 streams largely because the game laws have not been observed. The 
 trout is the most cunning and beautiful of our common fishes and the most 
 valuable for food. If properly guarded, every pure mountain stream in 
 our country, could be well stocked with the brook trout. 
 
 Method — A trout may be kept in an aquarium of flowing water in- 
 definitely and should be fed upon liver and hard clams chopped. If there 
 is no aquarium with running water, the trout may be kept in an ordinary 
 jar long enough for this lesson. The object of this lesson should be not 
 only the study of the habits of the fish, but also a lesson in its preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 Observations — i. In what streams are the brook trout found? 
 Must the water be warm or cold? Can tlie trout live in impure water? 
 Can it live in salt water? 
 
 2. Do the trout swim about in schools or do they live solitary? 
 Where do they like to hide? 
 
 3. With what kind of bait is trout caught? Why does it afford 
 such excellent sport for fly-fishing? Can you tell what the food of the 
 trout is .'' 
 
 4. What is the color of the trout above? What colors along its 
 sides? What markings make the fish so beautiful? What is its color 
 below ? Has the trout scales ? Do you see the lateral line ? 
 
 5. What is the general shape of the brook trout? Describe the 
 shape, position and color of the dorsal fin. Describe the little fin behind 
 the dorsal. Why is it unlike the other fins? What is the shape of the 
 tail fin? Is it rounded, square or crescent-shaped across the end? What 
 is the position and size of the anal fin compared with the dorsal? What 
 colors on the ventral fins and where are they placed in relation to the 
 
Fish Study 167 
 
 dorsal fin? What color are the pectoral fins and how are they placed in 
 relation to the gill arches? 
 
 6. Describe the trout's eyes. Are they large and alert? Do you 
 think the trout is keen-sighted? 
 
 7. When and where are the eggs laid? Describe how the nest is 
 made. How are the eggs covered and protected ? 
 
 8. Why are there no trout in the streams of your neighborhood? 
 Could a trout live in these streams? Can you get state aid in stocking the 
 streams? 
 
 9. What are the game laws concerning trout fishing? When is the 
 open season? How long must the trout be to be taken legally? If you 
 are a good citizen what do you do about the game laws? 
 
 10. Write a story telling all you know about the wariness, cunning 
 and strength of the brook trout. 
 
 Supplementary reading — The following from Fish Stories by Holder 
 and Jordan: "The Trout of Los Latirelles," "The Golden Trout of the 
 High Sierras;" "The Lure of the Rainbow." "The Story of the Salmon" in 
 Science Sketches, " The Master of the Golden Pool" in Watchers of the 
 Trails, The Story of the Fishes, Baskett, Neighbors with Wings and 
 Fins, Johonnet. 
 
 TROUT 
 
 "It is well for anglers not to make trout, of all fishes, the prime objective of a day's 
 sport, as no more uncertain game loves the sunlight. Today he is yours for the very 
 asking, tomorrow, the most luscious lure will not tempt him. One hour he defies you, 
 the next, gazes at you from some ensconcement of the fishes, and knows you not, as yon 
 pass him, casting, by. 
 
 I believe I accumulated some of this angling wisdom years ago, in a certain trout 
 domain in New England, where there were streams and pools, ripples, cascades and 
 drooping trees, where everything was fair and promising to the eyes for trout; but it 
 required superhuman patience to lure them, and many a day I scored a blank Y'ct on 
 these very days when lures ^vere unavailing, the creel empty save for fern leaves, I found 
 they were not for naught, that the real fishing day ivas a composite of the weather, the 
 wind, even if it was from the east, the splendid colors of forest trees, the blue tourinaiine 
 of the sky that topped the stream amid the trees, the flecks of cloud mirrored on the sur- 
 face. The delight of anticipation, the casting, the play of the rod, the exercise of skill, the 
 quick turns in the steam opening up new mstas, tJie little openings in the forest, through 
 which were seen distant nieadoivs and nodding flowers — all these went to make up the real 
 trout fishing, the actual catch being but an incident among many delights. 
 
 Just how long one could be content with mere scenery in lieu of trout, I am not pre- 
 pared to say, if pushed to the wall, I confess that when fishing I prefer trout to scenic 
 effects. Still, it is a very impracticable and delightful sentiment with some truth to it, 
 the moral being that the angler should be resourceful, and not be entirely cast down on the 
 days when the wind is in the east 
 
 I am aware that this method of angling is not in vogue with some, and would he 
 deemed fanciful, indeed inane, by many more; yet it is based upon a true and homely 
 philosophy, not of today, the philosophy of patience and contentment. "How poor are 
 they that have not patience," said Othello. It is ivell to be content ivith things as we f.nd 
 them, and it is well to go a-fishing, not to catch fish alone, but roery offering the day lias 
 to give This should be an easy matter for the angler, as Walton tells us that A ngling is 
 somewhat like poetry, men are to be born so 
 
 — Fish Stories, Jordan and Holder. 
 
16& 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Stttdy 
 
 Stickleback guarding his nest. 
 Drawn from nature. 
 
 THE STICKLEBACK 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 THIS is certainly the most sagacious of the 
 Lilliputian vertebrates; scarcely more 
 than an inch in length when full-grown, it 
 gazes at you with large, keen, shining- 
 rimmed eyes, takes your measure and 
 darts off with a flirt of the tail that says 
 plainly, "Catch me if you can." The 
 sticklebacks are delightful aquarium pets 
 because their natural home is in still 
 water sufflcientl}^ stagnant for algse to 
 grow luxuriously; thus we but seldom 
 need to change the water in the aquari- 
 um, which, however, should be well 
 stocked with water plants and have gravel 
 at the bottom. 
 
 When the stickleback is not resting he 
 is always going somewhere and he 
 knows just where he is going and what he 
 is going to do, and earthquakes shall not 
 deter him. He is the most dynamic 
 creature in all creation, I think, except perhaps the dragon fly, and 
 he is so ferocious that if he were as large as a shark he would destroy all 
 other fishes. Place an earthworm, cut into small sections, in the aquari- 
 um and while each section is wriggingly considering whether it may be 
 able to grow both ends into another worm , the stickleback takes hold 
 with a will and settles the matter in the negative. His ferocity is 
 frightful to behold as he seizes his prey and shakes it as a terrier does a rat. 
 Well is this fish named stickleback, for along the ridge of its back are 
 sharp, strong spines— five of them in our tiny, brook species. These 
 spines may be laid back flat or they may be erected stiffly, making an 
 efficient saw which does great damage to fish many times larger than the 
 stickleback. When we find the minnows in the aquarium losing their 
 scales we may be sure they are being raked off by this saw-back ; and if 
 the shiner or sunfish undertakes to make a stickleback meal, there is 
 only one way to do it, and that is to catch the quarry by the tail, since he is 
 too alert to be caught in any other way. But swallowing a stickleback 
 tail first is a dangerous performance, for the sharp spines rip open the 
 throat or stomach of the captor. Dr. Jordan says that the sticklebacks 
 of the Puget Sound region are called "salmon killers" and that they well 
 earn the name; these fierce midgets unhesitatingly attack the salmon, 
 biting off pieces of their fins and also destroying their spawn. 
 
 As seen from the side, the stickleback is slender and graceful, pointed 
 like an arrow at the front end, and with the body behind the dorsal fin 
 forming a long and slender pedicel to support the beautifully rounded tail 
 fin. The dorsal fin is placed well back and is triangular in shape; the 
 anal fin makes a similar triangle opposite it below and has a sharp spine 
 at its front edge. The color of the body varies with the light; when 
 floating among the water weed the back is greenish mottled with paler 
 green, but when the fish is down on the gravel it is much darker. The 
 lateral line is marked by a rather broad silver stripe. 
 
Fisli Sliidy 169 
 
 If large eyes count for beauty, then the stickleback deserves "the 
 apple," for its eyes are not only large but gemlike, with a broad iris of 
 golden brown around the black pupil. I am convinced that the stickle- 
 back has a keener vision than most fish; it can move its eyes backward 
 and forward rapidly and alertly. The mouth opens almost upward and 
 is a wicked little mouth, both in appearance and action. 
 
 When swimming, the stickleback darts about rapidly, its dorsal and 
 anal fins extended, its spines all abristle, its tail lashing the water with 
 strong strokes and the pectorals flying so fast that they make a blur; the 
 ventral fins are rarely extended, in fact they are nothing but two little 
 spines. When the fish wishes to lift itself through the water it seems to 
 depend entirely upon its pectoral fins and these are also used for balanc- 
 ing. Its favorite position is hanging motionless among the pond weeds, 
 with the tail, the dorsal and ventral fins partially closed; it usually rests 
 upon the pectoral fins which are braced against some stem ; in one case I 
 saw the ventrals and pectorals used together to clasp a stem and hold the 
 fish in place. In moving backward the pectorals do the work, with a 
 little beckoning motion of the tail occasionally. When resting upon the 
 bottom of the aquarium, it closes its fins and makes itself quite incon- 
 spicuous. It can dig with much power accomplishing this by a comical 
 augerlike motion; it plunges head first into the gravel and then by 
 twisting the body and tail around and around, it soon forms a hiding 
 place. 
 
 But it is as a house builder and father and home protector that the 
 stickleback shines. In the early spring he builds him a nest made from 
 the fine green algae called frog-spittle. This would seem a too delicate 
 material for the house construction, but he is a clever builder. He fastens 
 his filmy walls to some stems of reed or grass, using as a platform 
 a supporting stem; the ones which I have especially studied were fastened 
 to grass stems. The stickleback has a little cement plant of his own, sup- 
 posed to be situated in the kidneys, which at this time of year secrete the 
 glue for building purposes. The glue is waterproof. It is spun out in 
 fine threads or in filmy masses through an opening near the anal fin. 
 One species weights his platform with sand which he scoops up from the 
 bottom, but I cannot detect that our brook stickleback does this. In his 
 case, home is his sphere literally, for he builds a spherical house about the 
 size of a glass marble, three-c^uarters of an inch in diameter; it is a hollow 
 sphere and he cements the inside walls so as to hold them back and give 
 room, and he finishes his pretty structure with a circular door at the side. 
 When finished, the nest is like a bubble, made of threads of down and yet 
 it holds together strongly. 
 
 In the case of the best known species, the male, as soon as he has 
 finished his bower to his satisfaction, goes a- wooing; he selects some lady 
 stickleback, and in his own way tells her of the beautiful nest he has made 
 and convinces her of his ability to take care of a family. He certainly has 
 fetching ways for he soon conducts her to his home. She enters the nest 
 through the little circular door, lays her eggs within it, and then being a 
 flighty creature, she sheds responsibilities and flits off care free. He 
 follows her into the nest, scatters the fertilizing milt over the eggs and 
 then starts off again and rolls his golden eyes on some other lady stickle- 
 back and invites her also to his home; she comes without any jealousy 
 because she was not first choice, and she also enters the nest and lays her 
 
170 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Stvidy 
 
 eggs and then swims off unconcernedly. Again he enters the nest and 
 drops more milt upon the eggs and then fares forth again, a still energetic 
 wooer. If there was ever a justified polygamist, he is one, since it is only 
 the cares and responsibihties of the home that he desires. He only stops 
 wooing when his nest holds as many eggs as he feels equal to caring for. 
 He now stands on guard by the door, and with his winnowing pectoral 
 fins, sets up a current of water over the eggs; he drives off all intruders 
 with the most vicious attacks, and keeps off many an enemy simply by 
 a display of reckless fury; thus he stands guard until the eggs hatch and 
 the tiny little sticklebacks come out of the nest and float off, attaching 
 themselves by their mouths to the pond weeds until they become strong 
 enough to scurry around in the water. 
 
 Some species arrange two 
 doors in this spherical nest 
 so that a current of water 
 can flow through and over 
 the eggs. Mr. Eugene Bark- 
 er, who has made a special 
 study of the little five- 
 spined sticklebacks of the 
 Cayuga Basin, has failed to 
 find more than one door to 
 their nests. Mr. Barker 
 made a most interesting ob- 
 servation on this stickle- 
 back's obsession for father- 
 hood. He placed in the 
 aquarium two nests, one of 
 which was guarded by its 
 loyal builder, which allowed 
 himself to be caught rather 
 than desert his post; the 
 little guardian soon dis- 
 covered the unprotected nest and began to move the eggs from it to 
 his own, carrying them carefully in his mouth. This addition made his 
 own nest so full that the eggs persistently crowded out of the door, and 
 he spent much of his time nudging them back with his snout. We saw 
 this stickleback fill his mouth with algas from the bottom of the 
 aquarium, and holding himself steady a short distance away, apparent- 
 ly blow the algae at the nest from a distance of half an inch, and we 
 wondered if this was his method of laying on his building materials 
 before he cemented them. 
 
 The eggs of this species are white and shining like minute pearls, and 
 seem to be fastened together in small packages with gelatinous m.atter. 
 The mating habits of this species have not been thoroughly studied ; there- 
 fore, here is an opportunity for investigation on the part of the boys and 
 girls. 
 
 The five-spined stickleback and his nest. 
 Photo by Eugene Barker. 
 
FisJi Stiddy 171 
 
 LESSON XLI 
 
 The Stickleback 
 
 Leading thought — The stickleback is the smallest of our common fish. 
 It lives in stagnant water. The father stickleback builds his pretty nest 
 of frog-spittle which he watches very carefully. 
 
 Method — To find sticklebacks go to a pond of stagnant water which 
 does not dry up during the year. If it is partly shaded by bushes so much 
 the better. Take a dip net and dip deeply ; carefully examine all the little 
 fish in the net by putting them in a Mason jar of water so that you can see 
 what they are like. The stickleback is easily distinguished by the five 
 spines along its back. If you collect these fish as early as the first of May 
 and place several of them in the aquarium with plenty of the algae known 
 as frog-spittle and other water plants they may perhaps build a nest for 
 you. They may be fed upon bits of meat or liver chopped very fine or 
 upon earthworms cut into small sections. 
 
 Observations — i. How did the stickleback get its name? How 
 many spines has it? AVhere are they situated? Are they always carried 
 erect? How are these spines used as weapons? How do they act as a 
 means of safety to the stickleback? 
 
 2. Describe or make a sketch showing the shape and position of the 
 dorsal, the anal, the ventral and the pectoral fins. What is the shape of 
 the tail? What is the general shape of the fish? 
 
 3. What is the color of the sticklebacks? Is the color always the 
 same? What is the color and position of the lateral line? 
 
 4. Describe the eyes. Are they large or small? Can they be 
 moved? Do you think they can see far? 
 
 5. Describe the mouth. Does it open upward, straight ahead or 
 downward ? 
 
 6. When the stickleback is swimming what are the positions and 
 motions of the dorsal, anal, tail and pectoral fins? Can you see the 
 ventral pair? Are they extended when the fish is swimming? 
 
 7. When resting among the pond weed of the aquarium what fins 
 does the stickleback use for keeping afloat? How are the other fins held? 
 What fins does it use to move backward? Which ones are used when it 
 lifts itself from the bottom to the top of the aquarium ? How are its fins 
 placed when it is at rest on the bottom? 
 
 8. Drop a piece of earthworm or some liver or fresh meat cut finely 
 into the aquarium and describe the action of the sticklebacks as they eat 
 it. How large is a full-groum stickleback? 
 
 9. In what kind of ponds do we find sticklebacks? Do 3^ou know 
 how the stickleback nest looks? Of what is it built? How is it sup- 
 ported? Is there one door or two? Does the father or mother stickle- 
 back build the nest? Are the young in the nest cared for? At what 
 time is the nest built? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Fish-stories, Chap. XXXVI, Jordan and 
 Holder. 
 
172 
 
 Handbook of N aiurc -Study 
 
 The sunfish likes quiet waters for nesting. 
 
 THE SUNFISH 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HIS little disc of gay color has won many popular names. 
 It is called pumpkin seed, tobacco box and sunfish 
 because of its shape, and it is also called bream and 
 pond fish I have always wondered that it was not 
 called chieftain also, for when it raises its dorsal fin 
 with its saw crest of spines, it looks like the head-dress 
 of an Indian chief; and surely no warrior ever had a 
 greater enjoyment in a battle than does this indom- 
 itable little fish. 
 
 The sunfish lives in the eddies of our clear brooks and ponds. It is a 
 near relative to the rock bass and also of the black bass and it has, accord- 
 ing to its size, just as gamey qualities as the latter. I once had a sunfish 
 on my line which made me think I had caught a bass and I do not know 
 whether I or the mad little pumpkin seed was the most disgusted when I 
 discovered the truth. I threw him back in the water but his fighting 
 spirit was up, and he grabbed my hook again within five minutes, which 
 showed that he had more courage than wisdom ; it would have served him 
 right if I had fried him in a pan, but I never could make up my mind to 
 kill a fish for the sake of one mouthful of food. 
 
 Perhaps of all its names,, "pumpkin seed" is the most graphic, for it 
 resembles this seed in the outlines of its body when seen from the side. 
 Looked at from above, it has the shape of a powerful craft with smooth. 
 
Fish Study 
 
 173 
 
 rounded nose and gently swelling and tapering sides; it is widest at the 
 eyes and this is a canny arrangement, for these great eyes turn alertly in 
 every direction; and thus placed they are able to discern the enemy or 
 the dinner coming from any quarter. 
 
 The dorsal fin is a most militant looking organ. It consists of ten 
 Spines, the hind one closely joined to the hind dorsal fin, which is sup- 
 ported by the soft rays. The three front spines rise successively, one 
 above another and all are imited by the membrane, the upper edge of 
 which is deeply toothed. The hind dorsal fin is gracefully rounded and 
 the front and hind fin wo^k independently of each other, the latter often 
 winnowing the water when the former is laid flat. The tail is strong and 
 has a notch in the end ; the anal fin has three spines on its front edge and 
 
 m^^ 
 
 , C-a 
 
 m?M 
 
 
 Pf 
 
 ?fe^ 
 
 mrm 
 
 mj 
 
 
 
 The pumpkin seed, the most com-m-on siinfish. 
 
 ten soft rays. Each ventral fin also has a spine at the front edge and is 
 placed below and slightly behind the pectorals. The pectoral fins, I have 
 often thought, were the most exquisite and gauzelike in texture of any 
 fins I have ever seen; they are kept almost constantly in motion and 
 move in such graceful flowing undulations that it is a joy to look at them. 
 The eye of the sunfish is very large and quite prominent; the large 
 black pupil is surrounded by an iris that has shining lavender and bronze 
 in it, but is more or less clouded above; the young ones have a pale silver 
 iris. The eyes move in every direction and are eager and alert in their 
 expression. The mouth is at the front of the body but it opens upward. 
 The gill opening is prolonged backward at the upper comer, making an 
 earlike flap; this, of course, has nothing to do with the fish's ears, but it is 
 highly ornamental as it is greenish-black in color, bordered by iridescent, 
 pale green, with a brilliant orange spot on its hind edge. The colors of 
 the sunfish are too varied for description and too beautiful to reduce to 
 mere words. There are dark, dull, greenish or purplish cross-bands 
 worked out in patterns of scale-mosaic, and between them are bands of 
 pale iridescent-green, set with black-edged orange spots. But just as we 
 
W4 
 
 Hajidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 have described his colors our sunfish darts off arxd aJl sortr. of shimmering, 
 shining blue, green and purple tmts play over his body and he settles down 
 into another comer of the aquarium and his colors seem much paler and 
 we have to describe him over again. The body below is brassy-yellow. 
 
 The beautiful colors which the male '^unfish dons m spnng, he puts at 
 once to practical use. Professor Reighard says ihat when courting and 
 crying to persuade his chosen one to come to his nest and there deposit 
 her eggs, he faces her, with his gill covers puffed out, the scarlet or orange 
 spot on the ear- flap standing out bravely, and his black ventral fins spread 
 v/ide to show off Lheir patent-leather finish. Thus, does he display him- 
 self before her and persuade her, but he is rarely allowed to do this in 
 peace. Other males as brilliant as he arrive on the scene and he must 
 forsooth stop parading before his lady love in order to fight his rival, and 
 
 Male of the sunfish guarding his nat. 
 After GUI 
 
 he fights with as murh display of color as ho courts. But in the sunfish 
 duel the participants do not seek to destroy each other but to mutilate 
 spitefully each other's fins. The vanquished one with his fins all torn retires 
 from the field. Professor Gill says . "Meanwhile the male has selected a 
 spot in very shallow water near the shore, and generally in a mass of 
 aquatic vegetation not too large or close together to entirely exclude the 
 light and heat of the sun. and mostly under an over-hanging plant. The 
 choice 15 apt to be in some general strip of shallow water close by the shore 
 which is favored by many others so that a number of similar nests may 
 be found close together, although never encroaching on each other. 
 Each fish slightly excavates and makes a saucer-like basin in the chosen 
 area which is carefully cleared of all pebbles. Such are removed by 
 violent jerks of the caudal fin or are taken up by the mouth and carried to 
 the circular boundary of the nest. An area of fine, clean sand or gravel is 
 generally the result, but not infrequently, according to Dr. Reighard, the 
 
Fish Study 175 
 
 nest bottom is composed of the rootlets of water plants. The nest has 
 a diameter of about twice the length of the fish." 
 
 On the nest thus fonncd, the sunfish belle is invited to deposit her 
 eggs, which as soon as laid fall to the bottom and become attached 
 to the gravel at the bottom of the nest by the viscid substance 
 which surrounds them. Her duty is then done and she departs, 
 leaving the master in charge of his home and the eggs. If truth be told, 
 he is not a strict monogamist. Professor Reighard noticed one of these 
 males which reared in one nest two broods laid at quite different 
 times by two females. For about a week, depending ujjon the tem- 
 perature, the male is absorbed in his care of the eggs and defends his nest 
 with much ferocity, but after the eggs have hatched he considers his duty 
 done and lets his progeny take care of themselves as best they may. 
 
 Sunfish are easily taken care of in an aquarium, but each should be 
 kept by himself as they are likely to attack any smaller fish and are most 
 uncomfortable neighbors. I have kept one of these beautiful, shimmer- 
 ing pumpkin seeds for nearly a year, by feeding him every alternate day 
 with an earthwonn; these unfortunate creatures are kept stored in damp 
 soil in an iron kettle during the winter. When I threw one of them into 
 the aquarium he would seize it and shake it as a terrier shakes a rat ; but 
 this was perhaps to make sure of his hold. Once he attempted to take the 
 second worm directly after the first; but it was a doubtful proceeding, 
 and the worm reappeared as often as a prima donna, waving each time a 
 frenzied farewell to the world. 
 
 LESSON XLI 
 The Sunfish 
 
 Leading thought — The pumpkin seeds are very gamey little fishes 
 which seize the hook with much fierceness. They live in the still waters 
 of our streams or in ponas and build nests in the spring, in which the eggs 
 are laid and which they defend valiantly. 
 
 Method — The common pumpkin seed in the jar aquarium is all that is 
 necessary for this lesson. However, it will add much to the interest of 
 the lesson if the boys who have fished for pumpkin seeds will tell of their 
 experiences. The children should be stimulated by this lesson to a keen 
 interest in the nesting habits of the sunfishes. 
 
 Observations — i. Where are the sunfish found? How do they act 
 when they take the hook ? 
 
 2. What is the general shape of the sunfish's body as seen from 
 above? As seen from the side? Why is it called pumpkin seed? 
 
 3. Describe the dorsal fin. How many spines has it? How many 
 soft rays? What is the difierence in appearance between the front and 
 hind dorsal fin? Do the two act together or separately? Describe the 
 tail fin. Describe the anal fin. Has it any spines ? If so, where are they ? 
 Where are the ventral fins in relation to the pectorals? What is there 
 peculiar about the appearance and movements of the pectoral fins? 
 
 4. Describe the eye of the sunfish. Is it large or small? Is it 
 placed so that the fish can see on each side? Does the eye move in all 
 directions? 
 
 5. Describe the position of the mouth. In which direction does it 
 open? 
 
176 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 6. What is the color of the upper portion of the gill opening or 
 operculum? What is the general color of the sunfish? Above? Below? 
 Along the sides? What markings do you see? 
 
 7. Where does the sunfish make its nest? Does the father or 
 mother sunfish make the nest? Do one or both protect it? Describe the 
 nest. 
 
 8. How many names do you know for the sunfish? Describe the 
 actions of your sunfish in the aquarium. How does he act when eating 
 an earthworm? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Chapters XXX, XXXVI, in Fish Stories, 
 Jordan and Holder. 
 
 "The lamprey is not a fish at all, only a wicked imitation of one which can deceive 
 nobody. But there are fishes which are unquestionably fish — fish from gills to tail, from 
 head to fin, and of these the little sunfish may stand first. He comes up the brook in the 
 spring, fresh as "coin just from the mint," finny arms and legs wide spread, his gills 
 moving, his mouth opening and shutting rhythmically, liis tail wide spread, and ready 
 for any sudden -inotion for which his erratic little brain may give the order. The scales 
 of the sunfish shine with all sorts of scarlet, blue, green and pur pie and golden colors. 
 There is a black spot on his head which looks like an ear, and sometimes grows out in a 
 long black flap, which makes the imitation still closer. There are many species of the 
 sunfish, and there may be Jialf a dozen of them in the same brook, but that makes no 
 difference; for our purposes they are all one. 
 
 They lie poised in the water, with all fins spread, strutting like turkey-cocks, snap- 
 ping at worms and little crustaceans and insects whose only business in the brook is that 
 the fishes may eat them. When the time comes, the sunfish makes its nest in the fine 
 gravel, building it with some care — for a fish. When the female has laid her eggs the 
 male stands guard until the eggs are hatched. His sharp teeth and snappish ways, and 
 ^he bigness of his appearance when the fins are all displayed, keep the little fishes away. 
 Sometimes, in his zeal, he snaps at a hook baited with a worm. He then makes a fierce 
 fight, and the boy who holds the rod is sure that he has a real fish this time. But when 
 the sunfish is out of the water, strung on a willow rod, and dried in the sun, the boy sees 
 that a very little fish can make a good deal of a fuss." 
 
 — David Starr Jordan. 
 
FisJi Study 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 ne johnny darter likes a swift-flowing brook. 
 
 THE JOHNNY DARTER 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 '^We never tired of watching the little Johnny, or Tessellated darter {Boleosonia 
 nigrum) , although our earliest aquarium friend, [and the very first specimens showed us 
 by a rapid ascent of tlie river weed hew 'a Johnny could climb trees,') he has still many 
 resources which we have never learned. Whenever,' we try to catch him ivith the hand 
 we begin with all the uncertainty that characterized our first attempts, even if we have 
 him in a tivo-qtiart pail. We may know him by his short fins, his first dorsal having 
 but nine spines, and by the absence of all color save a soft, yellowish brown, which is 
 freckled with darker markings. The dark brown on the sides is arranged in seven or 
 eight W-shaped marks, below which are a few flecks of the same color. Covering the 
 sides of the back are the wavy markings and dark specks which have given the name of 
 the "Tessellated Darter;" but Boleosoma is a preferred name, and zve even prefer 'boly' 
 for short. In the spring the mules have the head jet black; and this dark color often 
 extends on the back part of the body, so that the fish looks as if he had been taken by the 
 tail and dipped into a bottle of ink. But nith the end of the nuptial season this color 
 disappears and tJie fish regains his normal, strawy hue. 
 
 His actions are rather bird-like; for he xvill strike attitudes like a tufted titmouse 
 and he flies rather than swims throtigh the water. He will, with much perseverance, 
 push his body between a plant and the sides of the aquarium and balance himself on a 
 slender stem. Crouchijig catlike before a snail shell, he will snap off a horn which the 
 unlucky owner pushes timtdly out. But he is also less dainty and seizing the anitnal 
 by the head, he dashes the shell against the glass or stones uiUil he pulls the body out or 
 breaks the shell." — David Starr Jordan. 
 
 The johnny darters are, with the sticklebacks, the most amusing little 
 fish in the aquarium. They are well called darters since their movements 
 are so rapid when they are frightened that the eye can scarcely follow 
 them; and there is something so irresistibly comical in their bright, saucy 
 
178 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 eyes, placed almost on top of the head, that no one could help calling one 
 of them "Johnny." A "johnny" will look at you from one side, and then 
 as quick as a flash, will flounce around and study you with the other eye 
 and then come toward you head-on so that he may take you in with both 
 eyes; he seems just as interested in the Johnny out of the jar as is the 
 latter, in the johnny within. 
 
 The johnny darter has a queer shaped body for a fish, for the head 
 and shoulders are the larger part of him; not that he suddenly disappears 
 into nothingness, by no means! His body is long and very slightly 
 tapering to the tail; along his lateral line he has a row of olive-brown W's 
 worked out in scale-mosaics; and he has some other scale-mosaics also 
 following a pattern of angular lines and making blotches along his back. 
 The whole upper part of his body is pale olive, which is a good imitation 
 of the color of the brook. 
 
 The astonished and anxious look on the johnny darter's face comes 
 from the peculiar position of the eyes which are set in the top of his fore- 
 head; they are big, alert eyes, with large black pupils, surrounded by a 
 shining, pale yellow line at the inner edge of the green iris; and as the 
 pupil is not set in the center of the eye, the iris above being wider than 
 below, the result is an astonished look, as from raised eyebrows. The 
 eyes move, often so swiftly that it gives the impression of winking. The 
 eyes, the short snout, and the wide mouth give johnny a decidedly frog- 
 rT'- like aspect. 
 
 
 "^^^^m 
 
 ^ 
 
 frog. 
 
 is no 
 darter 
 a fair 
 some- 
 
 Although he 
 yet johnny 
 seems to be in 
 way to develop 
 thing to walk upon. His 
 pectoral fins are large 
 and strong and the ven- 
 tral pair are situated 
 The johnny darter. ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ . ^^^^ 
 
 he rests upon the gravel he supports himself upon one or both of these 
 pairs of fins. He rests with the pectoral fins outspread, the sharp points 
 of the rays taking hold of the gravel like toenails and thus give him the 
 appearance of walking on his fins; if you poke him gently, you will find 
 that he is very firmly planted on his fins so that you can turn him around 
 as if he were on a pivot. He also uses the pectorals for swimming and 
 jerks himself along with them in a way that makes one wonder if he could 
 not swim well without any tail at all. The tail is large and almost straight 
 across the end and is a most vigorous pusher. There are two dorsal fins; 
 the front one has only nine rays; these are not branched and are therefore 
 spines; when the fin is raised it appears almost semi-circular in shape. 
 The hind dorsal fin is much longer and when lifted stands higher than 
 the front one; its rays are all branched except the front one. As 
 soon as the johnny stops swimming he shuts the front dorsal fin so that 
 it can scarcely be detected; when frightened he shuts both the dorsal fins 
 and closes the tail and the anal fin and spreads out his paired fins so that 
 his body lies flat on the bottom; this act always reminds one of the 
 "freezing" habit of the rabbit. But johnny does not stay scared very 
 long; he lifts his head up inquisitively, stretching up as far as he is able 
 on his front feet, that is, his pectorals, in such a comical way that one 
 can hardly realize he is a fish. 
 
Fish Sttidy 179 
 
 The tail and the dorsal fin of the johnny darter are marked with silver 
 dots which give them an exquisite spun-glass look ; they are as transparent 
 as gauze. 
 
 The johnny darters live in clear, swift streams where they rest on the 
 bottom, with the head up stream. Dr. Jordan has said they can climb 
 up water weed with their paired fins. I have never observed them doing 
 this but I have often seen one walk around the aquarium on his fins as if 
 they were little fan-shaped feet ; and when swimming he uses his fins as a 
 bird uses its wings. There are many species of darters, some of them the 
 most brilliantly colored of any of our fresh-water fishes. The darters are 
 perch-like in form. 
 
 Dr. Jordan says of the breeding habits of the darters: "On the bot- 
 tom, among the stones, the female casts her spawn. Neither she nor the 
 male pays any further attention to it, but in the breeding season the male 
 is painted in colors as beautiful as those of the wood warblers. When you 
 go to the brook in the spring you will find him there, and if you catch him 
 and tarn him over on his side you will see the colors that he shows to his 
 mate, and which observation shows are most useful in frightening away 
 his younger rivals. But do not hurt him. Put him back in the brook 
 and let him paint its bottom with colors of a rainbow, a sunset or a gar- 
 den of roses All that can be done with blue, crimson and green pig- 
 ments, in fish ornamentation, you will find in some brook in which the 
 darters live." 
 
 LESSON XLIII 
 Johnny Darter 
 
 Leading thought — The johnny darter naturally rests upon the bottom 
 of the stream where the current is swift. It uses its two pairs of paired 
 fins somewhat as feet in a way interesting to observe. 
 
 Method — Johnny darters may be caught in nets with other small fry 
 and placed in the aquarium. Place one or two of them in individual 
 aquaria where the pupils may observe them at their leisure. They do 
 best in running water. 
 
 Observations — i. Describe or sketch the johnny darter from above. 
 From the side. Can you see the W-shaped marks along its side? How is 
 it colored above? 
 
 2. How are the pectoral fins placed? Are they large or small? 
 How are they used in swimming? Where are the ventral fins placed? 
 How are the ventrals and dorsals used together? When resting on the 
 bottom how are the pectoral fins used? 
 
 3. What is there peculiar about the dorsal fins of the johnny 
 darter? When he is resting, what is the attitude of the dorsal fins? 
 What is the difference in shape of the rays of the front and hind dorsal 
 fins? 
 
 4. When resting on the bottom of the aquarium how is the body 
 held? On what does it rest*? In moving about the bottom slowly why 
 does it seem to walk? How does it cHmb up water weed? 
 
 5. When frightened how does it act? Why is it called a darter? 
 What is the attitude of all the fins when the fish is moving swiftly? 
 
 6. What is the shape of the tail? 
 
i8o Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 7. What is there peculiar about the eyes of the johnny? Describe 
 the eyes and their position. What reason is there in the hfe of the fish 
 that makes this position of the eyes advantageous? 
 
 8. Where do we find the johnny darters? In what part of the 
 stream do they hve? Are they usuaUy near the surface of the water or at 
 the bottom? 
 
 "To iny mind, the best of all subjects for nature-study is a brook. It affords studies 
 of many kinds. It is near and dear to every child. It is an epitome of the nature in 
 which we live. In miniature, it illustrates the forces which have shaped tnuch of the 
 earth's surface. It reflects the sky. It is kissed by the sun. It is rippled by the wind. 
 The minnoivs play in the pools. The soft ivecds groiv in the shallows. The grass and 
 the datidelions lie on its sunny banks. The moss and the fern are sheltered in the nooks. 
 It conies from one knows not ivhence; it flows to one knows not whither. It aivakens 
 the desire to explore. It is fraught ivith mysteries. It typifies the flood of life. It 
 goes on forever. 
 
 In other words, the rcaso)i why the brook is such a perfect nature-study subject is the 
 fact that it is the central theme in a scene of life. Living things appeal to children." 
 
 "Nature-study not only educates, but it educates nature-ward ; and nature is ever our 
 cotnpanion. whether ive will or no. Even though we are determined to shut ourselves in 
 an office, nature sends her messengers. The light, the dark, the moon, the cloud, the 
 rain, the wind, the falling leaf, the fly, the bouquet, the bird, the cockroach — they arc all 
 ours. 
 
 If one is to be happy, he must be in sympathy with common things. He must live in 
 harmony with his environment. One cannot be happy yonder nor tomorrow : he is 
 happy iiere and now, or never. Our stock of knowledge of common things should be 
 great. Few of us can travel. We must know the tilings at home. 
 
 Nature-love tends toward naturalness, and toward simplicity of living. It ttiids 
 country-ward. 0)u^ word from the fields is worth two from the city. "God made the 
 country. ' ' 
 
 I expect, therefore, that much good will come from nature-study. It ought to 
 revolutionize the school life, for it is capable of putting new force and enthusiasm into 
 the school and the child. It is new, a)id therefore, is called a fad. A movement is a fad 
 until it succeeds. We shall learn much, and shall outgroiv some of our present notions, 
 but nature-study has come to stay. It is in much the same stage of development that 
 manual-training and kindergarten work were twenty-five years ago. We must take care 
 that it does not crystalize into science-teaching on the one hand, nor fall into mere 
 sentimentalism on tJw other. 
 
 I ivould again emphasize the importance of obtaining our fact before ive let loose the 
 imagination, for on this point will largely turn the results — the failure or the success of 
 the experiment. We must not allow our fancy to run away with tts. If we hitch our 
 wagon to a star, we must ride with mind and soul and body all alert. When we ride in 
 such a wagon, we must not forget to put in the tail-board." 
 
 — L. H. Bailey in The Nature-Study Idea. 
 
Batrachian Study i8i 
 
 III. BATRACHIAN STUDY 
 
 THE COMMON TOAD 
 
 TeacJier's Story 
 "The toad hopped by us with jolting springs." — Akers. 
 
 HOEVER has not had a pet toad has missed a most 
 entertaining experience. Toad actions are surpris- 
 ingly interesting; one of my safeguards against the 
 blues is the memory of the thoughtful way one of my 
 pet toads rubbed and patted its stomach with its little 
 hands after it had swallowed a June-bug. Toads do 
 not make warts upon attacking hands, neither do they 
 rain down nor are they found in the bed-rock of 
 quarries; but they do have a most interesting history of their own, 
 which is not at all legendary, and which is very like a life with two in- 
 carnations. 
 
 The mother toad lays her eggs in May and June in ponds, or in the siill 
 pools, along streams; the eggs are laid in long strings of jellylike sub- 
 stance, and are dropped upon the pond bottom or attached to water 
 weeds; when first deposited, the jelly is transparent and the little black 
 eggs can be plainly seen ; but after a day or two, bits of dirt accumulate 
 upon the jelly, obscuring the eggs. x\t first the eggs are spherical, like 
 tiny black pills, but as they begin to develop, they elongate and finally 
 the tadpoles may be seen wriggling in the jelly mass, which affords them 
 efficient protection. After four or five da3's, the tadpoles usually 
 work their way out and swim away; at this stage, the only way to detect 
 the head, is by the direction of the tadpole's progress, since it naturally 
 goes head first. However, the head soon becomes decidedly larger, 
 although at first it is not provided with a mouth; it has instead, a 
 V-shaped elevation where the mouth should be, which forms a sucker 
 secreting a sticky substance by means of which the tadpole attaches 
 itself to water weeds, resting head up. When two or three days old, we 
 can detect little tassels on either side of the throat, which are the gills 
 by which the little creature breathes; the blood passes through these 
 gills, and is purified by coming in contact with the air which is mixed in 
 the water. About ten days later, these gills disappear beneath a mem- 
 brane which grows down over them ; but they are still used for breathing, 
 simply having changed position from the outside to the inside of the 
 throat. The water enters the nostrils to the mouth, passes through an 
 opening in the throat and flows over the gills and out through a little 
 opening at the left side of the body; this opening or breathing-pore, can 
 be easily seen in the larger tadpoles; and when the left arm develops, it is 
 pushed out through this convenient orifice. 
 
 When about ten days old, the tadpole has developed a small, round 
 mouth which is constantly in search of something to eat, and at the same 
 time constantly opening and shutting to take in air for the gills; the 
 mouth is provided with horny jaws for biting off pieces of plants. As the 
 
l82 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 tadpole develops, its mouth gets larger and wider and extends back 
 beneath the eyes, with a truly toadlike expansiveness. 
 
 At first, the tadpole's eyes are even with the surface of the head and 
 can scarcely be seen, but later they become more prominent and bulge 
 like the eyes of the adult toad. 
 
 The tail of the tadpole is long and flat, surrounded by a fin, thus 
 making an organ for swimming. It strikes the water, first this side and 
 then that, making most graceful curves, which seem to originate near the 
 
 Toad's eggs. 
 Photo by Verne Morton. 
 
 body and multiply toward the tip of the tail. This movement propels 
 the tadpole forward, or in any direction. The tail is very thin when seen 
 from above; and it is amusing to look at a tadpole from above, and then 
 at the side; it is like squaring a circle. 
 
 There is a superstition that tadpoles eat their tails; and in a sense this 
 is true, because the material that is in the tail is absorbed into the growing 
 body; but the last thing a right-minded tadpole would do, would be to 
 bite off its own tail. However, if some other tadpole should bite off the 
 tail or a growing leg, these organs conveniently grow anew. 
 
 When the tadpole is a month or two old, depending upon the species, 
 its hind legs begin to show; they first appear as mere buds which finally 
 push out completely. The feet are long and provided with five toes, of 
 which the fourth is the longest; the toes are webbed so that they may be 
 used to help in swimming. Two weeks later the anns begin to appear, 
 the left one pushing out through the breathing-pore. The "hands" have 
 four fingers and are not webbed ; they are used in the water for balancing ; 
 while the hind legs are used for pushing, as the tail becomes smaller. 
 
Batrachian Study 
 
 183 
 
 As the tadpole grows older, not only does its tail become shorter but 
 its actions change. It now comes often to the surface of the water in 
 order to get more air for its gills, although it lacks the frog tadpole's 
 nice adjustment of the growing lungs and the disappearing gills. At 
 last some fine rainy day, the little creature feels that it is finally fitted 
 to live the life of a land animal. It may not be a half inch in 
 length, with big head, attenuated body and stumpy tail, but it swims to 
 the shore, lifts itself on its front legs, which are scarcely larger than pins, 
 and walks off, toeing in, with a very grown up air, and at this moment, the 
 tadpole attains toadship. Numbers of them come out of the water 
 together, hopping hither and thither with all of the eagerness and vim of 
 untried youth. It is when issuing thus in hordes from the water and seen 
 by the ignorant, that they gain the reputation of being rained down, when 
 they really were rained up. It is quite impossible for a beginner to detect 
 the difference between the toad and the frog tadpole; usually those of the 
 toads are black, while those of the frogs are otherwise colored, though this 
 is not an invariable distinction. The best way to distinguish the two is 
 to get the eggs and develop the two families separately. 
 
 The general color of the common American toad is extremely variable. 
 It may be yellowish-brown, with spots of lighter color, and with reddish or 
 yellow warts. There are likely to be four irregular spots of dark color 
 along each side of the middle of the back, and the under parts are light 
 colored, often somewhat spotted. The throat of the male toad is black 
 and he is not so bright m color as is the female. The warts upon the back 
 are glands, which secrete a substance disagreeable for the animal seeking 
 toad dinners. This is especially true of the glands in the elongated 
 swelling or wart, above and just back of the ear, which is Ca-lled the 
 parotid gland; these give forth a milky, poisonous substance when the 
 toad is seized b}^ an enemy, although the snakes do not seem to mind it. 
 Some people have an idea that the toad is slimy, but this is not true; the 
 skin is perfectly dry. The toad feels cold to the hand because it is a cold- 
 blooded animal, which means an animal with blood the temperature of 
 the stirrounding atmosphere; while the blood of the warm-blooded 
 animal, has a temperature of its own, which it maintains whether the 
 surrounding air is cold or hot. 
 
 The toad's face is well worth 
 study; its eyes are elevated 
 and very pretty, the pupil being 
 oval and the surrounding iris 
 shining like gold. The toad 
 winks in a wholesale fashion, the 
 eyes being pulled down into the 
 head; the eyes are provided with 
 nictitating lids, which rise from 
 below, and are similar to those 
 found in birds. When a toad is 
 sleeping, its eyes do not bulge 
 but are drawn in, so as to lie even 
 with the surface of the head. 
 The two tiny nostrils are black 
 and are easily seen ; the ear is a 
 flat, oval spot behind the eye 
 
 After a hard winter. 
 
 Photo by Cyrus Crosby. 
 
jg^ Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 and a little lower down; in the common species it is not quite so large 
 as the eye; this is really the ear-drum, since there is no external ear like 
 ours. The toad's mouth is wide and its jaws are homy; it does not need 
 teeth since it swallows its prey whole. 
 
 The toad is a jumper, as may be seen from its long, strong hind legs, 
 the feet of which are also long and strong and armed with five toes 
 that are somewhat webbed. The "arms" are shorter and there are 
 four "fingers" to each "hand;" when the toad is resting, its front 
 feet toe-in, in a comical fashion. If a toad is removed from an 
 earth or moss garden, and put into a w^hite wash-bowl, in a few hours it 
 will change to a lighter hue, and vice versa. This is part of its pro- 
 tective color, making it inconspicuous to the eyes of its enemy. It 
 prefers to live in cool, damp places, beneath sidewalks or piazzas, etc., 
 and its warty upper surface resembles the surrounding earth. If it is 
 disturbed, it will seek to escape by long leaps and acts frightened; but 
 if very much frightened, it flattens out on the ground, and looks so 
 nearly like a clod of earth that it may escape even the keen eyes of its 
 pursuer. AVhen seized by the enemy, it will sometimes "play possum," 
 acting as if it were dead ; but when actually in the mouth of the foe, it 
 emits terrified and heart-rending cries. 
 
 The toad's tongue is attached to the lower jaw, at the front edge of the 
 mouth ; it can thus be thrust far out, and since it secretes a sticky sub- 
 stance over its surface, any insects which it touches adhere, and are drawn 
 back into the mouth and swallowed. It takes a quick eye to see this 
 tongue fly out and make its catch. The tadpole feeds mostly upon 
 vegetable matter, but the toad lives entirely upon small animals, usually 
 insects; it is not particular as to what kind of insects; but because of the 
 situations which it haunts, it usually feeds upon those which are injurious 
 to grass and plants. Indeed, the toad is really the friend of the gardener 
 and farmer, and has been most ungratefully treated by those whom it 
 has befriended. If you doubt that a toad is an animal of judgment, 
 watch it when it finds an earthworm and set your doubts at rest ! It will 
 walk around the squirming worm, until it can seize it by the head, 
 apparently knowing well that the homy hooks extending backward from 
 the segments of the worm, are likely to rasp the throat if swallowed the 
 wrong way. If the worm prove a too large mouthful, the toad promptly 
 uses its hands in an amusing fashion to stuff the wriggling morsel down 
 its throat. When swallowing a large mouthful, it closes its eyes; but 
 whether this aids the process, or is merely an expression of bliss, we have 
 not determined. The toad never drinks by taking in water through the 
 mouth, but absorbs it through the skin; when it wishes to drink, it 
 stretches itself out in shallow water and thus satisfies its thirst; it will 
 waste away and die in a short time, if kept in a dry atmosphere. 
 
 The toad burrows in the earth by a method of its own, hard to describe. 
 It kicks backward with its strong hind legs, and in some mysterious way, 
 the earth soon covers all excepting its head; then, if an enemy comes 
 along, back goes the head, the earth caves in around it, and where is your 
 toad! It remains in its burrow or hiding place usually during the day, 
 and comes out at night to feed. This habit is an advantage, because 
 snakes are then safely at home and, too, there are many more insects to 
 be found at night. The sagacious toads have discovered that the 
 vicinity of street lights is swarming with insects, and there they gather in 
 
Batrachian Stitdv 
 
 i8s 
 
 numbers. In winter they burrow deeply in the ground and go to sleep, 
 remaining dormant until the warmth of spring awakens them; then, they 
 come out, and the mother toads seek their native ponds there to lay eggs 
 for the coming generation. They are excellent swimmers; when swim- 
 ming rapidly, the front legs are laid backward along the sides of the body, 
 so as to offer no resistance to the water; but when moving slowly, the 
 front legs are used for balancing and for keeping afloat. 
 
 The song of the toad is a pleasant, crooning sound, a sort of gutteral 
 trill ; it is made when the throat is puffed out almost globular, thus form- 
 ing a vocal sac; the sound is made by the air drawn in at the nostrils and 
 passed back and forth from the lungs to the mouth over the vocal chords, 
 the puffed-out throat acting as a resonator. 
 
 The toad has no ribs by which to inflate the chest, and thus draw air 
 into the lungs, as we do when we breathe ; it is obliged to swallow the air 
 instead and thus force it into the lungs. This movement is shown in the 
 constant pulsation, in and out, of the membrane of the throat. 
 
 As the toad grows, it sheds its horny skin, which it swallows; as this 
 process is usually done strictly in private, the ordinary observer sees it 
 but seldom. One of the toad's nice common qualities is its enjoyment in 
 having its back scratched gently. 
 
 The toad has many enemies; chief among these is the snake and in 
 only a lesser degree, crows and also birds of prey. 
 
 Reference — The Frog Book, Dickerson; Familiar 
 Forest, Mathews; The Usefulness of the American 
 Agr., Farmers Bulletin, No. 196. 
 
 LESSON XLIV 
 
 Life in Field and 
 Toad, U. S. Dept. 
 
 The Tadpole Aquarium 
 
 Leading thought — The children 
 should understand how to make 
 the tadpoles comfortable and 
 thus be able to rear them. 
 
 Materials — A tin or agate pan 
 or a deep earthenware wash- 
 bowl. 
 
 Things to be done — i. Go to 
 some pond where tadpoles live. 
 
 2. Take some of the small 
 stones on the bottom and at the 
 sides of the pond lifting them 
 very gently so as not to disturb 
 what is growing on their surface. 
 Place these stones on the bottom 
 of the pan, building up one side 
 higher than the other, so that 
 the water will be more shallow 
 on one side than on the other; 
 a stone or two should project 
 above the water. 
 
 3. Take some of the mud and leaves from the bottom of 
 being careful not to disturb them and place upon the stones. 
 
 the pond, 
 
1 86 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 4. Take some of the plants found growing under water in the pond 
 and plant them among the stones. 
 
 5. Carry the pan thus prepared back to the schoolhouse and place it 
 where the sun will not shine directly upon it. 
 
 6. Bring a pail of water from the pond and pour it very gently in at 
 one side of the pan, so as not to disarrange the plants; fill the pan nearly 
 to the brim. 
 
 7. After the mud has settled and the water is perfectly clear, remove 
 some of the tadpoles, which have hatched in the glass aquarium, and place 
 in the "pond." Not more than a dozen should be put in a pan of this 
 size, since the amount of food and microscopic plants which are on the 
 stones in the mud, will afford food for only a few tadpoles. 
 
 8. Every week add a little more mud from the bottom of the pond or 
 another stone covered with slime, which is probably some plant growth. 
 More water from the pond should be added to replace that evaporated. 
 
 9. Care should be taken that the tadpole aquarium be kept where the 
 sun will not shine directly upon it for any length of time, because if the 
 water gets too warm the tadpoles will die. 
 
 10. Remove the "skin" from one side of a tulip leaf, so as to expose 
 the pulp of the leaf, and give to the tadpoles every day or two. Bits of 
 hard-boiled egg should be given now and then. 
 
 Toads' Eggs and Tadpoles 
 
 Leading thought — The toad's eggs are laid in strings of jelly in ponds. 
 The eggs hatch into tadpoles which are creatures of the water, breathing 
 by gills, and swimming with a long fin. The tadpoles gradually change to 
 toads, which are air-breathing creatures, fitted for life on dry land. 
 
 Method — The eggs of toads may be found in almost any pond about the 
 first of May and may be scraped up from the bottom in a scoop-net. They 
 should be placed in the aquarium where the children can watch the stages 
 of development. Soon after they are hatched, a dozen or so should be 
 selected and placed in the tadpole aquarium and the others put back into 
 the stream. The children should observe the tadpoles every day, watch- 
 ing carefully all the changes of structure and habit which take place. If 
 properly fed, the tadpoles will be ready to leave the water in July, as tiny 
 toads. 
 
 Observations — i. Where were the toads' eggs found and on what 
 date ? Were they attached to anything in the water or were they floating 
 free? Are the eggs in long strings? Do you find any eggs laid in jelly- 
 like masses? If so, what are they? How can you tell the eggs of toads 
 from those of frogs? 
 
 2. Is the jellylike substance in which the eggs are placed clear or 
 discolored? What is the shape and the size of the eggs? A little later 
 how do they look? Do the young tadpoles move about while they are 
 still in the jelly mass? 
 
 3. Describe how the little tadpole works its way out from the jelly 
 covering. Can you distinguish then which is head and which is tail? 
 How does it act at first? Where and how does it rest? 
 
 4. Can you see with the aid of a lens the little fringes on each side of 
 the neck? What are these? Do these fringes disappear a little later? 
 Do they disappear on both sides of the neck at once? What becomes of 
 
Batrachian Study 
 
 187 
 
 Toad development in a single season (iQoj). 
 1-18. Changes and growth from April to November 9-14, Different sizes, July 30 1903 
 1-13 Development m 25 to 60 days 15-18 DUlerent sizes, October 21. 1903 
 
 10 . 1 1 . The same tadpole, 1 1 is 47 hours older than 10 
 12, 13, The same tadpole, 13 is 47 hours older than 12 
 Photo by S. H. Gage. 
 
1 88 Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 them? How does the tadpole breathe? Can you see the little hole on 
 the left side, through which the water used for breathing passes? 
 
 5. How does the tail look and how is it used? How long is it in 
 proportion to the body? Describe the act of swimming. 
 
 6. Which pair of legs appears first ? How do they look? When they 
 get a little larger are they used as a help in swimming ? Describe the hind 
 legs and feet. 
 
 7. How long after the hind legs appear before the front legs or arms 
 appear ? What happens to the breathing-pore when the left arm is pushed 
 through ? 
 
 8. After both pairs of legs are developed what happens to the tail? 
 W^hat becomes of it ? 
 
 9. When the tadpole is very young can you see its eyes? How do 
 they look as it grows older? Do they ever bulge out like toads' eyes? 
 
 10. As the tadpole gains its legs and loses its tail how does it change 
 in its actions? How does it swim now? Does it come oftener to the 
 surface ? Why ? 
 
 11. Describe the difference between the front and the hind legs and 
 the front and the hind feet on the fully grown tadpole. If the tail or 
 a leg is bitten off by some other creature will it grow again? 
 
 LESSON XLV 
 The Toad 
 
 Leading thought — The toad is colored so that it resembles the soil and 
 thus escapes the observation of its enemies. It lives in damp places and 
 eats insects, usually hunting them at night. It has powerful hind legs 
 and is a vigorous jumper. 
 
 Method — Make a moss garden in a glass aquarium jar thus: Place 
 some stones or gravel in the bottom of the jar and cover with moss. 
 Cover the jar with a wire screen. The moss should be deluged with 
 water at least once a day and the jar should be placed where the direct 
 sunlight will not reach it. In this jar, place the toad for study. 
 
 Observations — i. Describe the general color of the toad above and 
 below. How does the toad's back look? Of what use are the warts on 
 its back? 
 
 2. Where is the toad usually found? Does it feel warm or cold to the 
 hand? Is it slimy or dry? The toad is a cold-blooded animal, what does 
 this mean? 
 
 3. Describe the eyes and explain how their situation is of special 
 advantage to the toad. Do you think it can see in front and behind and 
 above all at the same time. Does the bulge of the eyes help in this? 
 Note the shape and color of the pupil and iris. How does the toad wink? 
 
 4. Find and describe the nostrils. Find and describe the ear. 
 Note the swelling above and just back of the ear. Do you know the use 
 of this? 
 
 5. What is the shape of the toad's mouth? Has it any teeth? Is 
 the toad's tongue attached to the front or the back part of the mouth? 
 How is it used to catch insects? 
 
 6. Describe the "arms and hands." How many "fingers" on the 
 "hand ?" Which way do the fingers point when the toad is sitting down ? 
 
BatracJiian Study ig-. 
 
 7. Describe the legs and feet. How man}- toes are there? What is 
 the relative length of the toes and how are they connected ? What is this 
 web between the toes for? Why are the hind legs so much larger than 
 the front legs? 
 
 8. Will a toad change color if placed upon different ccjlored objects? 
 How long does it take it to do this? Of what advantage is this to the 
 toad ? 
 
 9. Where does the toad live? When it is disturbed hcnv does it act? 
 How far can it jump ? If very frightened does it flatten out and lie still ? 
 Why is this? 
 
 10. At what time does the toad come out to hunt insects? How does 
 it catch the insect? Does it swallow an earthworm head or tail first? 
 When swallowing an earthworm or large insect, how does it use its 
 hands? How does it act when swallowing a large mouthful? 
 
 1 1 ._ How does the toad drink ? Where does it remain during the day ? 
 Describe how it burrows into the earth. 
 
 12. What happens to the toad in the winter? What does it do in 
 the spring? Is it a good swimmer? How does it use its legs in swimming? 
 
 13. How does the toad look when croaking? What sort of a noise 
 does it make? 
 
 14. Describe the action of the toad's throat when breathing. Did 
 you ever see a toad shed its skin ? 
 
 15. What are the toad's enemies? How does it act when caught by 
 a snake? Does it make any noise? Is it swallowed head or tail first? 
 What means has it of escaping or defending itself from its enemies? 
 
 16. How is the toad of great use to the farmer and gardener? 
 References — "The Life History of the Toad," by S. H. Gage, Cornell 
 
 Nature-Study Volume; The Frog Book, Dickerson. 
 
 Supplementary reading — "K'dunk, the fat one," A Little Brother to 
 the Bear, Long. 
 
 "In the early years ive are not to ieaeh nature as science, we are not to teach it 
 primarily for method or for drill: ive are to teacJi it for loving — atid this is nature- 
 study. On these points I make no compromise." 
 
 — L. H. Haii.ky. 
 
jQo Haridbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE TREE-FROG, OR TREE-TOAD 
 
 Teacher s Story 
 
 "Ere yet the earliest warbler wakes, of coming spring to tell. 
 From every marsh a chorus breaks, a choir invisible, 
 As if the blossoms underground, a breath of utterance had found." — ^Tabb. 
 
 SSOCIATED with the first songs of robin and bluebird, 
 is the equally delightful chorus of the spring peepers, 
 yet how infrequently do most of us see a member _ of 
 this invisible choir! There are some creatures which 
 are the quintessence of the slang word "cute'' which, 
 interpreted, means the pefection of Lilliputian pro- 
 portions, permeated with undaunted spirit. The 
 chickadee is one of these, and the tree-frog is another. 
 I confess to a thrill of dehght when the Picker- 
 ing's hyla Hfts itself on its tiny front feet, twists 
 its'' head knowingly, and turns on me the full 
 gaze of its bronze-rimmed eyes. This is the 
 tiniest froglet of them all, being little more than 
 an inch long when fully grown; it wears the 
 Greek cross in darker color upon its back, with 
 some stripes across its long hind legs which join 
 the pattern on the back when the frog is "shut 
 up," as the boys say. 
 
 The reason we see so Httle of tree-frogs, is 
 because they are protected from discovery by 
 their color. They have the chameleon power 
 of changing color to match their background. 
 The Pickering's hyla will effect this change in 
 twenty minutes; in this species, the darker 
 lines forming the cross change first, givmg a 
 
 mottled appearance which is at once protective. 
 
 I have taken three of these peepers, all of them 
 
 pale yellowish brown with gray markings, and 
 
 have placed one upon a fern, one on dark soil 
 
 and one on the purple bud of a flower. Withm 
 
 half an hour, each matched its surroundings so 
 
 closely, that the casual eye would not detect 
 
 them. ' The song of the Pickering's hyla is a 
 
 resonant chirp, very stirring when heard nearby; 
 
 it sounds somewhat like the note of a water bird. 
 
 How such a small creature can make such a loud 
 
 noise, is a mystery. The process, however, may 
 
 be watched at night by the light of a lamp, as 
 
 none of the tree-frogs seem to pay any atten- 
 tion to an artificial light; the thin' membrane 
 
 beneath the throat swells out until it seems 
 
 almost large enough to balloon the little chap off 
 
 his perch. No wonder that, with such a sound- 
 ing-sac. the note is stirring. There are several 
 
 species of tree-frogs that trill in the branches 
 
 Sitting for their pictures. 
 
 Pickering's Hyla. 
 
 Photo by Cyrus Crosby. 
 
Batrachian Study 
 
 191 
 
 above our heads all summer, and their songs are sometimes mistaken for 
 those of the cicada, which is far more shrill. 
 
 The tree-frogs have toes and fingers ending in little round discs which 
 secrete at will a substance by means of which they can cling to vertical 
 surfaces, even to glass. In fact, the way to study these wonderful feet is 
 when the frog is climbing up the sides of the glass jar. The fingers are 
 arranged, two short inside ones, a long one, and another short one outside. 
 The hind feet have three shorter inside toes quite far apart, a 
 long one at the tip of the foot and a shorter one outside. When climbing 
 a smooth surface hke glass, the toes are spread wide apart, and there 
 are other httle clinging discs on their lower sides, although not so 
 large as those at the tips. It is by means of these sticky, disc-Hke toes 
 that the tree-frogs hold themselves upon the tree trunks. 
 
 The whole body of the tree-frog is covered with little tubercles, 
 which give it a roughened appearance. The eyes are black with the iris 
 of reddish color. The tongue is like that of other frogs, hinged to the 
 front of the lower jaw; it is sticky and can be thrust far out to capture 
 insects, of which the tree-frogs eat vast numbers. 
 
 The hylas breathe by the rapid pulsation of the membrane of 
 the throat, which makes the whole body tremble. The nostrils are 
 two tiny holes on either side of the tip of the snout. The ears are a 
 little below and just behind the eyes, and are in the form of a circular 
 sHt. 
 
 The eggls of the spring peepers are laid in ponds during April; eac- 
 egg has a little globe of jelly about it and is fastened to a ston 
 or a water pant. The tadpoles are small and delicate; the under sidh 
 of the body is reddish and shines with metallic lustre. These fade 
 poles differ from those of other frogs in that they oftene 
 leave the water while yet 
 the tail is still quite long. 
 In summer, they may be 
 found among the leaves and 
 moss around the banks 
 of ponds. They are in- 
 defatigable in hunting for 
 gnats, mosquitoes and ants; 
 their destruction of mosqui- 
 toes, as pollywogs and as 
 grown up frogs, renders them 
 of great use to us. The voice 
 of this peeper may be heard 
 among the shrubs and vines 
 or in trees during late sum- 
 mer and until November. 
 The little creatures sleep be- 
 neath moss and leaves 
 during the winter, waking to 
 give us the earliest news of 
 spring. 
 
 Tree-frog tadpoles. 
 
102 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON XLVI 
 The Tree-frog or Tree-toad 
 
 Leading thought — The prettiest part of the spring chorus of the frog 
 ponds is sung by the tree-frogs. These httle frogs have the tips of 
 their toes specially fitted for climbing up the sides of trees. 
 
 Method — Make a moss garden in an aquarium jar or a two-quart can. 
 Place stones in the bottom and moss at one side, leaving a place on 
 the other side for a tiny pond of water. In this garden place a tree- 
 frog and cover the jar with mosquito netting and place in the shade. 
 The frogs may be foundby searching the banks of a pond at night 
 with a lantern. However, this lesson is usually given when by 
 accident the tree-frog is discovered. Any species of tree-frog will do; but 
 the Pickering's hyla, known everywhere as the spring peeper, is the most 
 interesting species to study. 
 
 Observations — i. How large is the tree-frog? What is its color? 
 Describe the markings. 
 
 2. Place the tree-frog on some light-colored surface like a piece of 
 white blotting paper. Note if it changes color after a half hour. Later 
 place it upon some dark surface. Note if it changes color again. How 
 does this power of changing color benefit the tree-frog? Place a tree-frog 
 on a piece of bark. After a time is it noticeable? 
 
 3 Describe the eyes. Note how Httle the tree-frog turns its head 
 to see anything behind it. Describe its actions if its attention is attracted 
 to anything. What color is the pupil? The iris? 
 
 4. Note the movement of breathing. Where does this show the most? 
 Examine the delicate membrane beneath the throat. What has this to 
 do with the breathing? 
 
 5. What is the tree-frog's note? At what time of day does it peep? 
 At what time of year? Describe how the frog looks when peeping. 
 
 6. How does the tree-frog climb? When it is climbing up a vertical 
 surface study its toes. How many on the front foot'' How are they 
 arranged? How many toes on the hind foot? Sketch the front and hind 
 feet. How do the toe-discs look when pressed against the glass? How 
 does it manage to make the discs cling and then let go? Are there any 
 more discs on the under side of the toes? Is there a web between the toes 
 of the hind feet ? Of the front feet ? 
 
 7 . Look at a tree-frog very closely and describe its nostrils and its ears. 
 8'. Are the tree-frogs good jumpers? What is the size and length of 
 
 the hind legs as compared with the body? 
 
 9. When and where are the eges of the tree-frog laid? How do they 
 look? 
 
 10. How do the tree-frog tadpoles differ from other tadpoles? 
 Describe them if you have ever seen them. In what situations do they 
 live? 
 
 11. Of what use are the tree-frogs to us? 
 
 References — "The Life History of the Toad," Cornell Nature Study 
 Volume, S. H. Gage; The Frog Book, Dickerson; Familiar Life of Field 
 and Forest, Mathews; American Natural History, Homaday; Elemen- 
 tary Zoology, V. L. Kellogg; From River Ooze to Tree-top, Sharp. 
 
Batrachian Study 
 
 ^93 
 
 Bullfrog. 
 THE FROG 
 
 TeacJier's Story 
 
 HE stroller along brooksides, is likely to be surprised 
 some day, at seeing a bit of moss and earth suddenly 
 make a high leap and a far one, without apparent 
 provocation. An investigation resolves the clump of 
 moss into a brilliantly green and yellow, striped frog, 
 and then the stroller wonders how he could have over- 
 looked such an obvious creature. But the leopard 
 frog is only obvious when it is out of its environment. 
 The common green frog is quite as well protected since its color is exactly 
 that of green pools. Most frogs spend their lives in or about water, and 
 if caught on land, they make great leaps to reach their native element; 
 the leopard frog and a few other species sometimes wander far afield. 
 
 In form, the frog is more slim than the toad, and is not covered with 
 great warts; it is cold and slippery to the touch. The fnjg's only chance 
 of escaping its enemies, is through the slipperiness of its body and by 
 making long, rapid leaps. As a jumper, the frog is much more powerful 
 than the toad because its hind legs are so much larger and more muscular, 
 in comparison with its size. The first toe in the front feet of the leopard 
 frog is much swollen, making a fat thumb ; the mechanics of the hind legs 
 make it possible for the frog to feather the webbed feet as it swims. On 
 the bottom of the toes are hardened places at the joints, and sometimes 
 others besides, which give the foot a strong hold when pushing for the 
 jump. The toe tips, when they are pressed against the glass, resemble 
 slightly the tree-toads' discs. The hind foot is very long, while on the 
 front foot the toes radiate almost in a circle. The foot and leg are 
 colored like the back of the body above, and on the under side resemble 
 the under parts. 
 
1^4 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The frog is likely to be much more brightly colored than the toad, and 
 usually has much of green and yellow in its dress. But the frog lives 
 among green things, while it is to the toad's advantage to be the color of 
 the soil. Frogs also have the chameleon power of changing color, to 
 harmonize with their environment. I have seen a very green leopard 
 frog change to a slate-gray when placed upon slate-colored rock. The 
 change took place in the green portions. The common green frog will 
 likewise change to slate-color, in a similar situation. A leopard frog 
 changed quickly from dark green to pale olive, when it was placed in the 
 water after having been on the soil. 
 
 The eyes of frogs are very prominent, and are beautiful when observed 
 closely. " The green frog has a dark bronze iris with a gleaming gold edge 
 around the pupil, and around the outer margin. The eye of the leopard 
 frog is darker; the iris seems to be black, with specks of ruddy gold 
 scattered through it, and there is an outer band of red-gold around the 
 margin. When the frog winks, the nictitating membrane rises from 
 below and covers the whole eye; and when the frog makes a special effort 
 of any sort, it has a comical way of drawing its eyes back into its head. 
 When trying to hide at the bottom of the aquarium, the leopard species 
 lets the eye-lids fall over the eyes, so that they do not shine up and attract 
 pursuers. 
 
 The ear is in a similar position to that of the toad, and in the bullfrog, 
 is larger than the eye. In the green frog, it is a dull grayish disc, almost 
 as large as the eye. In the leopard frog, it is not so large as the eye, and 
 has a giltish spot at the center. 
 
 The nostrils are small and are closed when below the water, as may be 
 easily seen by a lens. The mouth opens widely, the comers extending 
 back under the eye. The jaws are homy and are armed with teeth, 
 which are for the purpose of biting off food rather than for chewing it. 
 When above water, the throat keeps up a rythmic motion which is the 
 process of breathing; but when below water this motion ceases. The 
 food of frogs is largely composed of insects, that frequent damp places 
 or that live in the water. 
 
 The sound-sacs of the frogs, instead of being beneath the throat, as is 
 the case with toads and tree-frogs, are at the side of the throat; and when 
 inflated, may extend from just back of the eyes, out above the front legs. 
 The song is characteristic, and pleasant to listen to, if not too close by. 
 Perhaps exception should be made to the lay of the bullfrog, which like 
 the song of some noted opera singers, is more wonderful than musical; 
 the boom of the bullfrog makes the earth fairly quake. If we seize the 
 frog by the hind leg, it will usually croak and thus demonstrate for us, 
 the position of its sound-sacs. 
 
 In addition to the snakes, the frogs have inveterate enemies in the 
 herons which frequent shallow water, and eat them in great numbers. 
 The frogs hibernate in mud and about ponds, burrowing deep enough to 
 escape freezing. In the spring, they come up and sing their spring songs 
 and the mother frogs lay their eggs in masses of jelly on the bottom of the 
 pond, usually where the water is deeper than in the situations where the 
 toads' eggs are laid. The eggs of the two can always be distinguished, 
 since the toads' are laid in strings of jelly, while the frogs' are laid in masses. 
 
 It is amusing to watch with a lens, the frog tadpoles seeking tor their 
 microscopic food along the glass of the aquanum. There are horny 
 
Batrachian Study 
 
 195 
 
 tipper and lower jaws, the latter being below and back of the former. The 
 upper jaw moves back and forth slightly and rythmically, but the drop- 
 ping of the lower jaw opens the mouth. There are three rows of tiny 
 black teeth below the mouth and one row above ; at the sides and below 
 these teeth are little, finger-like fringes. Fringes, rows of teeth and jaws 
 all work together, up and down, out and in, in the process of breathing. 
 The nostrils, although minute, are present in the tadpole in its early 
 stages. The pupil of the eye is almost circular and the iris is usually 
 yellow or copper-bronze, with black mottling. The eyes do not wink nor 
 withdraw. The breathing-pore on the left side, is a hole in a slight 
 protuberance. 
 
 At first, the tadpoles of the frogs and toads are very much alike; but 
 later, most of the frog tadpoles are lighter in color, usually being olive- 
 green, mottled with specks of black and white. The frog tadpoles usually 
 remain much longer than the toads in the tadpole stage, and when finally 
 they change to adults, they are far larger in size than the toads are, when 
 they attain their jumping legs. 
 
 Frog's eggs. 
 
 LESSON XLVII 
 The Frog 
 
 Leading thought — The frog lives near or in ponds or streams. It is a 
 powerful jumper and has a slippery body. Its eggs are laid in masses of 
 jelly at the bottom of ponds. 
 
 Method — The frog may be studied in its native situation by the pupils 
 or it may be brought to the school and placed in an aquarium ; however, 
 to make a frog aquarium there needs to be a stick or stone projecting 
 above the water, for the frog likes to spend part of the time entirely 
 out of water or only partially submerged. 
 
 Observations — i. Where is the frog found? Does it live all its life m 
 the water? When found on land how and where does it seek to escape? 
 
 2. Compare the form of the frog with that of the toad. Describe 
 the skin, its color and texture. Compare the skin of the two. 
 
 T,. Describe the colors and markings of the frog on the upper and 
 on the under side. How do these protect it from observation from above ? 
 From below? How do we usually discover that we are in the vicinity of a 
 
 frog? 
 
 4. Describe the frog's ears, eyes, nostrils and mouth. 
 
 5. Compare its "hands and feet" with those of the toad. Why the 
 difference in the hind legs and feet? 
 
196 
 
 Handbook of Nature- Study 
 
 6 How doe<= the frog feel to your hand? Is it easy to hold him? 
 How does this slipperiness of the frog benefit it? 
 
 7. On what does the frog feed? What feeds on it? How does it 
 escape its enemies? 
 
 8. What sounds does the frog make? Where are its sound sacs 
 located ? How do they look when they are inflated ? 
 
 9. Is the frog a good swimmer? Is it a better jumper than the toad? 
 Why? 
 
 10. Where are the frog's eggs laid? How do they look? 
 
 11. Can you tell the frog tadpoles from those of the toad? Which 
 remains longer in the tadpole stage? Study the frog tadpoles, following 
 the questions given in Lesson XLIV. 
 
 12. What happens to the frog in winter? 
 
 FESTINA LEXTE 
 
 Once 011 a time there iva'! a pool 
 Fringed all about ivith flag-leaves cool 
 And spotted with cow-lilies garish. 
 Of frogs and pouts the ancient parish. 
 Alders the creaking redivings sink on. 
 Tussocks that house blithe Bob o' Lincoln, 
 Hedged round the iDiassailed seclusion. 
 Where muskrats piled their cells Carthu- 
 sian; 
 And many a moss-embroidered log. 
 The luatering-placc of summer frog. 
 Slept and decayed tvitli patioit skill, 
 As watering-places sometimes will. 
 Now in this Abbey of Theleme, 
 Which realized the fairest dream 
 That ever dozing bull-frog had. 
 Sunned, on a half -sunk lily pad. 
 There rose a party with a mission 
 To mend the polliwog's conditio ti, 
 Who notified the selectmen 
 To call a meeting there and then. 
 "Some kind of steps," they said, "are 
 
 needed; 
 They don't come on so fast as we did: 
 Let's dock their tails; if that don't make 
 
 ein 
 
 Frogs by brevet, the Old One take 'em! 
 That boy, that came the other day 
 To dig some flag-root down this way. 
 His jack-knife left, and 'tis a sign 
 That Heaven approves of our design: 
 'T were wicked not to urge the step on. 
 When Providence has sent the iveapon.". 
 Old croakers, deacons of the mire, 
 That led the deep batrachian choir, 
 "Ukl Uk! Caronk!" ivith bass that might 
 Have left Lablache's out of sight. 
 Shook nobby heads, and said "No, go! 
 You'd better let 'em try to grow: 
 Old Doctor Time is slow, but still 
 He does know how to make a pill." 
 But vain was all their hoarsest bass. 
 Their old experience out of place. 
 And spite of croaking and entreating 
 
 The vote was carried in marsh-meeting. 
 "Lord knows, "protest the polliivogs, 
 "We're anxious to be grown-up frogs; 
 But don't push in to do the work 
 Of Nature till she prove a shirk; 
 'Tis not by jumps that she advances. 
 But wins her ivay by circumstances; 
 Pray, ivait awhile, until you know 
 We're so contrived as not to grow; 
 Let Nature take her own direction. 
 And she'll absorb our imperfection; 
 You mightn't like 'em to appear with. 
 But we must have the tilings to steer with." 
 "No," piped the party of reform, 
 "All great results are ta'en by storm; 
 Fate holds her best gifts till we show 
 We've strength to make her let them go; 
 The Providence that ivorks in history, 
 And seems to some folks such a mystery. 
 Does not creep slowly on, incog.. 
 But moves by jumps, a mighty frog; 
 No more reject the Age's chrism. 
 Your queues are an anachronism; 
 No more the future's promise mock. 
 But lay your tails upon the block. 
 Thankful that we the means have voted 
 To have you thus to frogs promoted." 
 The thing was done, the tails were cropped. 
 And home each philotadpole hopped. 
 In faith rewarded to exult. 
 And wait ihe beautiful result. 
 Too soon it came; oitr pool, so long 
 The theme of patriot bull-frog's song. 
 Next day was reeking, fit to smother. 
 With heads arid tails that missed each 
 
 other, — 
 Here snoutless tails, there tailless snouts; 
 The only gainers were the pouts. 
 
 MORAL 
 From lower to the higher next. 
 Not to the top is Nature's text; 
 And embryo Good, to reach full stature. 
 Absorbs the Evil in its nature. 
 
 — Lowell 
 
Batrachian Study loy 
 
 THE NEWT, EFT, OR SALAMANDER 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 FTER a rain in spring or summer, we see these little orange-red 
 creatures sprawling along roads or woodland paths, and 
 since they are rarely seen except after rain, the wise people 
 of old, declared they rained down, which was an easy way 
 for explaining their presence. But the newts do not rain 
 down, they rain up instead, since if they have journeys to make they 
 must needs go forth when the ground is wet, otherwise they would dry 
 up and die. Thus, the newts make a practice of never going out except 
 when it rains. A closer view of the eft shows plenty of peculiarities 
 in its appearance to interest us. Its colors are decidedly gay, the body 
 color being orange, ornamented with vermilion dots along each side of 
 the back, each red dot margined with tiny black specks; but the eft is 
 careless about these decorations and may have more spots on one side 
 than on the other. Besides these vermilion dots, it is also adorned 
 with black specks here and there, and especially along its sides looks as 
 if it had been peppered. The newt's greatest beauty lies in its eyes; 
 these are black, with elongated pupils, almost parallel with the length of 
 the head, and bordered above and below with bands of golden, shining iris 
 which give the eyes a fascinating brilliancy. The nostrils are mere pin- 
 holes in the end of the snout. 
 
 The legs and feet look queerly inadequate for such a long body, since 
 they are short and far apart. There are four toes on the front feet and 
 five on the hind feet, the latter being decidedly pudgy. The legs are 
 thinner where they join the body and wider toward the feet. The eft 
 can move very rapidly with its scant equipment of legs. It has a mis- 
 leading way of remaining motionless for a long time and then darting 
 forward like a flash, its long body falling into graceful curves as it moves. 
 But it can go very slowly when exploring; it then places its little hands 
 cautiously and Hfts its head as high as its short arms will allow, in order to 
 take observations. Although it can see quite well, yet on an unusual 
 surface, like glass, it seems to feel the way by touching its lower lip to the 
 surface as if to test it. The tail is flattened at the sides and is used to 
 twine around objects in time of need ; and I am sure it is also used to push 
 the eft while crawling, for it curves this way and that vigorously, as the 
 feet progress, and obviously pushes against the ground. Then, "too, the 
 tail is an aid when, by some chance, the eft is turned over on its back, for 
 with its help, it can right itself speedily. The eft's method of walking is 
 interesting; it moves forward one front foot and then the hind foot on 
 the other side ; after a stop for rest, it begins just where it left oft" when 
 it again starts on. Its beautiful eyes seem to serve the newt well indeed, 
 for I find that, when it sees my face approaching the moss jar, it climbs 
 promptly over to the other side. There are no eyelids for the golden 
 eyes, but the eft can pull them back into its head and close the slit after 
 them, thus making them very safe. 
 
 The eft with whose acquaintance I was most favored, was not yet 
 mature and was afraid of earthworms ; but he was very fond of plant-lice 
 and it was fun to see the little creature stalking them." A big rose plant- 
 louse would be squirming with satisfaction as it sucked the juice of the 
 leaf, when the eft would catch sight of it and become greatly 
 
198 
 
 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 excited, evidently holding his breath since the pulsating throat 
 would iDecome rigid. There was a particularly alert attitude of the 
 
 whole front part of 
 the body and espec- 
 ially of the eyes and 
 the head; then the 
 neck would stretch 
 out long and thin, 
 the orange snout ap- 
 proach stealthily 
 within half an inch 
 of the smug aphid, 
 and then there was a 
 flash as of lightning, 
 something too swift 
 to see coming out of 
 the eft's mouth and 
 swooping up the un- 
 
 D ^ . .. ^ , . lu- ^1 , T suspecting louse. 
 
 Red-s potted newt stalking plant-ttce. rp, ,1 ■,■,■, 
 
 ^ ^ ihen there would be 
 
 a gulp or two and all would be over. If the aphid happened to be a big 
 
 one, the eft made visible effort to swallow it. Sometimes his eftship 
 
 would become greatly excited when he first saw the plant-louse, and he 
 
 would sneeze and snort in a very comical way, like a dog, when eager 
 
 for game. 
 
 The following is the history of this species as summarized from Mrs. S. 
 H. Gage's charming "Story of Little Red Spot." The egg was laid in some 
 fresh water pond or the still borders of some stream where there is a 
 growth of water weed. The egg, which is about the size of a small pea, 
 is fastened to a water plant. It is covered with a tough but translucent 
 envelope, and has at the center a little yellowish globule. In a little less 
 than a month the eft hatches, but it looks very different from the form 
 with which we are most familiar. It has gray stripes upon its sides and 
 three tiny bunches of red gills on each side, just back of its broad head. 
 The tail is long and very thin, surrounded by a fin; it is an expert swim- 
 mer and breathes water as does a fish. After a time, it becomes greenish 
 above and buff below, and by the middle of August it develops legs and 
 has changed its form so that it is able to live upon land; it no longer has 
 gills or fin ; soon the coat changes to the bright orange hue which makes 
 the little creature so conspicuous. 
 
 The newt usually keeps hidden among moss, or under leaves, or in 
 decaying wood, or other damp and shady places; but after a rain, when 
 the whole world is damp, it feels confidence enough to go out in the open, 
 and hunt for food. For two and a half years it lives upon land and then 
 returns to the water. When this impulse comes upon it, it may be far 
 from any stream; but it seems to know instinctively where to go. Soon 
 after it enters the water, it is again transformed in color, becoming olive- 
 green above and buff below, although it still retains the red spots along 
 the back, as mementos of its land life; and it also retains its pepper-like 
 dots. Its tail develops a fin which extends along its back and is some- 
 what ruffled. In some mysterious way it develops the power to again 
 breathe the air which is mixed with water. 
 
Batrachian Study 
 
 199 
 
 The male has the hmd legs very large and flat; the female is lighter 
 in color and has more delicate and smaller legs. It is here in the water 
 that the efts find their mates and finish careers which must have surely 
 been hazardous. During its long and varied life, the eft often sheds its 
 skin like the snake; it has a strange habit of swallowing its cast-ofi[ coat. 
 
 LESSON XLVIII 
 The Newt, Eft, or "Salamander" 
 
 Leading thought — The newts change their form three 
 times to fit different modes of life. They are born in the 
 water and at first have fins and gills like fishes. They then 
 live on land, and have lungs for breathing air and lose 
 their fins ; later they go back to the water and again 
 develop the power of breathing the oxygen contained in 
 water, and also a fin. 
 
 Method — The little, orange eft or red-spotted salaman- 
 der may be kept in an aquarium which has in it an 
 object, as a stone or a clump of moss which projects above 
 the water. For food it should be given small earthworms 
 or leaves covered with plant lice. In this way it maybe vermilion 
 studied at leisure. "i"'"^^ - "^"'^ 
 
 Early stage of 
 
 Observations — i. Look at the eft closely. Is it all the 
 
 Egg 
 
 att 
 
 IS of 
 ach 
 
 newt 
 ked to 
 
 same color? How many spots upon its back and what water plant. 
 colors are they? Are there the same number of spots on Drawn by Anna 
 both sides? Are there any spots or dots besides these "^^ 
 
 larger ones? How does the eft resemble a toad? 
 
 2. Is the head the widest part of the body? Describe the eyes, the 
 shape and color of the pupil and of the iris. How does the eft wink? 
 Do you think it can see well? 
 
 3 . Can you see the nostrils ? How does the throat move and why ? 
 
 4. Are both pairs of legs the same size? How many toes on the front 
 feet? How many toes on the hind feet? Does the eft toe-in with its 
 front feet like a toad? 
 
 5. Doesit move more than one foot at a time when walking? Does it 
 use the feet on the same side in two consecutive steps? After putting for- 
 ward the right front foot what foot follows next ? Can it move backward ? 
 
 6. Is the tail as long as the head and body together? Is the tail 
 round or flat at the sides? How is it used to help the eft when traveling? 
 Does the tail drag or is it lifted, or does it push by squirming? 
 
 7. How does the eft act when startled? Docs it examine its sur- 
 roundings? Do you think it can see and is afraid of you? 
 
 8. Why do we find these creatures only during wet weather? Why 
 do people think they rain down? 
 
 9. What does the eft eat ? How does it catch its prey ? 
 its skin ? How many kinds of efts have you seen ? 
 
 10. From what kind of egg does the eft hatch? When is this egg 
 laid? How does it look? On what is it fastened? 
 
 1 1 . How many times during its fife does the orange eft change color? 
 What part of its Hfe is spent upon land ? What changes take place in its 
 form when it leaves the water for life upon land, and what changes take 
 place in its structure when it returns to the water? 
 
 Does it shed 
 
2 00 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 IV. REPTILE STUDY 
 
 Yet ivhen a cliild and barefoot; I more than once, at morn, 
 Have passed, I thought, a ivhiplash unhraided in the sun, 
 When, stooping to secure it, it wrinkled, and was gone. 
 
 — Emily Dickinson. 
 
 F the teacher couid bring herself to take as much interest as 
 did Mother Eve in that "subtile animal," as the Bible calls 
 the serpent, she might, through such interest, enter the 
 paradise of the boyish heart instead of losing a paradise of 
 her own. How many teachers, who have an aversion for 
 snakes, are obliged to teach small boys whose pet diversion 
 is capturing these living ribbons and bringing them into 
 the schoolroom stowed away not too securely in pockets! 
 In one of the suburban Brooklyn schools, boys of this ilk sought to 
 frighten their teacher with their weird prisoners. But she was equal to 
 the occasion, and surprised them by declaring that there were many 
 interesting things to be studied about snakes, and forthwith sent to the 
 library for books which discussed these reptiles; and this was the begin- 
 ning of a nature-study club of rare efficiency and enterprise. 
 
 There are abroad in the land, many errors concerning snakes. Most 
 people believe that they are all venomous, which is far from true. The 
 rattlesnake still holds its own in rocky, mountainous places and the 
 moccasin haunts the bayous of the southern coast; however, in most 
 locaHties, snakes are not only harmless but are beneficial to the farmer. 
 The superstition that if a snake is killed, its tail will live until sun-down, is 
 general and has but slender foundation in the fact that snakes, being 
 lower in their nerve-organization than mammals, the process of death is a 
 slow one. Some people firmly believe that snakes spring or jump from 
 the ground to seize their prey, which is quite false since no snake jumps 
 clear of the ground as it strikes, nor does it spring from a perfect coil. 
 Nor are snakes sHmy, quite to the contrary, they are covered with per- 
 fectly dry scales. But the most general superstition of all is that,_when 
 a snake thrusts out its tongue, it is an act of animosity; the fact is, the 
 tongue is a sense organ and is used as an insect uses its feelers or antennae, 
 and the act is also supposed to aid the creature in heanng; thus when a 
 snake thrusts out its tongue, it is simply trying to find out about its sur- 
 roundings and what is going on. 
 
 Snakes are the only creatures able to swallow objects larger than 
 themselves. This is rendered possible by the elasticity of the body walls, 
 and the fact that snakes have an extra bone hinging the upper to the lower 
 jaw, allowing them to spread widely; the lower jaw also separates at the 
 middle of its front edge and spreads apart sidewise. In order to force a 
 creature into a "bag" so manifestly too small, a special mechanism is 
 needed; the teeth supply this by pointing backward, and thus assist in 
 the swallowing. The snake moves by literally walking on the ends of its 
 ribs, which are connected with the crosswise plates on its lower side;_ each 
 of these crosswise plates has the hind edge projecting down so that it can 
 hold to an object. Thus, the graceful, noiseless progress of the snake, is 
 brought about by many of these crosswise plates worked by the move- 
 ment of the ribs. 
 
Reptile Study 201 
 
 Some species of snakes simply chase their prey, striking at it and 
 catching it in the open month, while others, like the black snake, wind 
 themselves about their victims crushing them to death. Snakes can live 
 a long time without food; many instances on record show that they have 
 been able to exist a year or more without anything to eat. In our north- 
 em climate they hibernate in winter, going to sleep as soon as the weather 
 becomes cold and not waking up until spring. As snakes grow, they 
 shed their skins; this occurs only two or three times a year. The crested 
 fly-catcher adorns its nest with these phantom snakes. 
 
 References — The Reptile Book, by Ditmars, gives interesting accounts 
 of our common snakes; Mathew's Famihar Life of Field and Forest is 
 also valuable. To add interest to the snake lessons let the children read 
 "Kaas Hunting" and "Rikki Tikki Tavi" from Kipling's Jungle Books. 
 
 THE GARTER, OR GARDEN, SNAKE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 A chipmunk, or a sudden-whirring quail, 
 
 Is startled hy my step as on I fare. 
 A gartersnake across the dusty trail. 
 
 Glances ajid — is not there. — Riley. 
 
 ^ARTER snakes can be easily tamed, and are ready to meet 
 friendly advances half way. A handsome yellow-striped, 
 black garter lived for four years beneath our piazza and 
 was very friendly and unafraid of the family. The 
 children of the campus made it frequent visits, and never 
 seemed to be weary of watching it; but the birds objected 
 to it very much, although it never attempted to reach their nests in the 
 vine above. The garter snakes are the most common of all, in our North- 
 eastern States. They vary much in color; the ground color may be olive, 
 brown or black, and down the center of the back is usually a yellow, green 
 or whitish stripe, usually bordered by a darker band of ground-color. 
 On each side is a similar stripe, but not so brightly colored; sometimes 
 the middle stripe, and sometimes the side stripes are broken into spots or 
 absent; the lower side is greenish white or yellow. When fullv grown 
 this snake is about three feet in length. 
 
 The garters are likely to congregate in numbers in places favorable 
 for hibernation, Hke rocky ledges or stony side-hills. Here each snake 
 finds a safe crevice, or makes a burrow which sometimes extends a yard 
 or more under ground. During the warm days of Indian summer, these 
 winter hermits crawl out in the middle of the day and sun themselves, 
 retiring again to their hermitages when the air grows chilly toward night; 
 and when the cold weather arrives, they go to sleep and do not awaken 
 until the first warm days of spring; then, if the sun shines hot, they 
 crawl out and bask in its welcome rays. 
 
 After the warm weather comes, the snakes scatter to other localities 
 more favorable for finding food, and thus these hibernating places are 
 deserted during the s.ummer. The banks of streams, and the edges of 
 woods are places which furnish snakes their food, which consists of earth- 
 worms, insects, toads, salamanders, frogs, etc. The 3'oung are bom late 
 
202 
 
 Hmidbook of Nature-Stitdy 
 
 in July and are about six inches long at birth; one mother may have in 
 her brood from eleven to fifty snakelings; she stays with them during 
 the fall to protect them, and there are many stories about the way the 
 young ones run down the mother's throat in case of attack; but, as yet, 
 no scientist has seen this act, or placed it on record. The little snakes 
 shift for their own food, catching small toads, earthworms and insects. 
 If it finds food in plenty, the garter snake will mature in one year. 
 Hawks, crows, skunks, weasels and other predacious animals seem to find 
 the garter snake attractive food. 
 
 Garter snakes. 
 
 LESSON XLIX 
 The Garter, or Garden, vSxake 
 
 Leading ihoughi — The garter snake is a common and harmless little 
 creature and has many interesting habits which are worth studying. 
 
 Method — A garter snake may be captured and placed in a box with a 
 glass cover and thus studied in detail in the schoolroom, but the lesson 
 should begin with observations made by the children on the snakes in 
 their native haunts. 
 
 Observations — i. What are the colors and markings of your garter 
 snake? Do the stripes extend along the head as well as the body? How 
 long is it? 
 
 2. Describe its eyes, its ears, its nostrils and its mouth 
 
 3. If you disturb it how does it act? Why does it thrust its tongue 
 out? What shape is its tongue? 
 
Reptile Study 203 
 
 4. In what position is the snake when it rests? Can you see how 
 it moves? Look upon the lower side. Can you see the Httle plates 
 extending crosswise? Do you think it moves by moving these plates? 
 Let it crawl across your hand, and see if you can tell how it moves. 
 
 5. What does the garter snake eat? Did you ever see one swallow 
 a toad? A frog? Did it take it head first or tail first? 
 
 6. Where does the garter spend the winter? How early does it 
 appear in the spring? 
 
 7 . At what time of year do you see the young snakes ? Do the young 
 ones run down the throat of the mother for safety when attacked ? Does 
 the mother snake defend her young? 
 
 8. What enemies has the garter snake? 
 
 'No life in earth or air or sky; 
 The sunbeams, broken silently. 
 On the bared rocks around me lie, — 
 
 Cold rocks with half-wartned lichens scarred. 
 And scales of tnoss; and scarce a yard 
 Away, one long strip, yellow-barred. 
 
 Lost in a cleft! 'Tis but a stride 
 To reach it, thrust its roots aside. 
 And lift it on thy stick astride! 
 
 Yet stay! That moment is thy grace! 
 For round thee, thrilling air and space, 
 A chattering terror fills the place! 
 
 A sound as of dry bones that stir, 
 In the dead valley! By yon fir _ 
 The locust stops its noon-day whir! 
 
 The wild bird hears; smote with the sound. 
 
 As if by bullet brought to ground 
 
 On broken wing, dips, wheeling round! 
 
 The hare, transfixed, with trembling lip, 
 Halts breathless, on pulsating hip. 
 And palsied tread, and heels that slip. 
 
 Enough, old friend! — 'tis thou. Forget 
 My heedless foot, nor longer fret 
 The peace with thy grim castanet!" 
 
 From "Crotalus" (The Rattlesnake), Bret Harte. 
 
2 ©4 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE MILK SNAKE, OR SPOTTED ADDER 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 The grass divides as with a cotnb, a spotted shajt is seen, 
 And then it doses at your jeet, and opens farther on. 
 
 — Emili Dickinson. 
 
 I HIS is the snake which is said to milk cows, a most 
 absurd behef ; it would not milk a cow if it could, and 
 it could not if it would. It has never yet been induced 
 to drink milk when in captivity; and if it were very 
 thirsty, it could not drink more than two teaspoonfuls 
 of milk at most; thus in any case, its depredations 
 upon the milk supply need not be feared. Its object, 
 in frequenting milk houses and stables, is far other than 
 the milking of cows, for it is an inveterate hunter of 
 rats and mice and is thus of great benefit to the farmer. It is a constric- 
 tor, and squeezes its prey to death in its coils. 
 
 The ground color of the milk snake is pale gray, but it is covered with 
 so many brown or dark gray saddle-shaped blotches, that they seem 
 rather to form the ground-color; the lower side is white, marked with 
 square black spots and blotches. The snake attains a length of about 
 three feet when fully grown. Although it is called commonly the spotted 
 adder, it does not belong to the adders at all, but to the family of the king 
 snakes. 
 
 During July and August, the mother snake lays from seven to twenty 
 eggs; they are deposited in loose soil, in moist rubbish, in compost heaps, 
 etc. The egg is a symmetrical oval in shape and is about one and one- 
 eighth inches long by a half inch in diameter. The shell is soft and white, 
 like kid leather, and the egg resembles a puffball. The young hatch 
 nearly two months after the eggs are laid, meanwhile the eggs have in- 
 creased in size so that the snakelings are nearly eight inches long when they 
 hatch. The saddle-shaped blotches on the young have much red in them. 
 The milk snake is not venomous; it will sometimes, in defence, try to 
 chew the hand of the captor, but the wounds it can inflict are very slight 
 and heal quickly. 
 
 The milk snake, or spotted adder. 
 
Reptile Study 205 
 
 LESSON L. 
 The Milk Snake, or Spotted Adder 
 
 Leading thought — The milk snake is found around stables where it 
 hunts for rats and mice but never milks the cows. 
 
 Method — Although the snake acts fiercely, it is perfectly harmless and 
 maybe captured in the hands and placed in a glass-covered box for a study 
 in the schoolroom. 
 
 Observations — i. Where is the milk snake found? Why is it called 
 milk snake? Look at its mouth and see if you think it could possibly 
 suck a cow. See if you can get the snake to drink milk. 
 
 2. What does it live upon? How does it kill its prey? Can the 
 milk snake climb a tree? 
 
 3. Where does the mother snake lay her eggs? How do the eggs 
 look? How large are they? How long are the little snakes when they 
 hatch from the egg^ Are they the same color as the old ones? 
 
 4. Describe carefully the colors and markings of the milk snake and 
 explain how its colors protect it from observation. What are its colors on 
 the under side? 
 
 5. Have you ever seen a snake shed its skin? Describe how it was 
 done. How does the sloughed-off skin look? What bird always puts 
 snake skins around its nest? 
 
 / have the same objection to killing a snake that I have to the killing of any other 
 animal, yet the most hum.ane man I know never omits to kill one. 
 
 A^<S- 5, 1853. 
 
 The mower on the river meadows, when he comes to open his hay these days, en- 
 counters sotne overgrown water adder, full of young {?) and bold in defense of its 
 progeny, and tells a tale when he comes home at night which causes a shudder to run 
 through the village — how it came at him and he ran, and it pursued and overtook him, 
 and he transfixed it with a pitchfork and laid it on a cock of hay, but it revived and catne 
 at him again. This is the story he tells in the shops at evening. The big snake is a sort 
 of fabulous animal. It is always as big as a man's arm and of indefinite length. 
 Nobody knows exactly how deadly is its bite but nobody is known to have been bitten and 
 recovered. Irishm.en introduced into these meadows for the first time, on seeing a stiake, 
 a creature which they have seen only in pictures before, lay doivn their scythes and run 
 as if it were the Evil One himself and cannot be induced to return to their work. They 
 sigh for Ireland, where they say there is no venomous thing that can hurt you. 
 
 — Thore.\u's Journal. 
 
i-^O 
 
 Hatidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE WATER SNAKE 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 rVERY boy that goes fishing, knows the snake found com- 
 monly about mill-dams and wharves or on rocks and 
 bushes near the water. The teacher will have accomplished 
 a great work, if these boys are made to realize that this 
 snake is a more interesting creature for study, than as an 
 object to pelt with stones. 
 
 The water snake is a dingy brown in color, with cross- 
 bands of brownish or reddish brown which spread out into blotches at 
 the side. Its color is very protective as it lies on stones or logs in its 
 favorite attitude of sunning itself. It is very local in its habits, and 
 generally has a favorite place for basking and returns to it year after 
 year on sunny days. 
 
 This snake lives mostly upon frogs and salamanders and fish ; however, 
 it preys usually upon fish of small value, so it is of little economicim.port- 
 ance. It catches its victims by chasing, and seizing them in its jaws. 
 It has a very keen sense of smell and probably traces its prey in this 
 rtianner, something as a hound follows a fox. It is an expert swimmer, 
 usually 'fitting the head a few inches above the water when swimming, 
 although it is able to dive and remain below the water for a short time. 
 The water snake is a bluffer, and, when cornered, it flattens itself and 
 strikes fiercely. But its teeth contain no poison and it can inflict only 
 slight and harmless wounds. When acting as if it would "rather fight than 
 eat," if given a slight chance to escape, it will flee to the water like a 
 "streak of greased lightning," as any boy will assure you. 
 
 The water snake. 
 
Reptile Study 207 
 
 The water snake attains a length of about four feet. The young do 
 not hatch from eggs, but are born aUve in August and September; they 
 differ much in appearance from their parents as they are pale gray in 
 color, with jet-black cross-bands. 
 
 LESSON LI 
 The Water Snake 
 
 Leading thought — The water snake haunts the banks of streams because 
 its food consists of creatures that live in and about water. 
 
 Method — If water snakes are found in the locality, encourage the boys 
 to capture one without harming it, and bring it to school for observation. 
 However, as the water snake is very local in its habits, and haunts the 
 same place year after year, it will be better nature-study to get the children 
 to observe it in its native surroundings. 
 
 Observations — i. Where is the water snake found? How large is the 
 largest one you ever saw? 
 
 2. Why does the water snake live near water? What is its food? 
 How does it catch its prey? 
 
 3. Describe how the water snake swims. How far does its head 
 project above the water when swimming? How long can it stay com- 
 pletely beneath the water? 
 
 4. Describe the markings and colors of the water snake. How do 
 these colors protect it from observation? How do the young look? 
 
 5. Does each water snake have a favorite place for sunning itself? 
 
 6. Where do the water snakes spend the winter? 
 
 May 12, 1S58. 
 
 Found a large water adder by the edge of Farmer's large miidhole, which abounds 
 with tadpoles and frogs, on which it was probably feeding. It was sunning on the bank 
 and would face me a)id dart its head toward me when I tried to drive it from the water. 
 It is barred above, but indistinctly when out of the water, so that it appears almost 
 uniformly dark brown, but in the water, broad, reddish brown bars are seen, very dis- 
 tinctly alternating with very dark-brown ones. The head was very flat and suddenly 
 broader than the neck behind. Beneath, it was whitish and reddish flesh-color. It was 
 about two inches in diameter at the thickest part. The inside of its mouth and throat 
 was pink. They are tJie biggest and most formidable-looking snakes that we have. It 
 was atvful to see it wind along the bottom of the ditch at last, raising ivreaths of mud 
 amid the tadpoles, to which it must be a very sea-serpent. I aftencard saw another, 
 running under Sam Barrett's grist-mill, the same afternoon. He said that he saw a 
 water-snake, which he distinguished from a black snake, in an apple tree near by, last 
 year, with a young robin in its mouth, having taken it from the }iest. There was a cleft 
 or fork in the tree which enabled it to ascend. 
 
 — Thoreau's Journal. 
 
208 
 
 Handbook of Xatiire-Stiidy 
 
 THE TURTLE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 TURTLE is at heart a misanthrope ; its shell is in itself proof of 
 its owner's distrust of this world. But we need not 
 wonder at this misanthropy, if we think for a moment 
 of the creatures that lived on this earth, at the time 
 when turtles first appeared. Almost any of us would 
 have been glad of a shell in which to retire, if we had 
 been contemporaries of the smilodon and other monsters of earlier geologic 
 times. 
 
 When the turtle feels safe and walks abroad for pleasure, his head pro- 
 jects far from the front end of his shell, and the legs, so wide, and soft that 
 they look as if they had no bones in them, project out at the side, while 
 the little, pointed tail brings up an undiginfied rear; but frighten him 
 and at once head, legs and tail all disappear, and even if we turn him over, 
 we see nothing but the tip of the nose, the claws of the feet and the tail 
 turned deftly sidcwise. When frightened, he hisses threateningly; the 
 noise seems to be made while the mouth is shut, and the breath emitted 
 through the nostrils. 
 
 Carapace of painted terrapin in retirement. 
 
 Plastron of same terrapin. 
 
 The u])pcr shell of the turtle is called the carapace and the lower shell, 
 the plastron. There is much difference in the different species of turtles 
 in the shape of the upper shell and the size and shape of the lower one. 
 In most species the carapace is sub-globular but in some it is quite flat. 
 The upper shell is grown fast to the backbone of the animal, and the 
 lower shell to the breast bone. The markings and colors of the shell offer 
 excellent subjects for drawing. The painted terrapin has a red-mottled 
 border to the shell, very ornamental; the wood turtle has a shell made up 
 of ]jlates each of which is ornamented with concentric ridges ; and the box- 
 turtle has a front and rear trap-door, hinged to the plastron, which can 
 be pulled up against the carapace when the turtle wishes to retire, thus 
 covering it entirely. 
 
Reptile Study 
 
 209 
 
 The turtle's head is decidedly snakelike. Its color differs with differ- 
 ent species. The wood turtle has a triangular, homy covering on the 
 top of the head, in which the color and beautiful pattern of the shell are 
 repeated; the underparts are brick-red with indistinct yellowish lines 
 under the jaw. The eyes are black with a yellowish iris, which somehow 
 gives them a look of intelligence. The turtle has no eyelids like our own, 
 but has a nictitating membrane which comes up from below and com- 
 pletely covers the eye ; if we seize the turtle by the head and attempt to 
 touch its eyes, we can see the use of this eyelid. When the turtle winks, 
 it seems to turn the eyeball down against the lower lid. 
 
 The sense of smell in turtles is not well developed, as may be guessed 
 by the very small nostrils, which are mere pin-holes in the snout. The 
 mouth is a more or less hooked beak, and is armed with cutting edges 
 instead of teeth. The constant pulsation in the throat is caused by the 
 turtle swallowing air for breathing. 
 
 The turtle's legs, al- 
 though so large and soft, 
 have bones within them, 
 as the skeleton shows. 
 The claws are long and 
 strong; there are five 
 claws on the front and 
 four on the hind feet. 
 Some species have a dis- 
 tinct web between the 
 toes; in others, it is less 
 marked, depending upon 
 whether the species lives 
 mostly in water or out 
 of it. The color of the 
 turtle's body varies with 
 the species; the body is 
 covered with coarse, 
 rough skin made up of 
 various-sized plates. 
 
 The enemies of turtles 
 are the larger fishes and 
 other turtles. Two tur- 
 tles should never be kept 
 in the same aquarium, 
 since they eat each 
 others' tails and legs with 
 great relish.' They feed 
 upon insects, small fish, 
 or almost anything soft- 
 bodied which they can 
 find in the water; they 
 are especially fond of 
 earthworms. The species which frequent the land, feed upon tender 
 vegetation and also eat berries. In an aquarium, a turtle should be 
 fed earthworms, chopped fresh beef, lettuce leaves and berries. The 
 wood turtle is especially fond of cherries. 
 
 Boxy, a trained turtle. 
 Photo by Silas Lottridge. 
 
2IO Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The aquarium should always have in it a stone or some other object 
 projecting above the water, so that the turtle may climb out, if it chooses. 
 In winter, turtles bury themselves in the ooze at the bottom of ponds and 
 streams. Their eggs have white leathery shells, are oblong in shape, and 
 are buried by the mother in the sand or soil near a stream or pond. The 
 long life of turtles is a well authenticated fact, dates carved upon their 
 shells show them to have attained the age of thirty or forty years. 
 
 The following are, perhaps, the most common species of turtles: 
 
 (a) The Snapping Turtle — This sometimes attains a shell 14 inches 
 long and a weight of forty pounds. It is a vicious creature and inflicts a 
 severe wound with its sharp, hooked beak; it should not be used for a 
 nature-study lesson unless the specimen is very young. 
 
 (b) The Mud Turtle — The musk turtle and the common mud turtle 
 both inhabit slow streams and ponds; they are truly aquatic and only 
 come to shore to deposit their eggs. They cannot eat, unless they are 
 under water, and they seek their food in the muddy bottoms. The 
 musk turtle when handled, emits a very strong odor; it has on each 
 side of the head two broad yellow stripes. The mud turtle has no 
 odor. Its head is ornamented with greenish yellow spots. 
 
 (c) The Painted Terrapin, or Pond Turtle — This can be determined by 
 the red mottled border of its shell. It makes a good pet, if kept in an 
 aquarium by itself, but will destroy other creatures. It will eat meat or 
 chopped fish, and is fond of earthworms and soft insects. 
 
 (d) The Spotted Turtle — This has the upper shell black with numerous 
 round yellow spots upon it. It is common in ponds and marshy streams 
 and its favorite perch is, with many of its companions, upon a log. It 
 feeds under water, eating insect larvae, dead fish and vegetation. It 
 likes fresh lettuce. 
 
 (e) The Wood Terrapin — This is our most common turtle ; it is found 
 in damp woods and wet places, since it lives largely upon the land. Its 
 upper shell often reaches a length of six and one-half inches and is made 
 up of many plates, ornamented with concentric ridges. This is the turtle 
 upon whose shell people carve initials and dates and then set it free. All 
 the fleshy parts of this turtle, except the top of the head and the limbs, 
 are brick-red. It feeds on tender vegetables, berries and insects. It 
 makes an interesting pet and will soon learn to eat from the fingers of its 
 master. 
 
 (f) The Box-Turtle — This is easily distinguished from the others, 
 because the front and rear portions of the lower shell are hinged so that 
 they can be pulled up against the upper shell. When this turtle is 
 attacked, it draws into the shell and closes both front and back doors, and 
 is very safe from its enemies. It lives entirely upon land and feeds upon 
 berries, tender vegetation and insects. It Hves to a great age. 
 
 (g) The Soft-shelled Turtle — These are found in streams and canals. 
 The upper shell looks as if it were of one piece of soft leather, and resem- 
 bles a griddle-cake. Although soft-shelled, these turtles are far from soft- 
 tempered, and must be handled with care. 
 
Reptile Study 
 
 211 
 
 LESSON LII 
 The TiRTLE 
 
 Leading thought — 
 The turtle's shell is 
 for the purpose of 
 protecting its owner 
 from the attack of 
 enemies. Some tur- 
 tles live upon land 
 and others in water. 
 
 Method— A turtle 
 of any kind, in the 
 schoolroom, is all 
 that is needed to 
 make this lesson in- 
 teresting. 
 
 Observaiio ns — 
 I . How much can you 
 see of the turtle when 
 it is walking ? If 
 you disturb it what 
 does it do? How 
 much of it can you 
 see then? Can you 
 see more of it from the 
 lower side than the upper? What is the advantage to the turtle of 
 having such a shell ? 
 
 2. Compare the upper shell with the lower as follows: How are 
 they shaped differently? What is their difference in color? Would it 
 be a disadvantage to the turtle if the upper shell were as light colored 
 as the lower? Why? Make a d;awing of the upper and the lower shell 
 showing the shape of the plates of w^hich they are composed. Where 
 are the two grown together? 
 
 3. Is the border of the upper shell different from the central portion 
 in color and markings? Is the edge smooth or scalloped? 
 
 4. How far does the turtle's head project from the front of the shell? 
 What is the shape of the head? With what colors and pattern is it 
 marked? Describe the eyes. How are they protected? How does the 
 turtle wink? Can you discover the little e}-elid which comes up from 
 
 A snapping turtle. 
 Photo by J. T. Lloyd. 
 
 below to cover the eye? 
 
 Do you think it has a keen sense 
 
 what does it 
 Whv is this 
 
 5. Describe the nose and nostrils, 
 of smell? 
 
 6. Describe the mouth. Are there any teeth? With 
 bite off its food? Describe the movement of the throat, 
 constant pulsation? 
 
 7. What is the shape of the leg? How is it marked? How many 
 claws on the front feet? Are any of the toes webbed? On which feet are 
 the webbed toes? Why should they be webbed? Describe the way a 
 turtle swims. Which feet are used for oars? 
 
 8. Describe the tail. How much can be seen from above when the 
 turtle is walking? What becomes of it, when the turtle withdraws into 
 its shell ? 
 
212 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 g. How much of the turtle's body can you see? What is its color? 
 Is it rough or smooth ? 
 
 10. What are the turtle's enemies? How does it escape from them? 
 What noise does the turtle make when frightened or angry? 
 
 11. Do all turtles live for part of the time in water? What is their 
 food and where do they find it? Write an account of all the species of 
 turtles that you know. 
 
 12. How do turtle eggs look? Where are they laid? How are they 
 hidden ? 
 
 Supplementaty reading — "Turtle Eggs for Agassiz," Dalles Lore Sharp, 
 Altantic Monthly, Feb., 1910. 
 
 V. MAMMAL STUDY 
 
 OR some inexplicable reason, the word animal, in 
 common parlance, is restricted to the mammals. 
 As a matter of fact, the bird, the fish, the insect 
 and the snake have as much right to be called animals as has 
 the squirrel or the deer. And while I believe that much 
 freedom in the matter of scientific nomenclature is permissible 
 in nature-study, 1 also believe that it is well for the child to 
 have a clearly defined idea of the classes into which the animal 
 kingdom is divided; and I would have him gain this knowledge 
 by noting how one animal differs from another rather than by 
 studying the classification of animals in books. He sees 
 that the fish differs in many ways from the bird and that the 
 toad differs from the snake; and it will be easy for him to grasp 
 the fact that the mammals differ from all other animals in that 
 the young are nourished by milk produced for this purpose in the breasts 
 of the mother; when he understands this, he can comprehend how such 
 diverse forms as the whale, the cow, the bat, and human beings are akin. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 213 
 
 A cottoii'tail rabbit. 
 
 THE COTTON-TAIL RABBIT 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "The Bunnies are a jeeHe folk whose weakness is their strength. 
 To shun a gun a Bun will run to almost aiiy length." — Oliver Herford. 
 
 T IS well for Molly Cotton-tail and her family that they 
 have learned to shun more than guns for almost every 
 predatory animal and bird makes a dinner of them on 
 every possible occasion. But despite these enemies, 
 moreover, with the addition of guns, men and dogs, 
 the cotton-tail lives and flourishes in our midst. A 
 "Molly" raised two families last year in a briar-patch 
 back of our garden on the Cornell Campus, where dogs 
 of many breeds abound; and after each fresh fall of 
 snow this winter we have been able to trace our 
 bunny neighbors in their night wanderings around 
 the house, beneath the spruces and in the orchard. 
 The track consists of two long splashes, paired, 
 little behind them, two smaller ones; the 
 as a boy uses a vaulting pole and 
 hind feet on each side and ahead of them; owing to the fact that the 
 bottoms of the feet are hairy the print is not clear-cut. When the rabbit 
 is not in a hurry it has a peculiar lope, but when frightened it makes long 
 jumps. The cotton-tails are night wanderers and usually remain hidden 
 during the day. In summer, they feed on clover or grass or other juicy 
 herbs and show a fondness for sweet apples and fresh cabbage; in our 
 
 and between and a 
 uses its front feet 
 
 rabbit 
 lands both 
 
214 Hatidhook of Naiiire-Stvidy 
 
 garden last summer Molly was very considerate. She carefully pulled 
 all the grass out of the garden-cress bed, leaving the salad for our enjoy- 
 ment. In winter, the long, gnawing teeth of the cotton-tail are some- 
 times used to the damage of fruit trees and nursery stock since the rabbits 
 are obliged to feed upon bark in order to keep alive. 
 
 The long, strong hind legs and the long ears tell the whole bunny 
 story. Ears to hear the approach of the enemy, and legs to propel the 
 listener by long jumps to a safe retreat. The attitude of the ears is a good 
 indication of the bunny's state of mind ; if they are set back to back and 
 directed backward, they indicate placidity, but a placidity that is always 
 on guard; if lifted straight up they signify attention and anxiety; if one 
 is bent forward and the other backward the meaning is: "Now just 
 where did that sound come from?" When running or when resting in the 
 form, the ears are laid back along the neck. When the cotton-tail stands 
 up on its haunches with both ears erect, it looks very tall indeed. 
 
 Not only are the ears always alert, but also the nose; the nostrils are 
 partially covered and in order to be always sure of getting every scent 
 they wabble constantly, the split upper Hp aiding in this performance; 
 when the rabbit is trying to get a scent it moves its head up and down in a 
 sagacious, apprehensive manner. 
 
 The rabbit has an upper and lower pair of incisors like other rodents, 
 but on the upper jaw there is a short incisor on each side of the large 
 teeth ; these are of no use now but are inherited from some ancestor which 
 found them useful. There are at the back of each side of the upper jaw 
 six grinding teeth, and five on each side of the lower jaw. The split 
 upper lip allows the free use of the upper incisors. The incisors are not 
 only used for taking the bark from trees, but also for cutting grass and 
 other food. The rabbit has a funny way of taking a stem of grass or 
 clover at the end and with much wabbling of lips, finally taking it in, 
 meanwhile chewing it with a sidewise motion of the jaws. The rabbits' , 
 whiskers are valuable as feelers, and are always kept on the qui vive for 
 impressions; when two cotton-tails meet each other amicably, they rub 
 whiskers together. The eyes are large and dark and placed on the bulge 
 at the side of the head, so as to command the view both ways. Probably 
 a cotton-tail winks, but I never caught one in the act. 
 
 The strong hind legs of the rabbit enable it to make prodigious jumps, 
 of eight feet or more ; this is a valuable asset to an animal that escapes 
 its enemies by running. The front feet are short and cannot be turned 
 inward like those of the squirrel, to hold food. There are five toes on the 
 front feet, and four on the hind feet; the hair on the bottom of the feet is 
 a protection, much needed by an animal which sits for long periods upon 
 the snow. When sleeping, the front paws are folded under and the rabbit 
 rests on the entire hind foot, with the knee bent, ready for a spring at the 
 slightest alarm; when awake, it rests on the hind feet and front toes; and 
 when it wishes to see if the coast is clear, it rises on its hind feet, with 
 front paws drooping. 
 
 The cotton-tail has a color well calculated to protect it from observa- 
 tion ; it is brownish-gray on the back and a Httle lighter along the sides, 
 grayish under the chin and whitish below; the ears are edged with black, 
 and the tail when raised shows a large, white fluff at the rear. The general 
 color of the rabbit fits in with natural surroundings; since the cotton-tail 
 often escapes its enemies by "freezing," this color makes the scheme work 
 
Mammal Study 2tc 
 
 well. I once saw a marsh hare, on a stone in a brook, freezing most suc- 
 cessfully. I could hardly believe that a living thing could seem so 
 much hke a stone; only its bright eyes revealed it to us. 
 
 The rabbit cleans itself in amusing ways. 
 It shakes its feet, one at a time, with great 
 vigor and rapidity to get off the dirt and then 
 licks them clean. It washes its face with 
 both front paws at once. It scratches its ear 
 with the hind foot, and pushes it forward so 
 that it can be licked; it takes hold of its fur 
 with its front feet to pull it around within 
 reach of the tongue. 
 
 The cotton-tail does not dig a burrow. Washing up. 
 
 but sometimes occupies the deserted burrow 
 
 of a woodchuck or skunk. Its nest is called a "form," which simply 
 means a place beneath a cover of grass or briars, where the grass is beaten 
 down or eaten out for a space large enough for the animal to sit. The 
 mother makes a soft bed for the young, using grass and her own hair for 
 the purpose; and she constructs a coarse felted coverlet, under which she 
 tucks her babies with care, every time she leaves them. Young rabbits 
 are blind at first, but when about three weeks old, are sufficiently grown 
 to run quite rapidly. Although there may be five or six in a litter, yet 
 there are so many enemies that only a few escape. 
 
 Fox, mink, weasel, hawk, owl and snake all relish the young cotton- 
 tail if they can get it. Nothing but its runways through the briars can 
 save it. These roads wind in and out and across, twisting and turning 
 perplexingly; they are made by cutting off the grass stems, and are just 
 wide enough for the rabbit's body. However, a rabbit has weapons and 
 can fight if necessary; it leaps over its enemy, kicking it on the back 
 fiercely with its great hind feet. Mr. Set on tells of this way of conquering 
 the black snake, and Mr. Sharp saw a cat completely vanquished by the 
 same method. The rabbit can also bite, and when two males are fighting, 
 they bite each other savagely. Mr. E. W. Cleeves told me of a Belgian 
 doe which showed her enmity to cats in a peculiar way. She would run 
 after any cats that came in sight, butting them like a billy-goat. The cats 
 soon learned her tricks, and would climb a tree as soon as they caught 
 sight of her. The rabbit's sotmd of defiance, is thumping the ground 
 with the strong hind foot. Some have declared that the front feet are 
 used also for stamping; although I have heard this indignant thumping 
 more than once, I could not see the process. The cotton-tail is a hare, 
 while the common domestic rabbit is a true rabbit. The two differ 
 chiefly in the habits of nesting; the hares rest and nest in forms, while 
 the rabbit makes burrows, digging rapidly with the front feet. 
 
 Not the least of tributes to the rabbit's sagacity, are the negro folk- 
 stories told by Uncle Remus, wherein Bre'r Rabbit, although often in 
 trouble, is really the most clever of all the animals. I have often thought 
 
 Rabbit tracks. 
 
2l6 
 
 Handbook of Nature Study 
 
 when I have seen the tactics which rabbits have adopted to escape dogs, 
 that we in the North have under-rated the cleverness of this timid animaL 
 In one instance at least that came under our observation, a cotton-tail 
 led a dog to the verge of a precipice, then doubled back to safety, while 
 the dog went over, landing on the rocks nearly three hundred feet below. 
 
 LESSON LIII 
 
 The Cottox-tail Rabbit 
 
 Leading thought — 
 The cotton-tail thrives 
 amid civilization; its 
 color protects it from 
 sight; its long ears 
 give it warning of the 
 approach of danger; 
 and its long legs en- 
 able it to run by swift, 
 long leaps. It feeds 
 upon grasses, clover, 
 vegetables and other 
 herbs. 
 
 Method— Thh study 
 Belgian hares and Dutch rabbit. ^^^ ^^ begun in the 
 
 winter, when the rabbit tracks can be observed and the haunts of the 
 cotton-tail discovered. If caught in a box trap, the cotton-tail will be- 
 come tame if properly fed and cared for, and may thus be studied at 
 close range. The cage I have used for rabbits as thus caught, is made 
 of wire screen, nailed to a frame, making a wire-covered box, two feet 
 high and two or three feet square, with a door at one side and no bot- 
 It should be placed upon oil-cloth or linoleum, and thus may be 
 
 tom 
 
 moved to another carpet when the floor needs cleaning. If it is im- 
 possible to study the cotton-tail, the domestic rabbit may be used 
 instead. 
 
 Observations — i. What sort of tracks does the cotton-tail make in the 
 snow? Describe and sketch them. Where do you find these tracks? 
 How do you know which way the rabbit was going? Follow the track 
 and see if you can find where the rabbit went. When were these tracks 
 made, by night or by day? What does the rabbit do during the day? 
 What does it find to eat during the winter? How are its feet protected 
 so that they do not freeze in the snow? 
 
 2. What are the two most noticeable peculiarities of the rabbit? 
 Of what use are such large ears? How are the ears held when the rabbit 
 is resting? When startled? When not quite certain about the direction 
 of the noise? Explain the reasons for these attitudes. When the rabbit 
 wishes to make an observation to see if there is danger coming, what does 
 it do? How does it hold its ears then? How are the ears held when the 
 animal is running? 
 
 3. Do you think the rabbit has a keen sense of smell? Describe the 
 movements of the nostrils and explain the reason. How does it move its 
 head to be sure of getting the scent? 
 
Mammal Study 217 
 
 4. What peculiarity is there in the upper lip? How would this be an 
 aid to the rabbit when gnawing? Describe the teeth ; how do these differ 
 from those of the mouse or squirrel ? Of what advantage are the gnawing 
 teeth to the rabbit? How docs it eat a stem of grass? Note the rabbit's 
 whiskers. What do you think they are used for? 
 
 5. Describe the eyes. How are they placed so that the rabbit can 
 see forward and backward?' Do you think that it sleeps with its eyes 
 open? Does it wink? 
 
 6. Why is it advantageous to the rabbit to have such long, strong, 
 hind legs? Compare them in size with the front legs. Compare the front 
 and hind feet. How many toes on each? How are the bottoms of the 
 feet protected? Are the front feet ever used for holding food like the 
 squirrel's? In what position are the legs when the rabbit is resting? 
 When it is standing? When lifted up for observation? 
 
 7. How does the cotton-tail escape being seen? Describe its coat. 
 Of what use is the white fluff beneath the tail? Have you ever seen a 
 wild rabbit "freeze" ? What is meant by freezing and what is the use of it? 
 
 8. In making its toilet how does the rabbit clean its face, ears, feet, 
 and fur ? 
 
 9. What do the cotton-tails feed upon during the summer? During 
 the winter? Do they ever do much damage? 
 
 10. Describe the cotton-tail's nest. What is it called? Does it ever 
 burrow in the ground ? Docs it ever use a second-hand burrow ? Describe 
 the nest made for the young by the mother. Of what is the bed com- 
 posed? Of what is the coverlet made? What is the special use of the 
 coverlet? How do the young cotton-tails look? How old are they 
 before they are able to take care of themselves? 
 
 11. What are the cotton-tail's enemies? How docs it escape them? 
 Have you ever seen the rabbit roads in a briar patch ? Do you think that 
 a dog or fox could follow them ? Do rabbits ever fight their enemies? If 
 so, how? How do they show anger? Do they stamp with the front or 
 the hind foot ? 
 
 12. Tell how the cotton-tail differs in looks and habits from the 
 common tame rabbit. How do the latter dig their burrows? How 
 many breeds of tame rabbits do 3'ou know? 
 
 13. Write or tell stories on the following topics: "A Cotton-tail's 
 Story of its Own Life Until it is a Year Old;" "The Jack-rabbit of the 
 West;" "The Habits of the White Rabbit or Varying Hare;" "The Rab- 
 bit in Uncle Remus' Tales." 
 
 Supplementary r^ac^^ng— "Raggylug" and "Little War Horse," Thomp- 
 son-Seton; Squirrels and Other Fur Bearers, Burroughs; Watchers in the 
 Woods, Sharp; American Animals, Stone & Cram; Familiar Lite in 
 Field and Forest, Mathews; Sharp Eyes, Gibson; Neighbors with Claws 
 and Hoofs, Johonnot; True Tales of Birds and Beasts, Jordan; Uncle 
 Remus Stories, especially The Tar Baby, which emphasizes the fact that 
 the rabbits' runways are in the protecting briar-patch. 
 
2l8 
 
 Handbook oj N ature-Sttidy 
 
 i^-^ ^-.Ltoll 
 
 
 Winter lodge of muskrats. 
 Photo by Silas Lottridge. 
 
 THE MUSKRAT 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "Having finished this first co'.irse of big-neck clams, they were joined by a third 
 miiskrat, and, together, they filed over the bank and down into the meadow. Shortly 
 two of them returned with great moiithfids of the mud-bleached ends of calamus-blades. 
 Then followed the washing. 
 
 They dropped their loads upon the plank, took tip the stalks, pulled the blades apart, 
 and soused them up and down in the water, rubbing them with thetr paws until they 
 were as clean and white as the whitest celery one ever ate. What a dainty picture! 
 Two little brown creatures, humped on the edge of a plank, washing calamus in moonlit 
 water!" — Dallas Lore Sharp. 
 
 RACKING is a part of every boy's education who 
 aspires to a knowledge of wood lore ; and a boy with 
 this accomplishment is stire to be looked upon 
 with great admiration by other boys, less skilled in 
 the interpretation of that writing made by small feet, 
 on the soft snow or on the mud of stream margins. 
 To such a boy, the track of the muskrat is well 
 known, and very easily recognized. 
 The muskrat is essentially a water animal, and therefore its tracks are 
 to be looked for along the edges of ponds, streams or in marshes. "Whether 
 the tracks are made by walking or jumping, depends upon the depth of 
 the snow or mud; if it is deep, the animal jumps, but in shallow snow or 
 mud, it simply runs along. The tracks show the front feet to be smaller 
 
Mammal Study 219 
 
 than the hind ones. The muskrat track is, however, characterized by the 
 tail imprint. When the creature jumps through the snow, the mark of 
 the tail follows the paired imprints of the feet; when it walks, there is a 
 continuous line made by this strong, naked tail. This distinguishes the 
 track of the muskrat from that of the mink, as the bushy tail of the latter 
 does not make so distinct a mark. Measuring the track, is simply a 
 device for making the pupils note its size and shape more carefully. The 
 tracks may be looked for during the thaws of March or February, when 
 the muskrats come out of the water to seek food. 
 
 In appearance the muskrat is peculiar. The body is usually about a 
 foot in length and the tail about eight inches. The body is stout and 
 thickset, the head is rounded and looks like that of a giant meadow 
 mouse ; the eyes are black and shining; the ears are short and close to the 
 head; the teeth, like those of other rodents, consist of a pair of front 
 teeth on each jaw, then a long, bare space and four grinders on each side. 
 There are long sensitive hairs about the nose and mouth, like the whiskers 
 of mice. 
 
 The muskrat's hind legs are much larger and stronger than the front 
 ones; and too, the hind feet are much longer than the front feet and have 
 a web between the toes; there are also stiff hairs which fill the space 
 between the toes, outside the web, thus making this large hind foot an 
 excellent swimming organ. The front toes are not webbed and are used 
 for digging. The claws are long, stout and sharp. The tail is long, stout 
 and flattened at the sides; it has little or no fur upon it but is covered 
 with scales; it is used as a scull and also as a rudder when the muskrat is 
 swimming. 
 
 The muskrat's outer coat consists of long, rather coarse hairs; its 
 under coat is of fur, very thick and fine, and although short, it forms a 
 waterproof protection for the body of the animal. In color, the fur is 
 dark brown above with a darker streak along the middle of the back; 
 beneath, the body is grayish changing to whitish on the throat and lips, 
 with a brown spot on the chin. In preparing the pelts for commercial 
 -use, the long hairs are plucked out leaving the soft, fine under coat, which 
 is dyed and sold under the name of "electric seal." 
 
 The muskrat is far better fitted by form, for life in the water than upon 
 the land. Since it is heavy-bodied and short -legged, it cannot run rapidly 
 but its strong, webbed hind feet are most efficient oars, and it swims 
 rapidly and easily; for rudder and propeller the strong, flattened tail 
 serves admirably, while the fine fur next the body is so perfectly water- 
 proof that, however much the muskrat swims or dives, it is never wet. 
 It is a skillful diver and can stay under water for several minutes; when 
 swimming, its nose and sometimes the head and the tip of the tail appear 
 on the surface of the water. 
 
 The food of muskrats is largely roots, especially those of the sweet flag 
 and the yellow lily. They also feed on other aquatic plants and are fond 
 of the fresh-water shell-fish. Mr. Sharp tells us, in one of his delightful 
 stories, how the muskrats wash their food by sousing it up and down in 
 water many times before eating it. Often, a muskrat chooses some 
 special place upon the shore which it uses for a dining-room, bringing 
 there and eating pieces of lily root or fresh-water clams, and leaving the 
 debris to show where it habitually dines. It does most of its hunting for food 
 at night, although sometimes it may be seen thus employed during the day. 
 
220 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Siudy 
 
 The winter lodge of the muskrat is a most interesting structure. A 
 foundation of tussocks of rushes, in a stream or shallow pond, is built 
 upon with reeds plastered with mud, making a rather regular dome which 
 may be nearly two or three feet high ; or, if many-chambered, it may be a 
 grand affair of four or five feet elevation ; but it always looks so much Hke 
 a natural hummock that the eye of the uninitiated never regards it as a 
 habitation. Always beneath this dome and above the water line, is a 
 snug, covered chamber carpeted with a soft bed of leaves and moss, 
 which has a passage leading down into the water below, and also has an 
 air-hole for ventilation. In these cabins, closely cuddled together, three 
 or four in a chamber, the muskrats pass the winter. After the pond is 
 frozen they are safe from their enemies and are always able to go down 
 into the water and feed upon the roots of water plants. These cabins are 
 sometimes built in the low, drooping branches of willows or on other 
 objects. 
 
 A imiskrafs stitnmer home. 
 Drawn by A. MacKinnon, a boy of 13 years. 
 
 AYhether the muskrat builds itself a winter lodge or not, depends upon 
 the nature of the shore which it inhabits; if it is a place particularly fitted 
 for burrows, then a burrow will be used as a winter retreat; but if the 
 banks are shallow, the muskrats unite in building cabins. The main 
 entrance to the muskrat burrow is always below the surface of the water, 
 the burrow slanting upward and leading to a nest well lined, which is 
 above the reach of high water; there is always an air hole above, for 
 ventilating this nest, and there is also often a passage, with a hidden 
 entrance, leading out to dry land. 
 
 The flesh of the muskrat is delicious, and therefore the animal has 
 many enemies; foxes, weasels, dogs, minks and also hawks and owls prey 
 upon it. It escapes the sight of its enemies as does the mouse, by having 
 the color of its fur not noticeable; when discovered, it escapes its enemies 
 by swimming, although when cornered, it is courageous and fights fiercely, 
 using its strong incisors as weapons. In winter, it dwells in safety when 
 the friendly ice protects it from all its enemies except the mink; but it is 
 exposed to great danger when the streams break up in spring, for it is then 
 often driven from its cabin by floods, and preyed upon while thus help- 
 lessly exposed. The muskrat gives warning of danger to its fellows by 
 splashing the water with its strong tail. 
 
References — "Wild 
 Woods, Sharp ; Wild 
 Dept. of Agriculture 
 
 Mammal Study 221 
 
 It is called musk- 
 rat because of the 
 odor, somewhat re- 
 sembling musk, 
 which it exhales 
 from two glands on 
 the lower side of 
 the body between 
 the hind legs; these 
 glands may be seen 
 when the skin is 
 removed, which is 
 the too common 
 plight of this poor 
 creature, since it 
 is hunted merci- 
 lessly for its pelt. 
 
 The little musk- 
 rats are bom m 
 April and there are 
 visually from six to 
 eight in a litter. 
 Another litter may 
 be produced in 
 June or July and 
 a third in August 
 or September. It is 
 only thus, by rear- 
 ing large families 
 often, that the 
 muskrats are able 
 to hold their own 
 against the hunters 
 and trappers and 
 their natural ene- 
 mies. 
 
 Animals, Stone & Cram; A W^atcher in the 
 Life, Ingersoll, Farmers' Bulletin No. 396, U. S. 
 
 The muskrat. 
 
 Photo by Silas Lottridge. 
 
 LESSON LIV 
 The Muskrat 
 
 Leading thonglit — The muskrat, while a true rodent, is fitted for life 
 in the water more than for life upon the land. Its hind feet are webbed 
 for use as oars and its tail is used as a rudder. It builds lodges of mud, 
 cat-tails and rushes in which it spends the winter. 
 
 MetJiod — It might be well to begin this work by asking for observations 
 on the tracks of the muskrat which may be found about the edges of 
 almost any creek, pond or marsh. If there are muskrat lodges in the 
 region they should be visited and described. For studying the muskrat's 
 form a live muskrat in captivity is almost necessary. If one is trapped 
 
2 22 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 with a "figure four" it will not be injured and it may be made more or 
 less tame by feeding it with sweet apples, carrots and parsnips. The 
 pupils can thus stady it at leisure although they should not be allowed to 
 handle the creature as it inflicts very severe wounds and is never willing 
 to be handled. If a live muskrat cannot be obtained perhaps some hunter 
 in the neighborhood will supply a dead one for this observation lesson. 
 
 While studying the muskrat the children should read all the stories of 
 beavers which are available as the two animals are very much alike in 
 their habits. 
 
 Observations — i. In what locality have you discovered the tracks of 
 the muskrat? Describe its general appearance. Measure the muskrat's 
 track as follows: (a) Width and length of the print of one foot; (b) the 
 width between the prints of the two hind feet ; (c) the length between the 
 prints made by the hind feet in several successive steps or jumps. 
 
 2. Was the muskrat's track made when the animal was jumping or 
 walking? Can you see in it a difference in the size of the front and hind 
 feet? Judging from the track, where do you think the muskrat came 
 from? What do you think it was hunting for? 
 
 3. AVhat mark does the tail make in the snow or mud? Judging by 
 its imprint, should you think the muskrat's tail was long or short, bare or 
 brushy, slender or strong? 
 
 4. How long is the largest muskrat you ever saw? How much of the 
 whole length is tail? Is the general shape of the body short and heavy 
 or long and slender? 
 
 5. Describe the muskrat's eyes, ears and teeth. For what are the 
 teeth especially fitted? Has the muskrat whiskers like mice and rats? 
 
 6. Compare the front and hind legs as to size and shape. Is there a 
 web between the toes of the hind feet? What does this indicate? Do 
 you think that the muskrat is a good swimmer? 
 
 7. Describe the muskrat fur. Compare the outer and under coat. 
 What is its color above and below? What is the name of muskrat fur in 
 the shops? 
 
 8. Describe the tail. What is its covering? How is it flattened? 
 What do you think this strong, flattened tail is used for? 
 
 9. Do you think the muskrat is better fitted to live in the water than 
 on land ? How is it fitted to live in the water in the following particulars : 
 Feet? Tail? Fur? 
 
 10. How much of the muskrat can you see when it is swimming? 
 How long can it stay under water when diving? 
 
 11. What is the food of the muskrat? Where does it find it? How 
 does it prepare the food for eating? Does it seek its food during the night 
 or day? Have you ever observed the muskrat's dining room? If so, 
 describe it. 
 
 12. Describe the structure of the muskrat's winter lodge, or cabin, 
 in the following particulars : Its size. Where built ? Of what material ? 
 How many rooms in it? Are these rooms above or below the water level ? 
 Of what is the bed made? How is the nest ventilated? How is it 
 arranged so that the entrance is not closed by the ice? Is such a home 
 built by one or more muskrats? How many live within it? Do the 
 muskrats always build these winter cabins? What is the character of 
 the shores where they are built ? 
 
Alammal Study 
 
 223 
 
 13. Describe the muskrat's burrow in the bank in the following 
 particulars: Is the entrance above or below water? Where and how is 
 the nest made? Is it ventilated? Does it have a back door leading out 
 upon the land? 
 
 14. What are the muskrat's enemies? How does it escape them? 
 How does it fight? Is it a courageous animal? How does the muskrat 
 give warning to its fellows when it perceives danger? At what time of 
 year is it comparatively safe? At what time is it exposed to greatest 
 danger? 
 
 15. Why is this animal called muskrat? Compare the habits of 
 muskrats with those of beaver and write an English theme upon the 
 similarity of the two. 
 
 16. At what time of year do you find the young muskrats? How 
 many in a litter ? 
 
 17. Read Farmers' Bulletin No. 396 of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
 and write an English theme on the destructive habits of muskrats and the 
 economic uses of these animals. 
 
 Supplementary reading — Familiar Wild Animals, Lottridge; Little 
 Beasts of Field and Wood, Cram; Squirrels and other Fur-bearers, Bur- 
 roughs; "The Builders" in Ways of Wood Folk, Long. 
 
 The white-footed, or deer, mouse. 
 Drawn by Anna Stryke. 
 
224 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The house mouse feeds tipon almost anything -which people like to eat. 
 
 THE HOUSE MOUSE 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Somewhere in the darkness a clock strikes two; 
 And there is no sound in the sad old house, 
 Biit the lone, veranda dripping with dew, 
 And in the wainscot — a mouse. — Bret Harte. 
 
 ERE mouse-gray a less inconspicuous color, there 
 would be fewer mice; when a mouse is running 
 along the floor, it is hardly discernible, it looks so 
 like a flitting shadow; if it were black or white or 
 any other color, it would be more often seen and 
 destroyed. Undoubtedly, it is owing to the fact 
 that its soft fur has this shadowy color, that this 
 species has been able to spread over the world. 
 At first glance one wonders what possible use a mouse can make of a 
 tail which is as long as its body, but a little careful observation will 
 reveal the secret. The tail is covered with transverse ridges and is bare 
 save for sparse hairs, except toward the tip. Dr. Ida Reveley first called 
 my attention to the fact that the house mouse uses its tail in climbing. I 
 verified this interesting observation, ^and found that my mouse used the 
 tail for aid when climbing a string. He would go up the string, hand over 
 hand, like a sailor, then in trying to stretch to the edge of his jar, he 
 invariably wound his tail about the string two or three times, and hanging 
 to the string with the hind feet and tail, would reach far out with his head 
 and front feet. Also, when clinging to the edge of the cover of the jar, he 
 invariably used his tail as a brace against the side of the glass, so that it 
 pressed hard for more than half its length. Undoubtedly the tail is of 
 great service when climbing up the sides of walls. 
 
Mamnial Stitdy 
 
 22i 
 
 The tail is also of some use, when the mouse jumps directly upwards. 
 The hind legs are very much longer and stronger than the front legs. The 
 hind feet are also much longer and larger than the front feet; and although 
 the mouse, when it makes its remarkable jumps, depends upon its strong 
 hind legs, I am sure that often the tail is used as a brace to guide and 
 assist the leap. The feet are free from hairs but are downy; the hind 
 foot has three front toes, a long toe behind on the outside and a short one 
 on the inside. The claws are fairly long and very sharp so that they are 
 able to cling to almost anything but glass. When exploring, a mouse 
 stands on its hind feet, folding its little front paws under its chin while it 
 reaches up ready to catch anything in sight; it can stretch up to an 
 amazing height. It feeds upon almost anything which people like to eat 
 and, when eating, holds its food in its front paws like a squirrel. 
 
 The thin, velvety ears are flaring cornucopias for taking in sound; the 
 large, rounded outer ear can be moved forward or back to test the direc- 
 tion of the noise. The eyes are Hke shining, black beads; and if a 
 mouse can wink, it does it so rapidly as not to be discernible. The nose 
 is long, inquisitive, and always sniffing for new impressions. The 
 whiskers are delicate and probably sensitive. The mouth is furnished 
 with two long, curved gnawing teeth at the front of each jaw, then a bare 
 space, and four grinding teeth on each side, above and below, like the 
 teeth of woodchucks and other rodents. The gnawing teeth are very 
 strong and enable the mouse to gnaw through board partitions and other 
 obstacles. 
 
 The energy with which the mouse cleans itself is inspiring to behold. 
 It nibbles its fur and licks it with fervor, reaching around so as to get at it 
 from behind, and tak- 
 ing hold with its little 
 hands to hold firm 
 while it cleans. When 
 washing its face and 
 head, it uses both 
 front feet, licking 
 them clean and rub- 
 bing them both simul- 
 taneously from behind 
 the ears down over 
 the face. It takes its 
 hind foot in both front 
 feet and nibbles and 
 licks it. It scratches 
 the back of its head 
 with its hind foot. 
 
 Young mice are 
 small, downy, pink 
 and blind when bom. 
 The mother makes for 
 them a nice, soft nest 
 of pieces of cloth, 
 paper, grass, or what- 
 ever is at hand ; the 
 nest is round like Young mice, blind, pink and hairless. 
 
2 26 Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 a ball and at its center is nestled the family. Mice living in houses, 
 have runways between the plaster and the outside, or between ceiling 
 and floor. In winter they live on what food they can find, and upon flies 
 or other insects hibernating in our houses. The house mice sometimes 
 live under stacks of corn or grain in the fields, but usually confine them- 
 selves to houses or banis. They are thirsty little fellows and they like to 
 make their nests within easy reach of water. Our house mice came from 
 ancestors which lived in Asia originally; they have always been great 
 travelers and they have followed men wherever they have gone, over the 
 world. They came to America on ships with the first explorers and the 
 Pilgrim fathers. They now travel back and forth, crossing the ocean in 
 ships of all sorts. They also travel across the continent on trains. 
 Wherever our food is carried they go; and the mouse, which you see in 
 your room one day, may be a thousand miles away within a week. They 
 are clever creatures, and learn quickly to connect cause and effect. For 
 two years, I was in an office in Washington, and as soon as the bell rang 
 for noon, the mice would appear instantly, htmting waste-baskets for 
 scraps of lunch. They had learned to connect the sound of the bell 
 with food. 
 
 Of all our wild mice, the white-footed or deer mouse is the most 
 interesting and attractive. It is found almost exclusively in woods and is 
 quite different in appearance from other mice. Its ears are very large; 
 its fur is fine and beautiful and a most delicate gray color. It is white 
 beneath the head and under the sides of the body. The feet are pinkish, 
 the front paws have short thumbs, while the hind feet are very much 
 longer and have a long thumb looking very much like an elfin hand in a 
 gray-white silk glove. On the bottom of the feet are callous spots which 
 are pink and serve as foot ^ 
 
 pads. It makes its nest in f 
 
 hollow trees and stores nuts -*"" ——-■-—<— 
 
 for winter use. AVe once 
 found two quarts of shelled 
 beech nuts in such a nest. It 
 also likes the hips of the wild 
 rose and many kinds of ber- 
 ries; it sometimes makes its 
 summer home in a bird's nest, 
 which it roofs over to suit 
 itself. The young mice are 
 carried, hanging to the mother's breasts. As an inhabitant of summer 
 cottages,white-foot is cunning and mischievous ; it pulls cotton out of quilts 
 takes covers off of jars, and as an explorer, is equal to the squirrel. I once 
 tried to rear some young deer mice by feeding them warm milk with a 
 pipette; although their eyes were not open, they invariably washed their 
 faces after each meal, showing that neatness was bred m the bone. This 
 mouse has a musical voice and often chirps as sweetly as a bird. Like 
 the house mouse it is more active at night. 
 
 The meadow mouse is the one that makes its run-ways under the snow, 
 making strange corrugated patterns over the ground which attract our 
 attention in spring. It has a heavy body, short legs, short ears and short 
 tail. It is brownish or blackish in color. It sometimes digs burrows 
 straight into the ground, but more often makes its nest beneath sticks and 
 
 Track of white-footed mouse. 
 Notice tail-track. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 227 
 
 stones or stacks of com. It is the nest of this field mouse which the 
 bumblebee so often takes possession of, after it is deserted. The meadow 
 mouse is a good fighter, sitting up like a woodchuck and facing its enemy 
 bravely. It needs to be courageous, for it is preyed upon by almost every 
 creature that feeds upon small animals; the hawks and owls especially 
 are its enemies. It is well for the farmer that these mice have so many 
 enemies, for they multiply rapidly and would otherwise soon overrun and 
 destroy the grain fields. This mouse is an excellent swimmer. 
 
 A part of winter work, is to make the pupils familiar with the tracks 
 of the meadow mice and how to distinguish them from other tracks. 
 
 The bow trap. 
 Figure 4. trap. 
 
 Mouse traps. 
 
 1. A smooth splint or a peeled twig. 
 
 2. Splint bowed and tied at D.the bait inserted at C. 
 
 3. The inverted bowl balanced on splint bow. 
 
 Trapping Field Mice — Probably wild animals have endured more 
 cruelty through the agency of traps than through any other form of 
 human persecution . The savage steel traps often catch the animal by the 
 leg holding it until it gnaws off the imprisoned foot, and thus escapes 
 maimed and handicapped for its future struggle for food; or if the trap 
 gets a strong hold, the poor creature may suffer tortures during a long 
 period before the owner of the trap appears to put an end to its sufferings 
 by death If box traps are used, they are often neglected and the poor 
 creature imprisoned, is left to languish and starve. The teacher cannot 
 enforce too strongly upon the child the ethics of trapping. Impress 
 upon him that the box traps are far less cruel; but that if set, they must 
 be examined regularly and not neglected. The study of mice affords a 
 good opportunity for giving the children a lesson m humane trapping. 
 Let them set a figure 4 or a bowl trap, which they must examine 
 every morning, the little prisoners may be brought to school 
 and studied ; meanwhile, they should be treated kindly and fed bounti- 
 fully After a mouse has been studied, it should be set free, even though 
 it be one of the quite pestiferous field mice. The moral effect of killing an 
 animal, after a child has become thoroughly interested m it and its life, 
 
 is always bad. . « • 1 c 
 
 References— Claws and Hoofs, Johomot, American Animals Stone eV 
 Cram; Secrets of the Woods, Long; Wild Life, Ingersoll; l^amiliar ^\ ild 
 Animals, Lottridge. 
 
2 28 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON LV 
 The House Mouse 
 
 Leading thought — The mouse is fitted by color, form, agility and habits 
 to thrive upon the food which it steals from man, and to live in the midst 
 of civilized people. 
 
 Method — A mouse cage can be easily made of wire window-screen 
 tacked upon a wooden frame. I have even used aquarium jars with wire 
 screen covers, and by placing one jar upon another, opening to opening, 
 and then laying them horizontal, the mouse can be transferred to a fresh 
 cage without trouble, and thus the mousey odor can be obviated, while 
 the little creature is being studied. A little water in a wide-necked bottle 
 can be lowered into this glass house by a string, and the food can be given 
 in like manner. Stripped paper should be put into the jar for the comfort 
 of the prisoner; a stiff string hanging down from the middle of the cage 
 will afford the prisoner a chance to show his feats as an acrobat. 
 
 Observations — i . Why is the color of the mouse of special benefit to it ? 
 Do you think it protects it from the sight of its enemies? Can you see a 
 mouse easily as it runs across the room? What is the nature of the fur of 
 a mouse? 
 
 2. How long is a mouse's tail as compared with its body? What is the 
 covering of the tail? Of what use to the mouse is this long, ridged tail? 
 Watch the mouse carefully and discover, if you can, the use of the tail in 
 climbing. 
 
 3. Is the mouse a good jumper? Are the hind legs long and strong 
 when compared with the front legs? How high do you think a mouse 
 can jump? Do you think it uses its tail as an aid in jumping? How 
 much of the legs are covered with hair? Compare the front and hind feet. 
 What sort of claws have they? How does the mouse use its feet when 
 climbing the string? How can it climb up the side of a wall? 
 
 4. Describe the eyes. Do you think the mouse can see very well? 
 Does it wink ? AVhat is the shape of the ears ? Do you think it can hear 
 well ? Can it move its ears forward or backward ? 
 
 5. What is the shape of the snout? Of what advantage is this? 
 Note the whiskers. What is their use? Describe the mouth. Do you 
 know how the teeth are arranged? For what other use than to bite food 
 does the mouse use its teeth? What other animals have their teeth 
 arranged like those of the mouse? What food does the house mouse live 
 upon? How does it get it? 
 
 6. How does the mouse act when it is reaching up to examine some- 
 thing? How does it hold its front feet? Describe how the mouse washes 
 its face. Its back. Its feet. 
 
 7. Where does the house mouse build its nest? Of what material? 
 How do the baby mice look? Can they see when they are first bom ? 
 
 8. House mice are great travelers. Can you tell how they manage 
 to get from place to place? Write a story telling all you know of their 
 habits. 
 
 9. How many kinds of mice do you know? Does the house mouse 
 ever live in the field ? What do you know of the habits of the white-footed 
 mouse? Of the meadow mice? Of the jumping mice? 
 

 
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 Mammal Study 229 
 
 THE WOODCHUCK 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 E who knows the ways of the woodchuck can 
 readily guess where it is hkely to be found; 
 it loves meadows and pastures where grass or 
 clover lushly grows. It is also fond of garden 
 truck and has a special delectation for melons. 
 The burrow is likely to be situated near a fence 
 or stone heap, which gives easy access to the 
 chosen food. The woodchuck makes its 
 burrow by digging the earth loose with its 
 front feet, and pushing it backward and out of 
 the entrance with the hind feet. This method 
 leaves the soil in a heap near the entrance, from which paths radiate into 
 the grass in all directions. If one undertakes to dig out a woodchuck, one 
 needs to be not only a husky individual, but something of an engineer; 
 the direction of the burrow extends downward for a little way, and then 
 rises at an easy angle, so that the inmate may be in no danger of flood. 
 The nest is merely an enlargement of the burrow, lined with soft grass, 
 which the woodchucks bring in in their mouths. During the early part 
 of the season, the father and mother and the litter of young may inhabit 
 the same burrow, although there are likely to be at least two separate 
 nests. There is usually more than one back door to the woodchuck's 
 dwelling, through which it may escape, if pressed too closely by enemies; 
 these back doors differ from the entrance, in that they are usually hidden 
 and have no earth heaped near them. 
 
 The woodchuck usually feeds in the morning and again in the evening, 
 and is likely to spend the middle of the day resting. It often goes some 
 distance from its burrow to feed, and at short intervals, lifts itself upon 
 its hind feet to see if the coast is clear; if assailed, it will seek to escape 
 by running to its burrow; and when running, it has a peculiar gait well 
 described as "pouring itself along." If it reaches its burrow, it at once 
 begins to dig deeply and throw the earth out behind it, thus making a 
 wall to keep out the enemy. When cornered, the woodchuck is a coura- 
 geous and fierce fighter; its sharp incisors prove a powerful weapon and it 
 will often whip a dog much larger than itself. Every boy knows how to 
 find whether the woodchuck is in its den or not, by rolling a stone into the 
 burrow, and listening; if the animal is at home, the sound of its digging 
 apprises the listener of the fact. In earlier times, the ground-hogs were 
 much preyed upon by wolves, wildcats and foxes; now, only the fox 
 remains and he is fast disappearing, so that at present, the farmer and his 
 dog are about the only enemies this burrower has to contend with. It is 
 an animal of resources and will climb a tree if attacked by a dog; it will 
 also climb trees for fruit, hke peaches. During the late summer, it is the 
 ground-hog's business to feed very constantly and become very fat. 
 About the first of October, it retires to its den and sleeps until the end of 
 March or April. During this dormant state, the beating of its heart is so 
 taint as to be scarcely perceptible, and very little nourishment is required 
 to keep it alive; this'nourishment is supplied by the fat stored inits body, 
 which it uses up by March, and comes out of its burrow in the spring, look- 
 ing gaunt and lean. The old saying that the ground-hog comes out on 
 
230 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Candlemas Day, and if it sees its shadow, goes back to sleep for six weeks 
 more, may savorof meteorological truth, but it is certainly not true of the 
 
 ground-hog. 
 
 The full-grown woodchuck ordinarily measures about two feet in 
 length. Its color is grizzly or brownish, sometimes blackish in places; 
 the under parts are reddish and the feet black. The fur is rather coarse, 
 thick and brown, with longer hairs which are grayish. The skin is very 
 thick and tough and seems to fit loosely, a condition which gives the 
 peculiar "pouring along" appearance when it is running. The hind legs 
 and feet are longer than those in front. Both pairs of feet are fitted for 
 digging, the front ones being used for loosening the earth and the hind 
 pair for kicking it out of the burrow. 
 
 The woodchuck's ears are roundish and not prominent, and by mus- 
 cular contraction they are closed when the animal is digging, so that no 
 
 soil can enter; the 
 sense of hearing is 
 acute. The teeth con- 
 sist of two large in- 
 cisors at the front of 
 each jaw, a bare space 
 and four grinders on 
 each side, above and 
 below; the incisors 
 are used for biting 
 food and also for fight- 
 ing. The eyes are full 
 and bright. The tail 
 is short and brushy, 
 and it with the hind 
 legs, form a tripod 
 which supports the 
 animal, as it sits with 
 its forefeet lifted. 
 
 When feeding, the 
 woodchuck often 
 makes a contented 
 grunting noise; when 
 attacked and fighting, 
 it growls; and when 
 feeling happy and con- 
 versational, it sits up 
 and whistles. I had a 
 woodchuck acquaint- 
 ance once which al- 
 ways gave a high, 
 shrill, almost birdlike 
 greeting. There are 
 
 
 Treed! 
 Photo by Verne Morton. 
 
 whistle when I came in view, a very jolly 
 plenty of statements in books that woodchucks are fond of music, and 
 Mr. Ingersoll states that at Wellesley College a woodchuck on the chapel 
 lawn was wont to join the morning song exercises with a "clear soprano." 
 The young woodchucks are bom about the first of May and the litter 
 usually numbers four or five. In June the "chucklings" may be seen 
 following the mother in the field with much babyish grunting. If 
 
Mammal Study 231 
 
 captured at this period, they make every interesting pets. By August or 
 September the young woodchucks leave the home burrow and start 
 burrows of their own. 
 
 References — Wild Animals, Stone & Cram; Wild Neighbors, Inger- 
 soll; Squirrels and Other Fur Bearers, Burroughs; Familiar Wild Ani- 
 mals, Lottridge. 
 
 LESSON LVI 
 
 The Woodchuck or Grouxd-Hog 
 
 Leading thought — The woodchuck has thriven with civilization, not- 
 withstanding the farmer's dog, gun, traps and poison. It makes its nest 
 in a burrow in the earth and lives upon vegetation; it hibernates in 
 winter. 
 
 Method — Within convenient distance for observation by the pupils of 
 every country schoolhouse and of most village schoolhouses, maybe 
 found a woodchuck and its dwelling. The pupils should be given the 
 outline for observations which should be made individually through 
 watching the woodchuck for weeks or months. 
 
 Observations — i. Where is the woodchuck found? On what does it 
 live? At what time of day does it feed ? How does it act when startled? 
 
 2. Is the woodchuck a good fighter? With what weapons does it 
 fight? What are its enemies? How does it escape its enemies when in or 
 out of its burrow? How does it look when running? 
 
 3. What noises does the woodchuck make and what do they mean? 
 Play a "mouth-organ" near the woodchuck's burrow and note if it likes 
 music. 
 
 4. How does the woodchuck make its burrow? Where is it likely 
 to be situated ? Where is the earth placed which is taken from the bur- 
 row? How does the woodchuck bring it out? How is the burrow made 
 so that the woodchuck is not drowned in case of heavy rains? In what 
 direction do the underground galleries go? Where is the nest placed in 
 relation to the galleries ? Of what is the nest made ? How is the bedding 
 carried in? Of what special use is the nest? 
 
 5. Do you find paths leading to the entrances of the burrow? If so, 
 describe them. How can you tell whether a woodchuck is at home or not 
 if you do not see it enter? Where is the woodchuck likely to station itself 
 when it sits up to look for intruders ? 
 
 6. How many woodchucks inhabit the same burrow? Are there 
 likely to be one or more back doors to the burrow? What for? How do 
 the back doors differ from the front doors? 
 
 7. How long is the longest woodchuck that you have ever seen? 
 What is the woodchuck's color? Is its fur long or short? Coarse or fine? 
 Thick or sparse ? Is the skin thick or thin ? Does it seem loose or close 
 fitting? 
 
 8. Compare the front and hind feet and describe difference in size and 
 shape. Are either or both slightly webbed ? Explain how both front and 
 hind feet and legs are adapted by their shape to help the woodchuck. Is 
 the tail long or short? How does it assist the animal in sitting up? 
 
 g. What is the shape of the woodchuck's ear? Can it hear well? 
 Why are the ears not filled with soil when the animal is burrowing? Of 
 what use are the long incisors? Describe the eyes. 
 
2-7 2 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 10. How does the woodchuck prepare for winter? Where and how 
 does it pass the winter? Did you ever know a woodchuck to come out on 
 Candlemas Day to look for its shadow? 
 
 11. AYhen does the woodchuck appear in the spring? Compare its 
 general appearance in the fall and in the spring and explain the reason for 
 
 the difference. 
 
 12. When are the young woodchucks bom ? What do you know of 
 
 the way the mother woodchuck cares for her young? 
 
 As I turned round the corner of Httbbard's Grove, saw a woodchuck, the first of 
 the season, in the middle of the field six or seven rods from the fence which bounds the 
 wood, and twenty rods distant. I ran along the fence and cut him off, or rather overtook 
 him, 'though he started at the same time. When I was only a rod^ and a half off, he 
 stopped, and I did the same; then he ran again, and I ran up within three feet of him, 
 when he stopped again, the fence being between us. I squatted down and surveyed him 
 at my leisure. His eyes were dull black and rather inobvious, with a faint chestnut 
 iris with but little expression and that more of resignation than of anger. The general 
 aspect was a coarse grayish brown, a sort of grisel. A lighter brown next the skm, then 
 black or very dark brown and tipped with whitish rather loosely. The head between a 
 squirrel and a bear, fat on the top and dark brown, and darker still or black on the tip 
 of the nose. The whiskers black, two inches long. The ears very small and roundish, 
 set far back and nearly buried in the fur. Black feet, with long and slender claws for 
 digging. It appeared to tremble, or perchance shivered with cold. When I moved, it 
 gritted its teeth quite loud, sometimes striking the under jaw against the other chatter- 
 ingly sometimes grinding one jaw on the other, yet as if more from instinct than anger. 
 Whichever way I turned, that way it headed. I took a twig a foot long and touched its 
 snout at which it started forward and bit the stick, lessening the distance between us to 
 two feet and still it held all the ground it gained. I played with it tenderly awhile with 
 the stick, trying to open its gritti)ig jaivs. Ever its long incisors, tivo above and two 
 below were presented. But I thought it would go to sleep if I stayed long enough. _ It 
 did not sit upright as sometimes, but standing on its fore feet with its head down,i.. e., 
 half sitting, half standing. We sat looking at one another about half an hour, till we 
 began to feel mesmeric influences. When I was tired, I moved away, wishing to see 
 him run but I could not start him. He woidd not stir as long as I was looking at him 
 or could see him. I walked around him; he turned as fast and fronted me still. I sat 
 down by his side within a foot. I talked to him quasi forest lingo, baby-talk, at any rate 
 in a concilatory tone, and thought that I had some influence on him. He gritted his 
 teeth less. I chewed checkerbcrrv leaves and presented them to his nose at last without 
 a grit ■ though I saiu that by so much gritting of the teeth he had worn them rapidly and 
 they were covered with a fine white powder, which, if you measured it thus, would have 
 made his anger terrible. He did not mind any noise I might make. With a little 
 stick I lifted one of his paws to examine it, and held it up at pleasure. I turned him 
 over to '^ee what color he was beneath {darker or most pusely brown), though he turned 
 himself back again sooner than I could have wished. His tail was also brown, though 
 not very dark rat-tail like, with loose hairs standing out on all sides like a caterpillar 
 brush He had a rather mild look. I spoke kindly to him. I reached checkerberry 
 leaves to his mouth. I stretched niv hands over him, though he turned up his^ head and 
 still gritted a little. I laid my hand on him, but immediately took it off again, instinct 
 not being wliully overcome. If I had had a few fresh bean leaves, thus in advance of 
 the season I am sure I should have tamed him completely. It was a frizzly tail. His 
 is a humble, terrestrial color like the partridge's, well concealed where dead wiry grass 
 rises above darker brown or chestnut dead leaves — a modest color. If I had had some 
 food I shoidd have ended with stroking him at my leisure. Could easily have wrapped 
 him 'in my handkcrch icf. He was not fat nor particularly lean. I finally had to leave 
 him without seeing him move from the place. A large, clumsy, burrowing squirrel. 
 Arctomys, bear-mouse. I respect him as one of the natives. He lies there, oy his color 
 and habit's ro naturalized amid the dry leaves, the withered grass, and the bushas. _ A 
 sound nap, too, he has enjoyed in his native fields, the past ivinter. I think I niight 
 learn some -wisdom of him. His ancestors have lived here longer than mine. He is 
 more thoroughly acclimated and naturalized than I. Bean leaves the red man raised 
 for him, but he can do without them. — Thoreau's Journal. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 ^ZZ 
 
 THE RED SQUIRREL OR CHICKAREE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Just a tawny glimmer, a dash of red and gray, 
 
 Was it a flitting shadow, or a sunbeam gone astray/ 
 
 It glances up a tree trunk, and a pair of bright eyes glow 
 
 Where a little spy in am.bush is measuring his foe. 
 
 I hear a mocking chuckle, then wrathful, lie grows bold 
 
 And stays his pressing business to scold and scold and scold. 
 
 E ought to yield admiring tribute to those animals which 
 have been able to flourish in our midst despite man and 
 his gun, this weapon being the most cowardly and 
 unfair invention of the human mind. The only time 
 that man has been a fair fighter, in combating his four- 
 footed brethren, was when he fought them with a 
 weapon which he wielded in his hand. There is noth- 
 ing in animal comprehension which can take into 
 account a projectile, and much less a shot from a gun; but though it does 
 not understand, it experiences a deathly fear at the noise. It is pathetic 
 to note the hush in a forest that follows the sound of a gun; every song, 
 every voice, every movement is stilled and every little heart filled with 
 nameless terror. How any man or boy can feel manly when, with this 
 scientific instrument of death in his hands, he takes the life of a little 
 squirrel, bird or rabbit, is beyond my comprehension. In pioneer days 
 when it was a fight for existence, man against the wilderness, the matter 
 was quite different; but now it seems to me that anyone who hunts what 
 few wild creatures we have left, and which are in nowise injurious, is, 
 whatever he may think of himself, no believer in fair play. 
 
 Within my own memory, the beautiful black squirrel was as common 
 in our woods as was his red cousin ; the shot-gun has exterminated this 
 splendid species. Well may we rejoice that the red squirrel has, through 
 its lesser size and greater cunning, escaped a like fate; and that pug- 
 nacious and companionable and shy, it lives in our midst and climbs our 
 very roofs to sit there and scold us for coming within its range of vision. 
 
 M^^- 
 
234 
 
 Hafidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 It has succeeded not only in living despite of man, but because of man, for 
 it rifles our grain bins and corn cribs and waxes opulent by levying tribute 
 upon our stores. 
 
 Thoreau describes most graphically the movements of this squirrel. 
 He says: "All day long the red squirrels came and went. One would 
 approach at first warily, warily, through the shrub-oaks, running over the 
 snow crust by fits and starts and like a leaf blown by the wind, now a few 
 paces this way, with wonderful speed and waste of energy, making incon- 
 ceivable haste with his "trotters," as if it were for a wager, and now as 
 many paces that way, but never getting on more than half a rod at a 
 time; and then suddenly pausing with a ludicrous expression and a 
 gratuitous somersault, as if all the eyes of the universe were fixed on him, 
 * * * and then suddenly, before you could say Jack Robinson he 
 would be in the top of a young pitch pine, winding up his clock, and 
 chiding all imaginary spectators, soliloquizing and talking to all the 
 universe at the same time." 
 
 It is surely one of the most comical of sights to see a squirrel stop 
 running and take observations; he lifts himself on his haunches, and with 
 body bent forward, presses his Httle paws against his breast as if to say, 
 "Be still, oh my beating heart!" which is all pure affectation because he 
 knows he can scurry away in perfect safety. He is likely to take refuge 
 on the far side of a tree, peeping out from this side and that, and whisking 
 back like a flash as he catches our eye ; we might never know he was there 
 except as Riley puts it, "he lets his own tail tell on him." When climbing 
 up or down a tree, he goes head first and spreads his legs apart to clasp as 
 much of the trunk as possible; meanwhile his sharp little claws cling 
 
 securely to the bark. 
 He can climb out on 
 the smallest twigs 
 quite as well, when 
 he needs to do so, in 
 passing from tree to 
 tree or when gather- 
 ing acorns. 
 
 A squirrel always 
 establishes certain 
 roads to and from 
 h i s abiding place 
 and almost invar- 
 iably follows them. 
 Such a path may be 
 entirely in the tree- 
 tops, with airbridges 
 from a certain 
 branch of one tree 
 to a certain branch 
 of another, or it may 
 be partially on the 
 ground between 
 trees. I have made 
 notes of these paths 
 Red squirrel or Chickaree. in the vicinity of 
 
 '■jF-f^-?-: '-■y^-y^'^-^ 
 
 :.-... ^J'i' ^"^-g!?- .•"'■^•^* 
 
Mammal Study 235 
 
 my own home, and have noted that if a squirrel leaves them for ex- 
 ploring, he goes warily; while, when following them, he is quite reckless 
 in his haste. When making a jump from tree to tree, he flattens himself 
 as widely as possible and his tail is held somewhat curved, but on a 
 level with the body, as if its wide brush helped to buoy him up 
 and perhaps to steer him also. 
 
 During the winter the chickaree is quite dingy in color and is an 
 inconspicuous object, especially when he "humps himself up" so 
 that he resembles a knot on a limb ; but with the coming of spring, 
 he dons a brighter coat of tawny-red and along his sides, where 
 the red meets the grayish white of the under side, there is a 
 dark line which is very ornamental; and now his tail is a shower 
 of ruddiness. As the season advances, the colors seem to fade; 
 they are probably a part of his wooing costume. When dashing up a tree 
 trunk, his color is never very striking but looks like the glimmer of sun- 
 light; this has probably saved many of his kind from the gunner, whose 
 eyes being at the front of his head, cannot compare in efficiency with 
 those of the squirrel, which being large and full and alert, are placed at 
 the sides of the head so as to see equally well in all directions. 
 
 The squirrel's legs are short because he is essentially a climber rather 
 than a runner; the hips are very strong which insures his power as a 
 jumper and his leaps are truly remarkable. A squirrel uses his front 
 paws for hands in a most human way; with them he washes his face and 
 holds his food up to his mouth while eating, and it is interesting to note 
 the skill of his claws when used as fingers. The track he makes in the 
 snow is quite characteristic. The tracks are paired and those of the large 
 five-toed hind feet are always in front. 
 
 Squirrel tracks. 
 
 The squirrel has two pairs of gnawing teeth which are very long and 
 strong, as in all rodents, and he needs to keep busy gnawing hard things 
 with them, or they will grow so long that he cannot use them at all and 
 will starve to death. He is very clever about opening nuts so as to get all 
 the meats. He often opens a hickory nut with two holes which tap the 
 places of the nut meats squarely; with walnuts or butternuts, which have 
 much harder shells, he makes four small holes, one opposite each quarter 
 of the kernel. He has no cheek-pouches like a chipmunk but he can carry 
 corn and other grain. He often fills his mouth so full that his cheeks 
 bulge out like those of a boy eating pop-corn; but anything as large as a 
 nut he carries in his teeth. His food is far more varied than many sup- 
 pose and he will eat almost an^rthing eatable; he is a little pirate and 
 enjoys stealing from others with keenest zest. In spring, he eats leaf 
 buds and hunts our orchards for apple seeds. In winter, he feeds on nuts 
 and cones; it is marvelous how he will take a cone apart, tearing off the 
 scales and leaving them in a heap while searching for seeds; he is espec- 
 ially fond of the seeds of Norway spruce and hemlock. Of course, he is 
 fond of nuts of all kinds and will cut the chestnut burs from the tree 
 before they are ripe, so that he may get ahead of the other harvesters. 
 He stores his food for winter in all sorts of odd places and often forgets 
 
236 Handbook of Nature-Stiidy 
 
 where he puts it. We often find his winter stores untouched the next 
 summer. He also likes birds' eggs and nestlings, and if it were not for 
 the chastisement he gets from the parent robins, he would work much 
 damage in this way. 
 
 The squirrel is likely to be a luxurious fellow and have a winter and a 
 summer home. The former is in some hollow tree or other protected 
 place ; the summer home consists of a platform of twigs in some tree-top, 
 often built upon an abandoned 'crow or hawk nest; but just how he uses 
 these two homes, is as yet, a matter of guessing and is a good subject for 
 young naturalists to investigate. During the winter, he does not remain 
 at home except in coldest weather, when he lies cozily with his tail 
 wrapped around him like a boa to keep him warm. He is too full of 
 interest in the world to lie quietly long, but comes out, hunts up some of 
 his stores, and finds life worth while despite the cold. One squirrel 
 adopted a bird house in one of our trees, and he or his kin have lived there 
 for years; in winter, h-e takes his share of the suet put on the trees for 
 birds, and because of his greediness, we have been compelled to use picture 
 wire for tying on the suet. 
 
 The young are born in a protected nest, usually in the hollow of a tree. 
 There are four to six young in a litter and they appear in April. If 
 necessary to move the young, the mother carries the squirrel baby cling- 
 ing to her breast with its arms around her neck. 
 
 The squirrel has several ways of expressing his emotions; one is by 
 various curves in his long beautiful, bushy tail. If the creatures of the 
 wood had a stage, the squirrel would have to be their chief actor. Sur- 
 prise, incredulousness, indignation, fear, anger and joy are all perfectly 
 expressed by tail gestures and also by voice. As a vocalist he excels; he 
 chatters with curiosity, "chips" with surprise, scolds by giving a gutteral 
 trill, finishing with a falsetto squeal. He is the only singer I know who 
 can carry two parts at a time. Notice him sometimes in the top of a 
 hickory or chestnut tree when nuts are ripe, and you will hear him singing 
 a duet all by himself, a high shrill chatter with a chuckling accompani- 
 ment. Long may he abide with us as an uninvited guest at our cribs! 
 For, though he be a freebooter and conscienceless, yet our world would 
 lack its highest example of incarnate grace and activity, if he were not 
 in it. 
 
 LESSON LVII 
 The Red Squirrel or Chickaree 
 
 Leading thought — The red squirrel by its agility and cleverness has 
 lived on, despite its worst enemy — man. By form and color and activity 
 it is fitted to elude the htmter. 
 
 Method — If a pet squirrel in a cage can be procured for observation at 
 the school, the observations on the form and habits of the animal can be 
 best studied thus; but a squirrel in a cage is an anomaly and it is far 
 better to stimulate the pupils to observe the squirrels out of doors. Give 
 the following questions, a few at a time, and ask the pupils to report the 
 answers to the entire class. Much should be done with the supplemen- 
 tary reading, as there are many interesting squirrel stories illustrating its 
 habits. 
 
Mammal Study 237 
 
 Observations — i. Where have you seen a squirrel ? Does the squirrel 
 trot along or leap when running on the ground? Does it run straight 
 ahead or stop at intervals for observation? How does it look? How 
 does it act when looking to see if the "coast is clear"? 
 
 2. When climbing a tree, does it go straight up, or move around the 
 trunk? How does it hide itself behind a tree trunk and observe the 
 passer-by? Describe how it manages to climb a tree? Does it go down 
 the tree head first ? Is it able to climb out on the smallest branches ? Of 
 what advantage is this to it? 
 
 3. Look closely and see if a squirrel follows the same route always 
 when passing from one point to another. How does it pass from tree to 
 tree? How does it act when preparing to jump? Hew does it hold its 
 legs and tail when in the air during a jump from branch to branch? 
 
 4. Describe the colors of the red squirrel above and below. Is there a 
 dark stripe along its side, if so, what color? How does the color of the 
 squirrel protect it from its enemies? Is its color brighter in summer or in 
 
 winter ? 
 
 5. How are the squirrel's eyes placed? Do 3-ou think it can see 
 behind as well as in front all the time? Are its eyes bright and alert, or 
 soft and tender? 
 
 6. Are its legs long or short? Are its hind legs stronger and longer 
 than the front legs? Why? Why does it not need long legs? _ Does its 
 paws have claws? How does it use its paws when eating and in making 
 
 its toilet? 
 
 7. Describe the squirrel's tail. Is it as long as the body? Is it 
 used to express emotion ? Of what use is it when the squirrel is jumping? 
 Of what use is it in the winter in the nest ? 
 
 8. What is the food of the squirrel during the autumn? Winter? 
 Spring? vSummer? Where does it store food for the winter? Does it 
 steal foo.l laid up by jays, chipmunks, mice or other squirrels ? How does 
 it carry nuts ? Has it cheek-pouches Hke the chipmunk for carrying food ? 
 Does it stay in its nest all winter living on stored food like a chipmunk? 
 
 9. Where does the red squirrel make its winter home? Does it also 
 have a summer home, if so, of what is it made and where built? In what 
 sort of a nest are the young bom and reared? At what time of the year 
 are the young bom ? How does the mother squirrel carry her little ones 
 
 if she wishes to move them ? 
 
 10. How much of squirrel language can you understand? How does 
 it express surprise, excitement, anger, or joy during the nut harvest? 
 Note how many different sounds it makes and tr>- to discover what they 
 
 mean. 
 
 1 1 . Describe or sketch the tracks made by the squirrel m the snow. 
 
 12. How does the squirrel get at the meats of the hickory nut and the 
 walnut? How are its teeth arranged to gnaw holes in such hard sub- 
 stances as shells? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Squirrels and Other Fur Bearers, John 
 Burroughs; American Animals, Stone & Cram; Secrets of the Woods, 
 Long; Familiar Life in Field and Forest, Mathews; Little Beasts of Field 
 and Wood; Cram; Wild Neighbors, Ingersoll; Familiar Wild Animals, 
 Lottridge. 
 
238 Hafidhook of N ature-Stiidy 
 
 FURRY 
 
 "URRY was a baby red squirrel. One day 
 in Ma)' his mother was moving him from 
 one tree to another. He was chnging 
 with his Httle arms around her neck and 
 his body clasped tightly against her breast, 
 when something frightened her and in her 
 sudden movement, she dropped her heavy 
 baby in the grass. Thus, I inherited him 
 and entered upon the rather onerous 
 duties of caring for a baby of whose needs I knew little; but I knew that 
 every well cared for baby should have a book detailing all that happens to 
 it, therefore, I made a book for Furry, writing in it each day the things 
 he did. If the children who have pets keep similar books, they will find 
 them most interesting reading afterward, and they will surely enjoy 
 the writing very much. 
 
 Extracts from Furry s Note-hook 
 
 May 18, 1902 — The baby squirrel is just large enough to cuddle in one 
 hand. He cuddles all right when once he is captured; but he is a terrible 
 fighter, and when I attempt to take him in my hand, he scrtaches and 
 bites and growls so that I have been obliged to name him Fury. I told 
 him, however, if he improved in temper I would change his name to Furry. 
 
 May 19 — Fury greets me, when I open his box, with the most awe- 
 inspiring little growls, which he calculates will make me turn pale with 
 fear. He has not cut his teeth yet, so he cannot bite very severely, but 
 that isn't his fault, for he tries hard enough. The Naturalist said cold 
 milk would kill him, so I warmed the milk and put it in a teaspoon and 
 placed it in front of his nose; he batted the spoon with both forepaws 
 and tried to bite it, and thus got a taste of the milk, which he drank eagerly 
 lapping it up like a kitten. When I hold him in one hand and cover him 
 with the other, he turns contented little somersaults over and over. 
 
 May 20 — Fury bit me only once to-day, when I took him out to feed 
 him. He is cutting his teeth on my devoted fingers. I tried giving him 
 grape-nuts soaked in milk, but he spat it out in disgust. Evidently he 
 does not believe he needs a food for brain and nerve. He always washes 
 his face as soon as he is through eating. 
 
 May 21 — Fury lies curled up under his blanket all day. Evidently 
 good little squirrels stay quietly in the nest, when the mother is not at 
 home to give them permission to run around. When Fury sleeps, he rolls 
 himself up in a little ball with his tail wrapped closely around him. The 
 squirrel's tail is his "furs," which he wraps around him to keep his back 
 warm when he sleeps in winter. 
 
 May 23 — Every time I meet Uncle John he asks, "Is his name Fury or 
 Furry now?" Uncle John is much interested in the good behavior of even 
 little squirrels. As Fury has not bitten me hard for two days, I think I 
 will call him Furry after this. He ate some bread soaked in milk to-day, 
 holding it in his hands in real squirrel fashion. I let him run around the 
 room and he liked it. 
 
 May 25 — Furry got away from me this morning and I did not find him 
 for an hour. Then I discovered him in a pasteboard box of drawing 
 paper with the cover on. How did he squeeze through? 
 
Mammal Study 230 
 
 May 26 — He holds the bowl of the spoon with both front paws while 
 he drinks the milk. When I try to draw the spoon away, to fill it again 
 after he has emptied it, he objects and hangs on to it with all his Httle 
 might, and scolds as hard as ever he can. He is such a funny, unreason- 
 able baby. 
 
 May 28 — To-night I gave Furry a walnut meat. As soon as he smelled 
 it he became greatly excited; he grasped the meat in his hands and ran off 
 and hid under my elbow, growling like a kitten with its first mouse. 
 
 May 30 — Since he tasted nuts he has lost interest in milk. The nut 
 meats are too hard for his new teeth, so I mash them and soak them in 
 water and now he eats them like a little piggy- wig with no manners at all. 
 He loves to have me stroke his back while he is eating. He uses his 
 thumbs and fingers in such a human way that I always call his front paws 
 hands. When his piece of nut is very small he holds it in one hand and 
 clasps the other hand behind the one which holds the dainty morsel, so as 
 to keep it safe. 
 
 May 3 1 — When he is sleepy he scolds if I disturb him and turning over 
 on his back bats my hand with all of his soft little paws and pretends that 
 he is going to bite. 
 
 June 4 — Furry ranges around the room now to please himself. He is a 
 little mischief; he tips over his cup of milk and has commenced gnawing 
 off the wall paper behind the book-shelf to make him a nest. The paper is 
 green and will probably make him sorry. 
 
 June 5 — This morning Furry was hidden in a roll of paper. I put my 
 hand over one end of the roll and then reached in with the other hand to 
 get him; but he got me instead, because he ran up my sleeve and was 
 much more contented to be there than I was to have him. I was glad 
 enough when he left his hiding place and climbed to the top shelf of the 
 bookcase, far beyond my reach. 
 
 June 6 — I have not seen Furry for twenty-four hours, but he is here 
 surely enough. Last night he tipped over the ink bottle and scattered 
 nut shells over the floor. He prefers pecans to any other nuts. 
 
 June 7 — I caught Furry to-day and he bit my finger so it bled. But 
 afterwards, he cuddled in my hand for a long time, and then climbed my 
 shoulder and went hunting around in my hair and wanted to stay there 
 and make a nest. When I took him away, he pulled out his two hands 
 full of my devoted tresses. I'll not employ him as a hairdresser. 
 
 June 9 — Furry sleeps nights in the top drawer of my desk; he crawls 
 in from behind. When I pull out the drawer he pops out and scares me 
 nearly out of my wits; but he keeps his wits about him and gets away 
 before I can catch him. 
 
 June 20 — I keep the window open so Furry can run out and in and 
 learn to take care of himself out-of-doors. 
 
 Furry soon learned to take care of himself, though he often returned 
 for nuts, which I kept for him in a bowl. He does not come very near me 
 out-of-doors, but he often speaks to me in a friendly manner from a cer- 
 tain pitch pine tree near the house. 
 
 There are many blank leaves in Furry's note-book. I wish that he 
 could have written on these of the things that he thought about me and 
 my performances. It would certainly have been the most interesting 
 book concerning squirrels in the world. 
 
240 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 THE CHIPMUNK 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HILE the chipmunk is a good runner and jumper, 
 it is not so able a chmber as is the red squirrel, 
 and it naturally stays nearer the ground. 
 One windy day I was struck by the peculiar 
 attitude of what, I first thought, was a red 
 squirrel gathering green acorns from a chestnut 
 oak in front of my window. A second glance 
 showed me that it was a chipmunk lying 
 close to the branch, hanging on for "dear life 
 and with an attitude of extreme caution, quite 
 foreign to the red squirrel in a similar situation. He would creep out, 
 seize an acorn in its teeth, creep back to a larger limb, take off the shell, 
 and with his little paws stuff the kernel into his cheek pouches; he took 
 hold of one side of his mouth with one hand to stretch it out, as if open- 
 ing a bag, and stuffed the acorn in with the other. I do not know 
 whether this process was necessary or not at the beginning, for his cheeks 
 were distended when I first saw him ; and he kept on stuffing them until 
 he looked as if he had a hopeless case of mumps. Then with obvious 
 care he descended the tree and retreated to his den in the side hill, the 
 door of which I had already discovered, although it was well hidden by 
 a bunch of orchard grass. 
 
 Chipmunks are more easily tamed than red squirrels and soon learn 
 that pockets may contain nuts and other things good to eat. The first 
 tame chipmunk of my acquaintance belonged to a species found in the 
 California mountains. He was a beautiful little creature and loved to 
 play about his mistress' room; she being 
 a naturalist as well as a poet, was able 
 to understand her little companion, and 
 the relations between them were full of 
 mutual confidence. He was fond of 
 English walnuts and would always hide 
 away all that were placed in a dish on 
 the table. One day his mistress, when 
 taking off her bonnet after returning 
 from church, discovered several of these 
 nuts tucked safely in the velvet bows; 
 they were invisible from the front but 
 perfectly visible from the side. Even 
 yet, she wonders what the people at 
 church that day thought of her original 
 ideas in millinery; and she wonders 
 still more how "Chipsie" managed to 
 get into the bonnet-box, the cover of 
 which was always carefully closed. 
 
 The chipmunk is a good home builder 
 and carries off, presumably in its cheek 
 pouches, all of the soil which it removes 
 
 in making its burrow. The burrow is "Chipsie", a chipmunk of 
 
 made usually in a dry hillside, the the Sierras. 
 
Mammal Study 241 
 
 passageway just large enough for its own body, widening to a nest 
 which is well bedded down. There is usually a back door also, so that 
 in case of necessity, the inmate can escape. It retires to this nest in 
 late November and does not appear again until March. In the nest, 
 it stores nuts and other grains so that when it wakens, at long inter- 
 vals, it can take refreshment. 
 
 If you really wish to know whether you see what you look at or not, 
 test yourself by trying to describe the length, position and number of 
 the chipmunk's stripes. These stripes, like those of the tiger in the 
 jungle, make the creature less conspicuous; when on the ground, 
 where its stripes fall in with the general shape and color of the grass 
 and underbrush, it is quite invisible until it stirs. Its tail is not so 
 long nor nearly so bushy as that of the squirrel; it does not need a tail 
 to balance and steer with in the tree tops; and since it lives in the 
 ground, a bushy tail would soon be loaded with earth and would be an 
 incubus instead of a thing of beauty. 
 
 The chipmunk is not a vocalist like the red squirrel, but he can cluck 
 like a cuckoo and chatter gayly or cogently ; and he can make himself into a 
 little bunch with his tail curved up his back, while he eats a nut from both 
 his hands, and is even more amusing than the red squirrel in this attitude; 
 probably because he is more innocent and not so much of a poseur. His 
 food consists of all kinds of nuts, grain and fruit, but he does little or no 
 damage, as a rule. He is pretty and distinctly companionable, and I 
 can rejoice, in that I have had him and his whole family as my near 
 neighbors for many years. I always feel especially proud when he shows 
 his confidence, by scampering around our piazza floor and peeping in at 
 our windows, as if taking a reciprocal interest in us. 
 
 LESSON LVIII 
 
 The Chipmunk 
 
 Leading thougJit — The chipmunk lives more on the ground than does 
 the squirrel; its colors are protective and it has cheek pouches in which 
 it carries food, and also soil when digging its burrow. It stores food for 
 winter in its den. 
 
 Method — The field note-book should be the basis for this work. 
 Give the pupils an outline of observations to be made, and ask for reports 
 now and then. Meanwhile stimulate interest in the little creatures by 
 reading aloud from some of the references given. 
 
 Observations — i. Do you see the chipmunk climbing around in trees 
 like the red squirrel ? How high in a tree have you ever seen a chipmunk ? 
 
 2. What are the chipmunk's colors above and below? How many 
 stripes has it? Where are they and what are their colors? Do you 
 think that these stripes conceal the animal when among grasses and 
 bushes? 
 
 3. Compare the tails of the chipmunk and the red squirrel. Which 
 is the longer and bushier? Tell if you can the special advantage to the 
 chipmunk in having this less bushy tail? 
 
 4. W^hat does the chipmunk eat ? How does it carry its food ? How 
 does it differ in this respect from the red squirrel? Does it store its food 
 for winter use? How does it prepare its nuts? How does it hold its food 
 while eating? 
 
242 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 5. Where does the chipmunk make its home? How does it carry 
 away soil from its burrow? How many entrances are there? How is 
 the den arranged inside? Does it hve in the same den the year round? 
 When does it retire to its den in the fall? When does it come out in the 
 
 sprm*^ ? 
 
 6." Does the chipmunk do any damage to crops? What seeds does it 
 distribute? At what time do the little chipmunks appear in the spring? 
 
 7. Observe carefully the different tones of the chipmunk and com- 
 pare its chattering with that of the squirrel. 
 
 Supplementary reading — Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers, John 
 Burroughs; American Animals, Stone and Cram. 
 
 Photo by Verne Morton 
 TJic Eastern Chipmunk. 
 
 TO A CAPTIVE CHIPMUNK OF THE SIERRAS 
 
 Bright little comrade from the ivoods, come show 
 Thy antic cJicer about my sunlit room 
 Of books, that stand in moods of gloom 
 Because thought's tide is out, heart's rhythm is low 
 With weariness. Friendly thou art and know 
 Good friend in me, ivho yet did dare presume 
 To take thee from thy home, thy little doom 
 To make for thee, and longer life bestow. 
 So, thou hast not been eaten by the snake; 
 Thy gentle blood no weasel drank at night; 
 Thou hast not starved 'mid winter's frozen wood. 
 Nor waited vainly for the sun to make 
 Sweet the wild nuts for thee. Yet, little sprite, 
 Thou still doth question if my deed were good? 
 
 — Irene Hardy. 
 
Mammal Stiidy 243 
 
 THE LITTLE BROWN BAT 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 His small umbrella, quaintly halved, 
 Describing in the air an arc alike inscrutable, — 
 Elate philosopher! — Emily Dickenson. 
 
 ^HOEVER first said "as blind as a bat," surely never 
 looked a bat in the face, or he would not have 
 said it. The deep-set, keen, observant eyes are 
 quite in keeping with the alert attitude of the 
 _ - _ erect, pointed ears; while the pug-nose and the 
 wide open, little, pink bag of a mouth, set with tiny, sharp teeth, give 
 this anomalous little animal a deliciously impish look. Yet how have 
 those old artists behed the bat, who fashioned their demons after his 
 pattern, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, wings and all! Certain it is, if human 
 beings ever get to be winged angels in this world, they are far more likely 
 to have their wings fashioned like those of the bat than like those of the 
 bird. As a matter of fact, there are no other wings so wonderful as the 
 bat's; the thin membrane is equipped with sensitive nerves which 
 inform the flier of the objects in his path, so that he darts among the 
 branches of trees at terrific speed and never touches a twig; a blinded bat 
 was once set free in a room, across which threads were stretched, and 
 he flew about without ever touching one. After we have tamed one of 
 these little, silky flitter-mice we soon get reconciled to his wings for he 
 proves the cunningest of pets; he soon learns who feeds him, and is a 
 constant source of entertainment. 
 
 The flight of the bat is the highest ideal we may have, for the achieve- 
 ment of the aeroplane. It consists of darting hither and thither with 
 incredible swiftness, and making sharp turns with no apparent effort. 
 Swifts and swallows are the only birds that can compete with the bat in 
 wing celerity and agility; it is interesting to note that these birds also 
 catch insects on the wing, for food. The bat, like the swift, keeps his 
 mouth open, scooping in all the insects in his way; more than this, he 
 makes a collecting net of the wing membrane, stretched between the hind 
 legs and tail, doubling it up like an apron on the unfortunate insects, and 
 then reaching down and gobbling them up; and thus he is always doing 
 good service to us on summer evenings by swallowing mosquitoes and 
 gnats. 
 
 The short fur of the bat is as soft as silk, and covers the body but not 
 the wings; the plan of the wing is something like that of the duck's foot; 
 it consists of a web stretched between very much elongated fingers. If a 
 boy's fingers were as long in proportion, as a bat's, they would measure 
 four feet. Stretched between the long fingers is a thin, rubbery mem- 
 brane, which extends back to the ankles and thence back to the tip of the 
 bony tail; thus, the bat has a winged margin all around his body. Since 
 fingers make the framework, it is the thumb that projects from the front 
 angle of the wing, in the form of a very serviceable hook, resembling that 
 used by a one-armed man to replace the lost member. These hooks the 
 bat uses in many ways. He drags himself along the floor with their aid, 
 or he scratches the back of his head with them, if occasion requires. He 
 is essentially a creature of the air and is not at all fitted for walking; his 
 
244 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 knees bend backward in an opposite direction from ours. This renders 
 him unable to walk, and when attempting to do so, he has the appearance 
 of "scrabbUng" along on his feet and elbows. When thus moving he 
 keeps his wings fluttering rapidly, as if feeling his way in the dark, and 
 his movements are as trembly as those of a palsied old man. 
 
 The little brown bat's wings often measure nine inches from tip to tip, 
 and yet he folds them so that they scarcely show, he does not fold them 
 hke a fan, but rather like a pocket knife. The hind legs merely act as a 
 support for the side wing, and the little hip bones look pitifully sharp, 
 the membrane reaches only to the ankle, the tiny emaciated foot pro- 
 jecting from it is armed with five, wirehke toes, tipped with sharp hooked 
 claws.'' It is by these claws that he hangs when resting during the day, 
 for he is upside-down-y in his sleeping habits, slumbering during the day- 
 time, while hanging head downward, without any inconvenience from a 
 rush'of blood to the brain; when thus suspended, the tail is folded down. 
 Sometimes he hangs by one hind foot and a front hook, and he is a wee 
 thing when all folded together and hung up, with his nose tucked between 
 his h'ooked thumbs, in a very babyish fashion. 
 
 The bat is very particular about his personal cleanliness. People who 
 regard the bat as a dirty creature, had better look to it that they are even 
 half as fastidious as he. He washes his face with the front part of his 
 wing, and then licks his wash-cloth clean, he scratches the back of his 
 head'with his hind foot and then Hcks the foot, when hanging head down, 
 he will reach one hind foot down and scratch behind his ear with an 
 aplomb truly comical in such a mite; but it is most fun of all to see him 
 clean his wings ; he seizes the edges in his mouth and stretches and licks 
 the membrane until we are sure it is made of silk elastic, for he pulls and 
 hauls it in a way truly amazing. 
 
 The bat has a voice which sounds like the squeak of a toy wheelbarrow, 
 and yet it is expressive of emotions. He squeaks in one tone when holding 
 conversation with other bats, and squeaks quite differently when seized 
 by the enemy. 
 
 The mother bat feeds her httle ones from her breasts as a mouse does 
 its young, only she cradles them in her soft wings while so doing; often 
 she takes them with her when she goes out for insects in the evenings; 
 they cling to her neck during these exciting rides; but when she wishes to 
 work unencumbered, she hangs her tiny youngsters on some twig and 
 goes back to them later. The little ones are bom in July and usually 
 occur as twins. During the winter, bats hibernate hke woodchucks or 
 chipmunks. They select for winter quarters some hollow tree or cave or 
 other protected place. They go to sleep when the cold weather comes, 
 and do not awake until the insects are flying; they then come forth m the 
 evenings, or perhaps early in the morning, and do their best to rid the 
 world of 'mosquitoes and other insect nuisances. 
 
 There are many senseless fears about the bat; for instance, that he 
 likes to get tangled in a lady's tresses, a situation which would frighten 
 him far more than the lady; or that he brings bedbugs into the house, 
 when he enters on his quest for mosquitoes, which is an ungrateful slander. 
 Some people believe that all bats are vampires, and only await an oppor- 
 tunity to suck blood from their victims. It is true that in South America 
 there are two species which occasionally attack people who are careless 
 enough to sleep with their toes uncovered, but feet thus injured seem to 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 245 
 
 recover speedily; and these bats do little damage to people, although 
 they sometimes pester animals; but there are no vampires in the United 
 States. Our bats, on the contrary, are innocent and beneficial to man; 
 and if we had more of them we should have less malaria. There a few 
 species in our country, which have little, leaf-like growths on the end of 
 the nose; and when scientists study the bat from a nature-study 
 mstead of an anatomical standpoint, we shall know what these leafy 
 appendages are used for. 
 
 The little brown bat. 
 
 LESSON LIX 
 The Bat 
 
 Leading thought — Although the bat's wings are very dififerent from 
 those of the bird's yet it is a rapid and agile flier. It flies in the dusk and 
 catches great numbers of mosquitoes and other troublesome insects, upon 
 which it feeds. 
 
 Method — This lesson should not be given unless there is a live bat to 
 illustrate it; the little creature can be cared for comfortably in a cage in 
 the schoolroom, as it will soon learn to take flies or bits of raw meat when 
 presented on the point of a pencil or toothpick. Any bat will do for this 
 study, although the little brown bat is the one on which my observations 
 were made. 
 
 Observations — i . At what time of day do we see bats flying? Describe 
 how the bat's flight differs from that of birds. Why do bats dart about 
 so rapidly? 
 
 2. Look at a captive bat and describe its wings. Can you see what 
 makes the framework of the wings? Do you see the three finger bones 
 extending out into the wings? How do the hind legs support the wing? 
 The tail? Is the wing membrane covered with fur? Is it thick and 
 leathery or thin and silky and elastic? How does the bat fold up its 
 wings ? 
 
 3. In what position does the bat rest? Does it ever hang by his 
 thumb hooks? 
 
 4. Can you see whether the knees of the hind legs bend upward or 
 downward? How does the bat act when trying to walk or crawl? How 
 does it use its thumb hooks in doing this? 
 
 5. "What does the bat do daytimes? Where does it stay during the 
 day? Do many bats congregate together in their roosts? 
 
246 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 6. Describe the bat's head, including the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. 
 What is its general expression? Do you think it can see and hear well? 
 How is its mouth fitted for catching insects? Does it shut its mouth 
 while chewing or keep it open ? Do you think that bats can see by day- 
 light? 
 
 7. What noises does a bat make? How does it act if you try to 
 touch it? Can it bite severely? Can you understand why the Germans 
 call it a fiitter-mouse? 
 
 8. Do you know how the mother bat cares for her young? How does 
 she carry them? At what time of year may we expect to find them? 
 
 9. When making its toilet, how does a bat clean its wings? Its face? 
 Its back? Its feet? Do you know if it is very clean in his habits? 
 
 10. How and where do the bats pass the winter? How are they 
 beneficial to us? Are they ever harmful? 
 
 Supplementary reading — American Animals, Stone and Cram. 
 
 Nature-study stionld not he unrelated to the child's life and circumstances. It 
 stands for directness and naturalness. It is astonishing when one comes to think of it, 
 how indirect and how remote from, the lives of pupils much of om education has been. 
 Geography still often begins with the universe, and finally, perhaps, comes down to 
 some concrete and familiar object or scene that the pupil can understand. Arithmetic 
 has to do ivith brokerage and partnerships and partial payments and other things that 
 mean nothing to the child. Botany begins with cells and protoplasm and cryptogams. 
 History deals with political and military affairs, and only rarely comes down to physical 
 facts and to those events that express the real lives of the people; and yet political and 
 social affairs arc only tht results of expressions of the ivay in which people live. Read- 
 ers begin with mere literature or with stories of scenes the child will never see. Of course 
 these statements are meant to be only general, as illustrating what is even yet a great 
 fault in educational methods. There are many exceptions, and these are becoming 
 commoner. Surely, the best education is that which begins with the materials at hand. 
 A child knows a stone before it knows the earth. 
 
 ' — L. H. Bailey in "The Nature-Study Idea." 
 
Mammal btudy 
 
 247 
 
 THE SKUNK 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HOSE who have had experience with this animal, surely 
 are glad that it is small; and the wonder always is, 
 that so little a creature can make such a large impres- 
 sion upon the atmosphere. A fully grown skunk is 
 about two feet long: its body is covered with long, 
 shining, rather coarse hair, and the tail which is carried 
 like a flag in the air, is very large and bushy. In color, 
 the fur is sometimes entirely black, but most often has a white patch on 
 the back of the neck, with two stripes extending down the back and 
 along the sides to the tail; the face, also, has a white stripe. 
 
 The skunk has a long head and a rather pointed snout; its front legs 
 are very much shorter than its hind legs, which gives it a very peculiar 
 gait. Its forefeet are armed with long, strong claws, with which it digs 
 its burrow, which is usually made in hght soil. It also often makes its 
 home in some crevice in rocks, or even takes possession of an abandoned 
 woodchuck's hole; or trusting to its immunity from danger, makes its 
 home under the barn. In the fall, it becomes very fat, and during the 
 early part of winter, hibernates within its den ; it comes out during the 
 thaws of winter and early spring. 
 
 The young skunks appear in May ; they are born in an enlarged portion 
 of the burrow, where a nice bed of grass and leaves is made for them; the 
 skunk is scrupulously neat about its own nest. The young skunks are 
 very active, and interesting to watch, when playing together like kittens. 
 The skunk belongs to the same family as the mink and weasel, which 
 also give ofiE a disagreeable odor when angry. The fetid material which 
 is the skunk's defence, is contained in two capsules under the root of the 
 tail. These little capsules are not larger than peas, and the quantity of 
 liquid forced from them in a discharge is scarcely more than a large drop; 
 yet it will permeate the atmosphere with its odor for a distance of a mile. 
 The fact that this discharge is so disagreeable to all other animals, has had 
 a retarding influence upon 
 the skunk's intelligence. It 
 has not been obliged to rely 
 upon its cunning to escape its 
 enemies, and has therefore 
 never developed either fear 
 or cleverness. It marches 
 abroad without haste, confi- 
 dent that every creature 
 which sees it will give it plenty 
 of room. It is a night 
 prowler, although it is not 
 averse to a daytime prome- 
 nade. The white upon its fur 
 gives warning at night, that 
 here is an animal which had 
 best be left alone. This im- 
 munity from attack makes 
 the skunk careless in learning 
 
 Photo by Verne -Morton 
 The skunk. 
 
248 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 wisdom from experience; it never learns to avoid a trap or a railway 
 or trolley track. 
 
 The skunk's food consists largely of insects, mice, snakes and other 
 small animals. It also destroys the eggs and young of birds which 
 nest upon the ground. It uses its strong forepaws in securing its 
 prey. Dr. Merriam, who made pets of young skunks after removing 
 their scent capsules, found them very interesting. He says of one 
 which was named "Meph": "We used to walk through the woods 
 to a large meadow that abounded in grasshoppers. Here, Meph would 
 fairly revel in his favorite food, and it was rich sport to watch his 
 manoeuvres. When a grasshopper jumped, he jumped, and I have seen 
 him with as many as three in his mouth and two under his fore-paws at 
 the same time." 
 
 The only injury which the skunk is likely to do to the farmers, is the 
 raiding of the hens' nests, and this can be obviated by properly housing 
 the poultry. On the other hand, the skunk is of great use in destroying 
 injurious insects and mice. Often when skunks burrow beneath barns, 
 they completely rid the place of mice. Skunk fur is very valuable and is 
 sold under the name of Alaskan sable. The skunk takes short steps, and 
 goes so slowly that it makes a double track, the imprints being very close 
 together. The foot makes a longer track than that of the cat, as the 
 skunk is plantigrade ; that is, it walks upon its palms and heels as well as 
 its toes. 
 
 Skunk tracks. 
 
 References — Wild Neighbors, Ingersoll; Familiar Life in Field and 
 Forest, Mathews; American Animals, Stone and Cram; Squirrels and 
 Other Fur Bearers, Burroughs. 
 
 LESSON LX 
 The Skunk 
 
 Leading thought — The skunk has depended so long upon protecting 
 itself from its enemies by its disagreeable odor, that it has become stupid 
 in this respect, and seems never to be able to learn to keep off of railroad 
 tracks. It is a very beneficial animal to the farmer because its food con- 
 sists so largely of injurious insects and rodents. 
 
 Method — The questions should be given the pupils and they should 
 answer them from personal observations or inquiries. 
 
 Observations — i. How large is a skunk? Describe its fur. Where 
 does the black and white occur in the fur? Of what use is the white to 
 the skunk? Is the fur valuable? What is its commercial name? 
 
 2. What is the shape of the skunk's head? The general shape of the 
 body? The tail? Are the front legs longer or shorter than the hind legs? 
 Describe the front feet. For what are they used? 
 
 3. Where and how does the skunk make its nest? Does it sleep like 
 a woodchuck during the winter? What is its food? How does it catch 
 its prey? Does it hunt for its food during the day or the night? Does 
 
Mammal Study 249 
 
 the skunk ever hurry? Is it afraid? How does it protect itself from its 
 enemies? Do you think that the skunk's freedom from fear has rendered 
 the animal less intelligent? 
 
 4. At what time do the skunk kittens appear? Have you ever seen 
 little skunks playing ? If so, describe their antics. How is the nest made 
 soft for the young ones ? 
 
 5. How does the skunk benefit farmers? Does it ever do them any 
 injury? Do you think that it does more good than harm? 
 
 6. Describe the skunk's track as follows: How many toes show in 
 the track? Does the palm or heel show? Are the tracks near together? 
 Do they form a single or a double line? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Squirrels and Other Fur Bearers, Burroughs. 
 
 Saw a littl-c skunk coming up the river bank in the woods at the white oak, a funny 
 little fellow, about six inches long and nearly as broad. It faced me and actually com- 
 pelled me to retreat before it for -five minutes. Perhaps I was between it and its hole. 
 Its broad black tail, tipped with white, was erect like a kitten's. It had what looked like 
 a broad ivhite band drawn tight across its forehand or top-head, from which two lines of 
 white ran down, one on each stde of its back, and there was a narroiv white line down its 
 snout. It raised tts back, sometimes ran a few feet forward, sometimes backward, and 
 repeatedly turned its tail to me, prepared to discharge its fluid, like the old ones. Suck 
 was its instinct, and all the while it kept -up a fine grunting like a kttle pig or a red 
 squirrel. — Henry Thoreau. 
 
 Few animals are so silent as the skunk. Zoological works contain no information 
 as to its voice, and the essayists rarely mention it except by implication. Mr. Bur- 
 roughs says: "The most silent creature known to me, he makes no sound, so far as I 
 have observed, save a diffuse, impatient noise, like that produced by beating your hand 
 with a whisk-broom, when the farm-dog has discovered his retreat in the stone fence." 
 Rowland Robinson tells us that: "The voiceless creature sometimes frightens the 
 belated farm-boy, ivhom he curiously follows with a mysterious hollow beating of his feet 
 upon the ground." Thoreau, as has been mentioned, heard one keep up a "fine 
 grunting, like a little pig or a squirrel;" but he seems to have misunderstood altogether a 
 singular loud patting sound heard repeatedly on the frozen ground under the wall, which 
 he also listened to, for he thought it "had to do ivith getting its food, patting the eartli to 
 get the insects or worms." Probably he would have omitted this guess if he could Jiave 
 edited his diary instead of leaving that to be done after his death. The patting is evi- 
 dently merely a nervous sign of impatience or apprehension, similar to the well-known 
 stamping with the hind feet indulged in by rabbits, in this case probably a menace like a 
 doubling of the fists, as the hind legs, with which they kick, are their only weapons. 
 The skunk, then, is not voiceless, bid its voice is ivcak and querulous, and it is rarely if 
 ever heard except in the expression of anger. 
 
 — Ernest Ingersol in "Wild Xeighbors." 
 
250 
 
 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The raccoon. 
 Photo by George Fiske, Jr. 
 
 THE RACCOON 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 n ONE other of our little brothers of the forest, 
 has such a mischievous countenance as the 
 coon. The black patch across the face 
 and surrounding the eyes, like large goggles, 
 and the black line extending from the long, 
 inquisitive nose directly up the forehead give 
 the coon's face an anxious expression; and 
 the keenness of the big, beady, black eyes 
 and the alert, "sassy" looking, broadly 
 triangular ears, convince one that the anxiety 
 depicted in the face is anxiety lest something 
 that should not be done be left tmdone; and 
 
 I am sure that anyone who has had experience with pet coons will aver 
 
 that their acts do not belie their looks. 
 What country child, 
 
 wandering by the brook and -t 
 
 watching its turbulence in 
 
 early spring, has not viewed 
 
 with awe, a footprint on the 
 
 muddy banks looking as if it 
 
 were made by the foot of a 9 
 
 very little baby. The first 
 
 one I ever saw, I promptly 
 
 concluded was made by the 
 
 «•-*• 
 
 ^25=3. 
 
 2^« 
 
 *;^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 i^^. 
 
 ^» j9 — "■ 
 
 Coon tracks. 
 
 Walking 2 Jumping 
 
Mammal Study 251 
 
 foot of a brook fairy. However, the coon is no fairy; it is a rather 
 heavy, logy animal and, like the bear and skunk, is plantigrade, walking 
 on the entire foot instead of on the toes, like a cat or dog. The hind foot 
 is long, with a well-marked heel, and five comparatively short toes, giv- 
 ing it a remarkable resemblance to a human foot. The front foot is 
 smaller and looks like a wide, little hand, with fourlong fingers and a 
 rather short thumb. The claws are strong and sharp. The soles 
 of the feet and the palms of the hands look as if they were covered 
 with black kid, while the feet above and the backs of the hands are 
 covered with short fur. Coon tracks are likely to be found during the 
 first thawing days of winter, along some stream or the borders of 
 swamps, often following the path made by cattle. The full-length track 
 is about 2 inches long; as the coon puts the hind foot in the track made by 
 the front foot on the same side, only the print of the hind feet is left, 
 showing plainly five toe prints and the heel. The tracks may vary 
 from one-half inch to one foot or more apart, depending on how 
 fast the animal is going; when it runs it goes on its toes, but when walking 
 sets the heel down; the tracks are not in so straight a hne as those made 
 by the cat. Sometimes it goes at a slow jump, when the prints of the 
 hind feet are paired, and between and behind them are the prints of the 
 two front feet. 
 
 The coon is covered with long, rather coarse hair, so long as to almost 
 drag when the animal is walking; it really has two different kinds of 
 hair, the long, coarse, gray hair, blackened at the tips, covering the fine, 
 short, grayish or brownish under coat. The very handsome bushy tail is 
 ringed with black and gray. 
 
 The raccoon feeds on almost anything eatable, except herbage. It has 
 a special predilection for com in the milk stage and, in attaining this 
 sweet and toothsome luxury, it strips down the husks and often breaks 
 the plant, doing much damage. It is also fond of poultry and often raids 
 hen houses; it also destroys birds' nests and the young, thus damaging 
 the farmer by killing both domestic and wild birds. It is especially fond 
 of fish and is an adept at sitting on the shore and catching them with its 
 hands; it likes turtle eggs, crayfish and snakes; it haunts the bayous of 
 the Gulf Coast for the oysters which grow there; it is also a skillful frog 
 catcher. Although fond of animal diet, it is also fond of fruit, especially 
 of berries and wild grapes. 
 
 It usually chooses for a nest a hollow tree or a cavern in a ledge near a 
 stream, because of its liking for water creatures; and also because of its 
 strange habit of washing its meat before eating it. I have watched a pet 
 coon performing this act; he would take a piece of meat in his hands, 
 dump it into the pan of drinking water and souse it up and down a few 
 times; then he would get into the pan with his splay feet and roll the meat 
 beneath and between them, meanwhile looking quite unconcernedly at his 
 surroundings, as if washing the meat were an act too mechanical to occupy 
 his mind. After the meat had become soaked until white and flabby, he 
 would take it in his hands and hang on to it with a tight grip while he 
 pulled off pieces with his teeth; or sometimes he would hold it with his 
 feet, and use hands as well as teeth in tearing it apart. The coon's teeth 
 are very much like those of the cat, having long, sharp tushes or canines, 
 and sharp, wedge-shaped grinding teeth, which cut as well as grind! 
 After eating, the pet coon always washed his feet by splashing them in 
 the pan. 
 
252 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 It is a funny sight to watch a coon arrange itself for a nap, on a branch 
 or in the fork of a tree, it adapts its fat body to the unevenness of the bed 
 with apparent comfort ; it then tucks its nose down between its paws and 
 curls its tail about itself, making a huge, furry ball. In all probability, 
 the rings of gray and black on the tail, serve as protective color to the 
 animal sleeping in a tree during the daytime, when sunshine and shadow 
 glance down between the leaves with ever-changing light. The coon 
 spends much of its days asleep in some such situation, and comes forth at 
 night to seek its food. 
 
 In the fall, the coon lays on fat enough to last it during its winter sleep. 
 Usually several inhabit the same nest in winter, lying curled up together 
 in a hollow tree, and remaining dormant all winter except when awakened 
 by the warmth of a thaw. They then may come forth to see what is 
 happening, but return shortly to wait until March or April; then they 
 issue to hunt for the scant food, and are so lean and weak that they fall 
 easy prey to their enemies. 
 
 The young are born in April and May; there are from three to six in a 
 litter; they are blind and helpless at first, and are cared for carefully 
 by their parents, the family remaining together for a year, until the young 
 are fully grown. If removed from their parents the young ones cry 
 pitifully, almost like babies. The cry or whistle of the fully grown coon 
 is anything but a happy sound, and is quite impossible to describe. I 
 have been awakened by it many a night in camp, and it always sounded 
 strange, taking on each time new quavers and whimperings. As a cry, 
 it is first cousin to that of the screech-owl. 
 
 The stories of pet coons are many. I knew one which, chained in a 
 yard, would lie curled up near its post looking like an innocent stone 
 except for one eye kept watchfully open. Soon a hen, filled with curiosity 
 would come warily near, looking longingly at remains of food in the pan ; 
 the coon made no move until the disarmed biddy came close to the pan. 
 Then, there was a scramble and a squawk and with astonishing celerity 
 he would wring her neck and strip off her feathers. Another pet coon 
 was allowed to range over the house at will, and finally had to be sent 
 away because he had learned to open every door in the house, including 
 cupboard doors, and could also open boxes and drawers left unlocked; 
 and I have always believed he could have learned to unlock drawers if he 
 had been given the key. All coons are very curious, and one way of 
 trapping them is to suspend above the trap a bit of bright tin; in solving 
 this glittering mystery, traps are forgotten. 
 
 LESSON LXI 
 
 The Raccoon 
 
 Leading thought — The raccoon lives in hollow trees or caves along 
 the banks of streams. It sleeps during the day and seeks its food at 
 night It sleeps during the winter. 
 
 Method — If there are raccoons in the vicinity, ask the older boys to 
 look for their tracks rear the streams and to describe them very care- 
 fully to the class. The ideal method of studying the animal, is to 
 have a pet coon where the children may watch at leisure its enter- 
 taining and funny performances. If this is impossible, then follow the 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 253 
 
 less desirable method of having the pupils read about the habits of the 
 coon and thus arouse their interest and open their eyes, so that they 
 may make observations of their own when opportunity offers. I would 
 suggest the following topics for oral or written work in English: 
 
 "How and Where Coons Live and What They Do;" "The Autobio- 
 graphy of a Coon One Year Old;" "The Queer Antics of Pet Coons;" 
 "Stories of the Coon's Relative, the Bear." 
 
 Treed. 
 
 Observations — i. Where have you found raccoon tracks? How do 
 they differ from those of fox or dog? How far are the footprints apart? 
 Can you see the heel and toe prints? Do you see the tracks of all four 
 feet? Are the tracks in a straight line like those of the cat? What is the 
 size of the track, the length, the breadth? 
 
 2. What do coons eat and how do they get their food? Which of our 
 crops are they likely to damage? What other damage do they do? 
 Have you ever heard coons cry or whistle during August nights in the 
 cornfields? 
 
254 
 
 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Has it teeth resembling 
 
 3. Why do raccoons Hke to Hve near the water? What do they find 
 of interest there? How do they prepare their meat before eating it? 
 How does a coon handle its meat while eating it? 
 
 4. AVhat kind of fur has the coon? Why does it need such a heavy 
 covering ? Describe the color of the fur. Describe the tail. Of what use 
 is such a large and bushy tail to this animal? 
 
 5. Describe the coon's face. How is it marked? What is its expres 
 sion ? Describe the eyes and ears. The nose, 
 those of the cat and dog? 
 
 6. Describe the coon's feet. How many toes on the front feet? 
 How many on the hind feet? How does this differ from the cat and dog? 
 How do the front and hind feet differ in appearance? Can both be used 
 as hands ? 
 
 7. How do coons arrange themselves for a nap in a tree? How do 
 they cover the head? How is the tail used? Do you think this bushy 
 tail used in this way would help to keep the animal warm in winter? 
 Do coons sleep most daytimes or nights? 
 
 8. At what time of year are coons fattest? Leanest? Why? Do 
 they ever come out of their nests in winter? Do they live together or 
 singly in winter? 
 
 9. At what time of year are the young coons born? Do you know 
 how they look when they are young? How are they cared for by their 
 parents? 
 
 10. Are the coon's movements slow or fast? What large animal is 
 a near relative of the coon? 
 
 Supplementary reading — American Animals, Stone and Cram; Wild 
 Neighbors, Ingersoll; Familiar Life of Field and Forest, Mathews; Little 
 People of the Sycamore, Roberts; Life of Animals, Ingersoll; "Mux" in 
 Roof and Meadow, Sharp; Little Brother of the Bear, Long. 
 
 Professor Fred S. Charles and his pet coon, ''Dick". 
 
Mammal Sttuiy 
 
 25s 
 
 THE WOLF 
 
 HE study of the wolf should precede the lessons 
 on the fox and the dog. After becoming 
 familiar with the habits of wolves, the pupils 
 will be much better able to understand the 
 nature of the dog and its life as a wild animal. 
 In most localities, the study of the wolf m_ust, 
 of course, be a matter of reading, unless the 
 pupils have an opportunity to study the 
 animal in traveling manageries or in zoo- 
 logical gardens. However, in all the gov- 
 ernment preserves, the timber wolf has 
 multiplied to such an extent, that it may 
 
 become a factor in the lives of many people in the United States. This 
 
 Wolf ranged in packs over New York State a hundred years ago, but 
 
 was finally practically exterminated in most of the eastern forests, except 
 
 in remote and mountainous localities. A glance at Bulletin 72 by 
 
 Vernon Bailey, published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
 
 Forest Service, is a revelation of the success of the timber wolf, iii 
 
 coming back to his own, as soon as the forest preserves furnished 
 
 plenty of game, and forbade hunters. Timber wolves are returning of 
 
 late years to Western Maine and Northern New Hampshire; Northern 
 
 Michigan and Wisconsin have them in greater numbers ; some have also 
 
 been killed in the Apalachian Mountains of Tennessee, Virginia and West 
 
 Virginia, but their stronghold is in the great Rocky Mountain Region and 
 
 the Northwestern Sierras, from which they have never been driven. 
 It might be well to begin this lesson on the wolf with a talk about the 
 
 gray wolves which 
 
 our ancestors had to 
 
 contend with, and 
 
 also with stories of 
 
 the coyote or prairie 
 
 wolf which has 
 
 learned to adapt 
 
 itself to civilization 
 
 and flourishes in the 
 
 regions west of the 
 
 Rocky Mountains, 
 
 despite men and 
 
 dogs. Literature is 
 
 rich in wolf stories. 
 
 Although Kipling's 
 
 famous M o w g 1 i 
 
 Stories belong t o 
 
 the realm of fiction, 
 
 yet they contain 
 
 interesting accounts 
 
 of the habits of the 
 
 wolves of India, and 
 
 are based upon the 
 
 himter's and track- 
 
 Gray Wolf 
 
256 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 er's knowledge of these animals. We have many thrillingly interesting 
 stories in our own literature which deal with our native wolves. The 
 following are among the best : 
 
 "Lobo" in Wild Animals I Have Known; "Tito" in Lives of the 
 Hunted; "Bad Lands Billy and the Winnipeg Wolf" in Animal Heroes 
 all by Thompson Seton; "The Passing of Black Whelps" in Watchers of 
 the Trail by Roberts; Northern Trails by Long; "Pico, Coyote" by Coolidge 
 in True Tales of Birds and Beasts. 
 
 For more serious accounts of the wolves see American Animals, 
 p. 277; The "Hound of the Plains, "in Wild Neighbors, and page 188 in 
 the Life of Animals, both by IngersoU. "The Coyote" by Bret Harte and 
 "The Law of the Pack" in the Second Jungle Book bring the wolf 
 into poetry. 
 
 From some or all of these stories, the pupils should get informa- 
 tion about the habits of the wolves. This information should be in- 
 corporated in an essay or an oral exercise and should cover the following 
 points: Where do the wolves live? On what do they feed? How 
 do they get their prey? Do they hunt alone or in packs? How do they 
 call to each other? IDescription of the den where the young are reared. 
 The wolf's cleverness in eluding hunters and traps. 
 
 ' Katrina 'W'olfchen" . the pet coyote of Professor Fred S. Charles. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 257 
 
 Fox cubs. 
 
 THE FOX 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 O WE not always, on a clear morning of winter, feel a 
 thrill that must have something primitive in its 
 quality, at seeing certain tracks in the snow that 
 somehow suggest wildness and freedom! Such 
 is the track of the fox. Although it is somewhat 
 -;like that of a small dog yet it is very different. 
 The fox has longer legs than most dogs of his 
 weight, and there is more of freedom in his track 
 and more of strength and agility expressed in it. 
 His gait is usually an easy lope; this places the 
 imprint of three feet in a line, one ahead of 
 another, but the fourth is off a little at one side, as if to keep the balance. 
 The fox lives in a den or burrow. The only fox home which I ever 
 saw, was a rather deep cave beneath the roots of a stump, and there was 
 no burrow or retreat beyond it. However, foxes often select woodchuck 
 burrows, or make burrows of their own, and if they are caught within, 
 they can dig rapidly, as many a hunter can attest. The mother usually 
 selects an open place for a den for the young foxes; often an open field or 
 side-hill is chosen for this. The den is carpeted with grass and is a very 
 comfortable place for the fox puppies. The den of the father fox is 
 usually not far away. 
 
 The face of the red fox shows plainly why he has been able to cope with 
 man, and thrive despite and because of him. If ever a face showed 
 cunning, it is his. Its pointed, slender nose gives it an expression of 
 extreme cleverness, while the width of the head between the upstanding, 
 triangular ears gives room for a brain of power. In color the fox is russet- 
 red, the hind quarters being grayish. The legs are black outside and 
 white inside ; the throat is white, and the broad, triangular ears are tipped 
 with black. The glory of the fox is his "brush," as the beautiful, bushy 
 tail is called. This is red, with black toward the end and white-tipped. 
 This tail is not merely for beauty, for it affords the fox warmth during the 
 winter, as any one may see who has observed the way it is wrapped 
 
255 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 around the sleeping animal. But this bushy tail is a disadvantage, if it 
 becomes bedraggled and heavy with snow and sleet, when the hounds are 
 giving close chase to its owner. The silver fox and the black fox are the 
 same species as the red fox. 
 
 The fox is an inveterate hunter of the animals of the field; meadow 
 mice, rabbits, woodchucks, frogs, snakes and grasshoppers, are all 
 acceptable food; he is also destructive of birds. His fondness for the 
 latter has given him a bad reputation with the farmer because of his 
 attacks on poultry. Not only will he raid hen-roosts if he can force 
 entrance, but he catches many fowls in the summer when they are wander- 
 ing through the fields. The way he carries the heavy burden of his 
 larger prey shows his cleverness: He slings a hen or a goose over his 
 shoulders, keeping the head in his mouth to steady the burden. Mr. 
 Cram says, in American Animals: 
 
 "Yet, although the farmer and the fox are such inveterate enemies, 
 they manage to benefit each other in a great many ways quite uninten- 
 tionally. The fox destroys numberless field mice and woodchucks for the 
 farmer and in return the farmer supplies him with poultry, and builds 
 convenient bridges over streams and wet places, which the fox crosses 
 oftener than the farmer, for he is as sensitive as a cat about getting his 
 feet wet. On the whole, I am inclined to believe that the fox gets the 
 best part of the exchange, for, while the farmer shoots at him on every 
 occasion, and hunts him with dogs in the winter, he has cleared the land 
 of wolves and panthers, so that foxes are probably safer than before any 
 land was ploughed." 
 
 The bark of the fox is a high, sharp yelp, more like the bark of the 
 coyote than of the dog. There is no doubt a considerable range of 
 meaning in the fox's language, of which we are ignorant. He growls 
 when angry, and when pleased he smiles like a dog and wags his beautiful 
 tail. 
 
 Many are the wiles of the fox to head off dogs following his track: he 
 
 often retraces his own 
 steps for a few yards 
 and then makes a long 
 sidewise jump ; the 
 dogs go on, up to the 
 end of the trail 
 pocket, and try in 
 vain to get the scent 
 from that point. 
 Sometimes he walks 
 along the top rails of 
 fences or takes the 
 high and dry ridges 
 where the scent will 
 not remain; he often 
 follows roads and 
 beaten paths and also 
 goes around and 
 around in the midst 
 of a herd of cattle, 
 so that his scent is 
 Red Fox. hidden; he crosses 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 259 
 
 streams on logs and invents various other devices too numerous and 
 intricate to describe. When chased by dogs, he naturally runs in a 
 circle, probably so as not to be too far from home If there are young 
 ones in the den, the father fox leads the hounds far away, in the next 
 county, if possible. Perhaps one of the most clever tricks of the fox, is 
 to make friends with the dogs. I have known of two instances where 
 a dog and fox wxre daily companions and playfellows. 
 
 The young foxes are bom in the spring. They are black at first and 
 are fascinating little creatures, being exceedingly playful and active. 
 Their parents are very devoted to them, and during all their puppyhood, 
 the mother fox is a menace to the poultry of the region, because the 
 necessity is upon her of feeding her rapidly growing litter. 
 
 In my opinion, the best story of animal fiction is "Red Fox" by 
 Roberts. Like all good fiction, it is based upon facts and it presents a 
 wholesome picture of the life of the successful fox. "The Silver Fox" by 
 Thompson Seton is another interesting and delightful story. Although 
 the Nights with Uncle Remus could scarcely be called nature stories, 
 3"et they are interesting in showing how the fox has become a part of 
 folk-lore. 
 
 Fox tracks. 
 
 LESSON LXIl 
 The Fox 
 
 Leading thought — The red fox is so clever that it has 
 been able, in many parts of our country, to maintain 
 itself despite dogs and men. 
 
 Method — This lesson is likely to be given largely from 
 hearsay or reading. However, if the school is in a rural 
 district, there will be plenty of hunters' stories afloat, 
 from which may be elicited facts concerning the cunning 
 and cleverness of the red fox. In such places there is 
 also the opportunity in winter to study fox tracks upon 
 the snow. The lesson may well be given when there are 
 fox tracks for observation. The close relationship 
 between foxes and dogs should be emphasized. 
 Observations and reading — i. Describe the fox's track. How does it 
 differ from the track of a small dog? 
 
 2. Where does the fox make its home? Describe the den. Describe 
 the den in which the young foxes live. 
 
 3. Describe the red fox, its color and form as completely as you can. 
 What is the expression of its face? What is there peculiar about its tail? 
 What is the use of this great bushy tail in the winter? 
 
 4. What is the food of the fox? How does it get its food? Is it a 
 day or a night hunter? How does the fox benefit the farmer? How doe? 
 it injure him? How does the fox carry home its heavy game, such as a 
 goose or a hen ? 
 
2 6o 
 
 Hajidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 "Got a bite". 
 
 5. Have you ever heard the fox bark? Did it sound like the bark 
 of a dog? How does the fox express anger? Pleasure? 
 
 6. When chased by dogs, in what 
 direction does che fox run ? Describe 
 all of the tricks which you know by 
 which the fox throws the dog off the 
 scent. 
 
 7. AVhen are the young foxes 
 bom? How many in a litter? What 
 color are they? How do they play 
 with each other? How do they learn 
 to hunt? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Red Fox 
 by Roberts; Silver Fox by Thompson 
 Seton; Little Beasts of Field and 
 Wood, page 25; Squirrels and Other 
 Fur Bearers, chapter 7 ; Fox Ways in 
 Ways of Wood Folk, The Springfield Fox in Wild Animals I Have 
 Known; Familiar Wild Animals; Familiar Life in Field and Forest, page 
 213; American Animals, page 264; Nights with Uncle Remus. 
 
 A pet red fox. 
 Photo by Fred S. Charles. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 261 
 
 ^e^ 
 
 DOGS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 I" OT only to-day but in ancient days, before the dawn 
 ^ of history, the dog was the companion of man. 
 
 \ "Whether the wild species from whence he sprang, 
 
 \,^^ was wolf or jackal or some other similar animal, we 
 ..jimm'^^ do not know, but w^e do know that many types of 
 dogs have been tamed independently by savages, 
 in the region where their untamed relatives run 
 wild. As the whelps of wolves, jackals and foxes 
 are all easily tamed, and are most interesting little 
 creatures, we can understand how they became companions to the children 
 of the savage and barbarous peoples who hunted them. 
 
 In the earliest records of cave dwellers, in the picture writing of the 
 ancient Egyptians and of other ancient peoples, we find record of the 
 presence and value of the dog. But man, in historical times, has been 
 able to evolve breeds that vary more in form than do the wild species of 
 the present. There are 200 distinct breeds of dogs known to-day, and 
 many of these have been bred for special purposes. The paleontologists, 
 moreover, assure us that there has been a decided advance in the size and 
 quality of the dog's brain since the days of his savagery ; thus, he has been 
 the companion of man's civilization also. It is not, therefore, to be 
 wondered at that the dog is now the most companionable, and has the 
 most human qualities and intelligence of all our domesticated animals. 
 
 Dogs run down their prey ; it is a necessity, therefore, that they be 
 equipped with legs that are long, strong and muscular. The cat, which 
 jumps for her prey, has much more delicate legs but has powerful hi]« to 
 enable her to leap. The dog's feet are much more heavily padded than 
 those of the cat, because in running, he must not stop to save his feet. 
 Hounds often return from a chase with bleeding feet, despite the heavy 
 pads, but the w^ounds are usually cuts between the toes. The claws are 
 heavy and are not retractile; thus, they afford a protection to the feet 
 when running, and they are also used for digging out game which burrows 
 into the ground. They are not used for grasping prey like those of the cat 
 and are used only incidentally in fighting, while the cat's claws are the 
 most important weapons in her armory. It is an interesting fact that 
 Newfoundland dogs, which are such famous swimmers, have their toes 
 somewhat webbed. 
 
262 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Greyhound, 
 
 The dog's body is long, lean, and 
 very muscular, a fat dog being 
 usually pampered and old. The 
 coat is of hair and is not of fine fur 
 like that of the cat. It is of inter- 
 est to note that the Newfoundland 
 dog has an inner coat of fine hair 
 comparable to that of the mink or 
 muskrat. When a dog is running, 
 his body is extended to its fullest 
 length; in fact, it seems to "lie 
 flat," the outstretched legs height- 
 ening the effect of extreme muscular 
 effort of forward movement. A 
 dog is master of several gaits; he 
 can run, walk, trot, botmd and 
 crawl. 
 
 The iris of the dog's eye is 
 usually of a beautiful brown, al- 
 though this varies with breeds; in 
 puppies, the iris is usually blue. The pupil is round like our own; and 
 dogs cannot see well in the dark like the cat, but in daylight they have 
 keen sight. The nose is so 
 much more efficient than the 
 eyes, that it is on the sense of 
 smell the dog depends for fol- 
 lowing his prey and for recog- 
 nizing friend and foe. The 
 damp, soft skin that covers 
 the nose, has in its dampness 
 the conditions for carrying 
 the scent to the wide nostrils; 
 these are situated at the most 
 forward part of the face, and 
 thus may be lifted in any 
 direction to receive the mar- 
 velous impressions, so com- 
 pletely beyond our compre- 
 hension. Think of being able 
 to scent the track of a fox 
 made several hours previously. 
 Not only to scent it, but to 
 follow by scent for many miles without ever having a glimpse of the fleeing 
 foe! In fact, while running, the dog's attention seems to be focused 
 entirely upon the sense of smell, for I have seen hounds pass within a few 
 rods to the windward of the fox they were chasing, without observing him 
 at all. When the nose of any of the moist-nosed beasts, such as cattle 
 and dogs, becomes dry it is a sign of illness. 
 
 A light fall of damp snow gives the dog the best conditions for follow- 
 ing a track by scent and a hound, when on the trail, will run until ex- 
 hausted. There are many authentic observations which show that 
 hounds have followed a fox for twenty-four hours without food, and 
 probably with little rest. 
 
 Bird dog. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 263 
 
 The dog's weapons for battle, like those of the wolf, are his tushes; 
 with these, he holds and tears his prey; with them, he seizes the wood- 
 chuck or other small animal through the back and shakes its life out. In 
 fighting a larger animal, the dog leaps against it and often incidentally 
 tears its flesh with his strong claws; but he does not strike a blow with his 
 foot like the cat, nor can he hold his quarry with it. 
 
 Dog's teeth are especially fitted for their work. 
 The incisors are small and sharp; the canine teeth 
 or tushes are very long, but there are bare spaces on 
 the jaws so that they are able to cross past each 
 other; the molar teeth are not fitted for grinding, 
 like the teeth of a cow, but are especially fitted for 
 cutting, as may be noted if we watch the way a dog 
 gnaws bones, first gnawing with the back teeth on 
 one side and then on the other. In fact, a dog 
 does not seem to need to chew anything, but simply 
 needs to cut his meat in small enough pieces so that 
 he can gulp them down without chewing. His 
 powers of digesting unchewed food are something 
 that the hustling American may well envy. 
 
 Of all domestic animals, the dog is most humanly understandable in 
 expressing emotions. If delighted, he leaps about giving ecstatic 
 little barks and squeals, his tail in the air and his eyes full of happy an- 
 
 Bulldog. 
 
 "Mateo", a St. Bernard of long pedigree. 
 
264 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 ticipation. If he wishes to be friendly, he looks at us interestedly, comes 
 over to smell of us in order to assure himself whether he has ever met us 
 before, and then wags his tail as a sign of good faith. If he wishes to 
 show affection, he leaps upon us and licks our face or hands with his 
 soft, deft tongue and follows us jealously. When he stands at attention, 
 he holds his tail stiff in the air, and looks up with one ear lifted as if 
 to say, "Well, what's doing?" When angry, he growls and shows his 
 teeth and the tail is held rigidly out behind, as if to convince us that it 
 is really a continuation of his backbone. When afraid, he whines and 
 lies flat upon his belly, often looking beseechingly up toward his master as 
 if begging not to be punished; or he crawls away out of sight. When 
 ashamed, he drops his tail between his legs and with drooping head and 
 sidewise glance slinks away. When excited, he barks and every bark 
 expresses high nervous tension. 
 
 Almost all dogs that chase their prey, bark when so doing, which 
 would seem at first sight to be a foolish thing to do, in that it reveals their 
 whereabouts to their victims and also adds an incentive to flight. But it 
 must be borne in mind that dogs are descended from wolves, which 
 
 naturally hunt in packs and 
 .^ do not stalk their prey. The 
 
 baying of the hound is a most 
 common example of the habit, 
 and as we listen we can under- 
 stand how, by following this 
 sound, the pack is kept to- 
 gether. Almost all breeds of 
 dogs have an acute sense of 
 hearing. When a dog bays 
 at the moon or howls when he 
 hears music, it is simply a 
 reversion to the wild habifc o^ 
 howling to call together the 
 pack or in answer "to the 
 music of the pack." It is 
 interesting that our music, 
 which is the flower of our 
 civilization, should awaken 
 the sleeping ancestral traits 
 in the canine breast. But 
 perhaps that, too, is why we 
 respond to music, because it awakens in us the strong, primitive 
 emotions, and for the time, enables us to free ourselves from all conven- 
 tional shackles and trammels. 
 
 Bloodhound. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 265 
 
 Fox terrier and pups. 
 
 LESSON LXIII 
 
 DOGS 
 
 Leading thought — The dog is a domesticated descendent of wolf-like 
 animals and has retained certain of the habits and characteristics of his 
 ancestors. 
 
 Method — For the observation lesson it would be well to have at hand, a 
 well-disposed dog which would not object to being handled; a collie or a 
 hound would be preferable. Many of the questions should be given to 
 the pupils to answer from observations at home, and the lesson should be 
 built upon the experience of the pupils with dogs. 
 
 Observations — i. Why are the legs of the dog long and strong in pro- 
 portion to the body compared with those of the cat? 
 
 2. Compare the feet of the cat with those of the dog and note which 
 has the heavier pads. Why is this of use to each? 
 
 3. Which has the stronger and heavier claws, the dog or the cat? 
 Can the dog retract his claws so that they are not visible, as does the cat? 
 Of what use is this arrangement to the dog? Are the front feet just like 
 the hind feet? How many toe impressions show in the track of the dog? 
 
 4. What is the general. characteristic of the body of the dog? Is it 
 soft like that of the cat, or lean and muscular? What is the difference 
 between the hair covering of the dog and cat? What is the attitude of 
 the dog when running fast ? How many kinds of gaits has he ? 
 
 5. In general, how do the eyes of the dog differ from those of the 
 cat? Does he rely as much upon his eyes for finding his prey as does the 
 cat? Can a dog see in the dark? What is the color of the dog's eyes? 
 
 6. Study the ear of the dog; is it covered? Isthisouter ear movable, 
 is it a flap, or is it cornucopia shaped? How is this flap used when the 
 dog is listening? Roll a sheet of paper into a flaring tube and place the 
 
266 
 
 Handbook of Naiure-Stttdy 
 
 small end upon your own ear, and note if it helps you to hear better the 
 sounds in the direction toward which the tube opens? Note how the 
 hound lifts his long earlaps, so as to make a tube for conveying sounds to 
 his inner ear. Do you think that dogs can hear well ? 
 
 7. What is the 
 position of the nose in 
 the dog's face? Of 
 what use is this? 
 Describe the nostrils; 
 are they placed on 
 the foremost point of 
 the face? What is 
 the condition of the 
 skin that surrounds 
 them? How does this 
 condition of the nose 
 aid the dog? What 
 other animals have it ? 
 Does the dog recog- 
 nize his friends or 
 become acquainted 
 with strahigers by 
 means of his sight or 
 of his powers of smell- 
 ing: 
 
 "Klondike Jack". 
 
 The dog that pulled four hundred fifty pounds five hundred 
 
 miles through the White Horse Pass in the winter 
 
 of the first gold excitement. 
 
 8. How long after 
 a fox or rabbit has 
 passed can a hound follow the track? Does he follow it by sight or by 
 smell? What are the conditions most favorable for retaining the scent? 
 The most unfavorable ? How long will a hound follow a fox trail without 
 stopping for rest or food? Do you think the dog is your superior in 
 ability to smell? 
 
 9. How does a dog seize and kill his prey? How does he use his feet 
 and claws when fighting? What are his especially strong weapons? 
 Describe a dog's teeth and explain the reason for the bare spaces on the 
 jaw next to the tushes. Does the dog use 
 
 his tushes when chewing? What teeth does 
 he use when gnawing a bone? Make a 
 diagram of the arrangement of the dog's 
 teeth. 
 
 10. How by action, voice, and especially 
 by the movement of the tail does the dog ex- 
 press the following emotions: Delight, 
 friendliness, affection, attention, anger, fear, 
 shame, excitement? How does he act when 
 chasing his prey? Why do wolves and dogs 
 bark when following the trail? Do you think 
 of a reason why dogs often howl at night or 
 when listening to music? What should we 
 feed to our pet dogs? What should we do to 
 make them comfortable in other ways? 
 
 11. Tell or write a story of some dog of 
 
 which you know by experience or hearsay. 
 
 In pleasant mood. 
 A collie. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 267 
 
 Of what use was the dog to the pioneer? How are dogs used in the 
 Arctic regions? In Holland? 
 
 12. How many breeds of dogs do you know? Describe charac- 
 ters of such as follows: The length of the legs as compared with the 
 body; the general shape of the body, head, ears, nose; color and character 
 of hair on head, body and tail. 
 
 13. Find if you can the reasons which have led to the develop- 
 ing of the following breeds: Newfoundland, St. Bernard, mastiffs 
 hounds, collies, spaniels, setters, pointers, bulldogs, terriers, and pugs. 
 
 Supplementary reading — "Stories of Brave Dogs" from St. Nicholas, 
 the Century Co.; the following three stories from Thompson-Seton: 
 "Chink" in Lives of the Hunted, "Snap" in Animal Heroes, "Wully" in 
 Wild Animals I Have Known; Bob, Son of Battle; Mack, His Book, by 
 Florence Leigh; Rab and his Friends; The Dog of Flanders; "Red Dog" 
 in Kipling's Jungle Stories; i\.nimals of the World, Knight and Jenks, 
 p. 80; Life of Animals, Ingersoll, p. 187. 
 
 Fox hunting, in the Genesee Vallev. N. V. 
 
268 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 An aristocrat. 
 
 THE CAT 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 F all people, the writer should regard the cat sym- 
 pathetically, for when she was a baby of five 
 months she was adopted by a cat. My self- 
 elected foster-mother was Jenny, a handsome black 
 and white cat, which at that time lost her first 
 litter of kittens, through the attack of a savage cat 
 from the woods. She was as Rachel crying for her 
 children, when she seemed suddenly to compre- 
 hend that I, although larger than she, was an 
 infant. She haunted my cradle, trying to give 
 me milk from her own breasts; and later she 
 brought half-killed mice and placed them enticingly in my cradle, coaxing 
 me to play with them, a performance which pleased me much more than 
 it did my real mother. Jenny always came to comfort me when I cried, 
 rubbing against me, purring loudly, and licking me with her tongue in a 
 way to drive mad the modern mother, wise as to the sources of children's 
 internal parasites. This maternal attitude toward me lasted as long as 
 Jenny lived, which was until I was nine years old. Never during those 
 years did I lift my voice in wailing, that she did not come to comfort 
 me; and even to-day I can remember how great that comfort was, 
 especially when my naughtiness was the cause of my weeping, and when^ 
 therefore, I felt that the whole world, except Jenny, was against me. 
 
Mammal Study 269 
 
 Jenny was a cat of remarkable intelligence and was very obedient and 
 useful. Coming down the kitchen stairs one day, she played with the 
 latch and someone hearing her, opened the door. She did this several 
 times, when one day she chanced to push down the latch, and thus opened 
 the door herself. After that, she always opened it herself. A little later, 
 she tried the trick on other doors, and soon succeeded in opening all the 
 latched doors in the house, by thrusting one front leg through the handle-, 
 and thus supporting her weight and pressing down with the foot of the 
 other on the thumb-piece of the latch. I remember, guests were greatly 
 astonished to see her coming thus swinging into the sitting-room. Later 
 she tried the latches from the other side, jumping up and trying to lift the 
 hook; but now, her weight was thrown against the wrong side of the door 
 for opening, and she soon ceased this futile waste of energy; but for 
 several years, she let herself into all the rooms in this clever maimer, and 
 taught a few of her bright kittens to do the same. 
 
 A pet cat enjoys long conversations with favored members of the 
 household. She will sit in front of her mistress and mew, with every 
 appearance of answering the questions addressed her; and since the cat 
 and the mistress each knows her own part of the conversation, it is per- 
 haps more typical of society chatter than we might like to confess. Of 
 our language, the cat learns to understand the call to food, its own name, 
 "scat," and "No, No," probably inferring the meaning of the latter from 
 the tone of voice. On the other hand, we understand when it asks to go 
 out, and its polite recognition to the one who opens the door. I knew one 
 cat which invariably thanked us when we let him in as well as out. 
 When the cat is hungry, it mews pleadingly; when happy in front of the 
 fire, it looks at us sleepily out of half-closed eyes and gives a short mew 
 expressive of affection and content; or it purrs, a noise which we do not 
 know how to imitate and which expresses perfectly the happiness of inti- 
 mate companionship. When frightened the cat yowls, and when hurt 
 squalls shrilly ; when fighting, it is like a savage warrior in that it howls a 
 war-song in blood-curdling strains, punctuated with a spitting expressive 
 of fear and contempt; and unfortunately, its love song is scarcely less 
 agonizing to the Hstener. The cat's whole body enters into the expression 
 of its emotions. When feeling affectionate toward its mistress, it rubs 
 against her gown, with tail erect, and vibrating with a purr which seems 
 fundamental. When angry, it lays its ears back and lashes its tail back 
 and forth, the latter being a sign of excitement; when frightened, its hair 
 stands on end, especially the hair of the tail, making that expressive 
 appendage twice its natural size; when caught in disobedience, the cat 
 lets its tail droop, and when nmning lifts it in 
 a curve. 
 
 While we feed cats milk and scraps from 
 our own table, they have never become entirely 
 civilized in their tastes. They always catch 
 mice and other small animals and prove pesti- 
 ferous in destroying birds. Jenny was wont 
 to bring her quarry, as an offering, to the front 
 steps of our home every night; one morning 
 we found seven mice, a cotton-tail rabbit and 
 
 two snakes, which represented her night's Bones and Ugammts 
 catch. The cat never chases its prey like the <?/ cat's claw. 
 
 dog. It discovers the haunts of its victims, a ciaw up. b ciaw thrust out. 
 
270 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 and then lies in ambush, flattened out as still as a statue and all its feet 
 beneath it, ready to make the spring. The weight of the body is a factor 
 which enters in the blow with which the cat strikes down its victim, and 
 thus stuns and which it later kills by gripping the throat with the strong 
 tushes. She carries her victims as she does her kittens, by the back. 
 
 The cat's legs are not long compared with the body, and it runs with a 
 leaping gallop ; the upper legs are armed with powerful muscles. It walks 
 on the padded toes, five on the front feet and four of the hind feet. The 
 cat needs its claws to be sharp and hooked, in order to seize and hold its 
 prey, so they are kept safely sheathed when not thus used. If the claws 
 struck the earth during walking, as do the dog's, they would soon become 
 dulled. When sharpening its claws it reaches high up against a tree or 
 post, and strikes them into the wood with a downward scratch; this act 
 is probably more for exercising the muscles which control the claws than 
 for sharpening them. 
 
 The cat's track is in a single line as if it had only two feet, one set 
 directly ahead of the other. It accomplishes this by setting its hind feet 
 exactly in the tracks made by the front feet. The cat can easily leap 
 upward, landing on a window-sill five feet from the ground. The jump is 
 made with the hind legs and the alighting is done silently on the front 
 feet. 
 
 Cats' eyes are fitted for seeing in the dark; in the daytime the pupil is 
 simply a narrow, up and down slit; under excitement, and at night, the 
 pupil covers almost the entire eye. At the back of the eye is a reflecting 
 surface, which catches such dim light as there is, and by reflecting it 
 enables the cat to use it twice. It is this reflected light, which gives the 
 peculiar green glare to the eyes of all the cats when seen in the dark. 
 Some night-flying moths have a like arrangement for utilizing the light, 
 
 and their eyes glow like living coals. Of 
 course, since the cat is a night hunter, this 
 power of multiplying the rays of light is of 
 great use. The iris of the eye is usually 
 yellow, but in kittens it may be blue or green. 
 The cat's teeth are pecularily fitted for 
 its needs. The six doll-like incisors of the 
 upper and lower jaw are merely for scraping 
 meat from bones. The two great tushes, 
 or canines, on each jaw, with a bare place 
 behind so that they pass each other freely, are 
 sharp and hooked, and are for seizing and 
 carrying prey. The cat is able to open its 
 mouth as wide as a right angle, in order to 
 better hold and carry prey. The back teeth, 
 or molars, are four on each side in the upper 
 jaw and three, below. They are sharp-edged 
 wedges made for cutting meat fine enough, so 
 that it may be swallowed. 
 
 The tongue is covered with sharp papillae 
 
 directed backwards, also used for rasping 
 
 juices from meat. The cat's nose is moist, 
 
 ''Folks are so tiresome." and her sense of smell very keen, as is also her 
 
 sense of hearing. The ears rise like two hollow half-cones on either 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 271 
 
 side of the head and are filled with sensitive hairs; they ordinarily open 
 forward, but are capable of movement. The cat's whiskers consist of 
 from twenty-five to thirty long hairs set in four lines, above and at the 
 sides of the mouth; they are connected with sensitive nerves and are 
 therefore true feelers. The cat's fur is very fine and thick, and is also 
 sensitive; as can readily be proved, by trying to stroke it the wrong 
 way. While the wild cats have gray or tawny fur, variously mottled 
 or shaded, the more striking colors we see in the domestic cats are the 
 result of man's breeding. 
 
 Cats are very cleanly in their habits. Puss always washes her face 
 directly after eating, using one paw for a wash-cloth and licking it clean 
 after she rubs her face. She cleans her fur with her rough tongue and 
 also by biting; and she promptly buries objectionable matter. The 
 mother cat is very attentive 
 to the cleanliness of her kit- 
 tens, licking them clean from 
 nose tip to tail tip. The ways 
 of the mother cat with her 
 kittens do much to sustain 
 the assertions of Mr. Seton 
 and Mr. Long that young 
 animals are trained and edu- 
 cated by their parents. The 
 cat brings half-dazed mice to 
 her kittens, that they may 
 learn to follow and catch them 
 with their own little claws. 
 When she punishes them, she 
 cuffs the ears by holding one 
 side of the kitten's head firm 
 with the claws of one foot, 
 while she lays on the blows 
 with the other. She carries her 
 kittens by the nape of the neck, 
 never hurting them. She takes them into the field when they are old 
 enough, and shows them the haunts of mice, and does many things for 
 their education and welfare. The kittens meantime train themselves to 
 agility and dexterity, by playing rough and tumble with each other, and 
 by chasing every small moving object, even to their own tails. 
 
 The cat loves warmth and finds her place beneath the stove or at the 
 hearthside. She likes some people, and dislikes others, for no reason we 
 can detect. She can be educated to be friendly with dogs and with 
 birds. In feeding her, we should give her plenty of sweet milk, some 
 cooked meat and fish of which she is very fond; and we should keep a 
 bundle of catnip to make her happy, for even the larger cats of the wilder- 
 ness seem to have a passionate liking for this herb. The cat laps milk 
 with her rough tongue, and when eating meat, she turns the head this 
 way and that, to cut the tough muscle with her back teeth. 
 
 y 
 
 ''Interested!" 
 
272 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Cats Should be Traixed to Leave Birds Alone 
 
 Every owner of a cat owes it to the world to train puss to leave birds 
 alone. If this training is begun during kittenhood, by switching the 
 culprit every time it even looks at a bird, it will soon learn to leave them 
 
 severely alone. I have tried 
 this many times, and I know 
 it is efficacious, if the cat is 
 intelligent. We have never 
 had a cat whose early training 
 we controlled, that could ever 
 be induced to even w^atch 
 birds. If a cat is not thus 
 trained as a kitten, it is likely 
 to be always treacherous in 
 this respect. But in case any 
 one has a valuable cat which 
 is given to catching birds, I 
 ^, ■ , , , . , , r ■ ,, strongly advise the following 
 
 Tk:s cat has bca:^u-ar^^^^^^ treatment which has been 
 
 ^^ ^' proved practicable by a friend 
 
 of mine. When a cat has made the catch, take the bird away and 
 sprinkle it with red pepper, and then give it back. One stich treatment 
 as this resulted in making one cat, which was an inveterate bird 
 hunter, run and hide every time he saw a bird thereafter. Any persons 
 taking cats with them to their summer homes, and abandoning them 
 there to prey upon the birds of the vicinity, and to become poor, half- 
 starved, wild creatures, ought to be arrested and fined. It is not 
 only cruelty to the cats, but it is positive injury and damage to the com- 
 munity, because of the slaughter of beneficial birds which it entails. 
 
 LESSON LXIV 
 
 The Cat 
 
 Leading thought — The cat was made a domestic animal before man 
 wrote histories. It gets prey by springing from ambush and is fitted by 
 form of body and teeth to do this. It naturally hunts at night and has 
 eyes fitted to see in the dark. 
 
 Method — This lesson may be used in primary grades by asking a few 
 questions at a time and allowing the children to make their observations on 
 their own kittens at home, or a kitten may be brought to school for this 
 purpose. The upper grade work consists of reading and retelling or writ- 
 ing exciting stories of the great, wild, savage cats, like the tiger, lion, 
 leopard, lynx and panther. 
 
 Observations — i. How much of Pussy's language do you understand? 
 What does she say when she wishes you to open the door for her? How 
 does she ask for something to eat? What does she say when she feels like 
 conversing with you? How does she cry when hurt? When frightened? 
 What noise does she make when fighting? AVhen calling other cats? 
 What are her feelings when she purrs? When she spits? How many 
 things which you say does she understand? 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 273 
 
 2. How else than by voice does she express affection, pleasure and 
 anger? When she carries her tail straight up in the air is she in a jjleasant 
 mood? When her tail "bristles up" how does she feel? What is it 
 a sign of, when she lashes her tail back and forth? 
 
 3. What do you feed to cats? What do they catch for themselves? 
 What do the cats that are wild live upon? How does the cat help us? 
 How does she injure us? 
 
 4. How does a cat catch her prey? Does she track mice by the scent? 
 Does she catch them by running after them as a dog does? Describe how 
 she lies in ambush. How does she hold the mouse as she pounces upon it? 
 How does she carry it home to her kittens? 
 
 5. Study the cat's paws to see how she holds her prey. Where are 
 the sharp claws? Are they always in sight like a dog's? Does she touch 
 them to the ground when she walks? Which walks the more silently, 
 
 Amicable advances. 
 
 a dog or a cat? Why? Describe the cat's foot, including the toe-pads. 
 Are there as many toes on the hind feet as on the front feet? What kind 
 of a track does the cat make in the snow? How does she set her feet to 
 make such a track ? How does she sharpen her claws ? How does she use 
 her claws for climbing? How far have you ever seen a cat jump? Does 
 she use her front or her hind feet in making the jump ? On which feet does 
 she alight? Does she make much noise when she alights? 
 
 6. What is there peculiar about a cat's eyes? What is their color? 
 What is the color of kittens' eyes? What is the shape of the pupil in day- 
 Hght? In the dark? Describe the inner lid which comes from the comer 
 of the eye. 
 
 7. How many teeth has Puss? What is the use of the long tushes? 
 Why is there a bare space behind these? What does she use her little 
 front teeth for? Does she use her back teeth for chewing or for cutting 
 meat? 
 
 8. How many whiskers has she? How long are they? What is 
 their use ? Do you think that puss has a keen sense of smell ? Why do 
 
274 
 
 Haitdbook of N ature-Study 
 
 you think so? Do you think she has a keen sense of hearing? How do 
 the shape and position of the ears help in Hstening? In what position are 
 the ears when puss is angry? 
 
 9. How many colors do you find in our domestic cats. What is the 
 color of wild cats ? Why would it not be beneficial to the wild-cat to have 
 as striking colors as our tame cats? Compare the fur of the cat with the 
 hair of the dog. How do they differ? If a cat chased her prey like the 
 dog do you think her fur would be a too warm covering? 
 
 10. Describe how the cat washes her face. How does she clean her 
 fur? How does her rough tongue help in this? How does the mother 
 cat wash her kittens? 
 
 11. How does a little kitten look when a day or two old? How long 
 before its eyes open ? How does the cat carry her kittens? How does a 
 kitten act when it is being carried ? How does the mother cat punish her 
 kittens ? How does she teach them to catch mice ? How do kittens play ? 
 How does the exercise they get in playing fit them to become hunters? 
 
 1 2 . How should cats be trained not to touch birds ? When must this 
 training begin ? Why should a person be punished for injury to the public 
 who takes cats to summer cottages and leaves them there to run wild? 
 
 13. Where in the room does puss best like to lie? How does she sun 
 herself? What herb does she like best? Does she like some people and 
 not others? What strange companions have you known a cat to have? 
 What is the cat's chief enemy? How should we care for and make her 
 comfortable? 
 
 14. Write or tell stories on the following subjects: (i) The things 
 which my pet cat does; (2) The AVild Cat; (3) The Lion; (4) The Tiger; 
 (5) The Leopard; (6) The Panther and the Mountain Lion; (7) The Lynx; 
 (8) The History of Domestic Cats; (9) The Different Races of Cats, 
 describing the Manx, the Persian and the Angora Cats. 
 
 Supplementary reading— The Life of Animals, Ingersoll; American 
 Animals, Stone and Cram; Our Domestic Animals, Burkett; The Fireside 
 Sphinx, Repplier; Concerning Cats, Winslow; The following animal 
 stories from St. Nicholas Magazine : Cat Stories, Lion and Tiger Stories, 
 Panther Stories. 
 
 Photo by Verne Morton 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 275 
 
 Saaiien goats in Switzerland. 
 
 Peer, Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, 
 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
 
 THE GOAT 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Little do we in America realize the close companionship that has ex- 
 isted in older countries, from time immemorial, between goats and people. 
 This association began when man was a nomad, and took with him in his 
 wanderings, his flocks, of which goats formed the larger part. He then 
 drank their milk, ate their flesh, wove their hair into raiment, or made 
 cloth of their pelts, and used their skins for water bags. Among peoples 
 of the East all these uses continue to the present day. In the streets of 
 Cairo, old Arabs may be seen with goat skins filled with water upon their 
 backs; and in any city of Western Asia or Southern Europe, flocks of 
 goats are driven along the streets to be milked in sight of the consumer. 
 
 In order to understand the goat's peculiarities of form and habit, we 
 should consider it as a wild animal, living upon the mountain heights amid 
 rocks and snow and scant vegetation. It is marvelously sure-footed and 
 when on its native mountains, it can climb the sharpest crags and leap 
 chasms. This peculiarity has been seized upon by showmen who often 
 exhibit goats which walk on the tight rope with ease, and even turn 
 themselves upon it without falling. The instinct for climbing still 
 lingers in the domestic breeds, and in the country the goat may be seen on 
 top of stone piles or other objects, while in city suburbs, its form may be 
 discerned on the roofs of shanties and stables. 
 
 It is a common saying that a goat will eat an\'thing, and much sport 
 is made of this peculiarity. This fact has more meaning for us Avhen we 
 realize that wild goats live in high altitudes, where there is little plant 
 life, and are therefore, obHged to find sustenance on lichens, moss and such 
 scant vegetation as thev can find. 
 
276 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The goat is closely allied to the sheep, differing from it in only a few 
 particulars; its horns rise from the forehead curving over backward and 
 do not form a spiral like those of the ram; its covering is usually of hair, 
 and the male has a beard from which we get the name goatee; the goat 
 has no gland between the toes, and it does have a rank and disagreeable 
 odor. In a wild state, it usually lives a Httle higher up the mountains 
 than do the sheep, and it is a far more intelligent animal. Mary Austin 
 says : "Goats lead naturally by reason of a quicker instinct, forage more 
 freely and can find water on their own account, and give voice in case of 
 alarm. Goat leaders exhibit jealousy of their rights to be first over the 
 stepping-stones or to walk the teetering log bridges at the roaring creeks." 
 On the great plains, it is a common usage to place a few goats in a flock of 
 sheep, because of the greater sagacity of these animals as leaders, and also 
 as defenders in case of attack. 
 
 Goats' teeth are arranged for cropping herbage and especially for 
 
 browsing. There are six molar teeth on 
 each side of each jaw; there are eight 
 lower incisors and none above. The 
 goat's sense of smell is very acute; the 
 ears are movable and the sense of hear- 
 
 Zaraihi milch goats of Egypt. 
 
 Thompson Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, 
 
 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
 
 ingis keen; the eyes are full and very intelligent; the horns are some- 
 what flattened and angular and often knobbed somewhat in front, and 
 curve backward above the neck; they are, however, very efficient as 
 weapons of defence. The legs are strong, though not large, and are well 
 fitted for leaping and running. The feet have two hoofs, that is, the 
 animal walks upon two toe-nails. There are two smaller toes behind 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 277 
 
 and above the hoofs. The goat can run with great rapidity. The tail 
 of the goat is short Hke that of the deer, and does not need to be ampu- 
 tated hke that of the sheep. Although the normal covering of the goat is 
 hair, there are some species which have a more or less woolly coat. 
 When angry the goat shakes its head, and defends itself by butting 
 with the head, also by striking with the horns, which are very sharp. 
 Goats are very tractable and make affectionate pets when treated with 
 kindness; they display far more affection for their owner than do sheep. 
 Our famous Rocky Mountain goat, although it belongs rather to the 
 antelope family, is a large animal, and is the special prize of the hunter; 
 however, it still holds its own in the high mountains of the Rocky and 
 
 JMilch goats in Malta. 
 
 Thompson. Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, 
 Department of Agriculture. 
 
 Cascade Ranges. Both sexes have slender black horns, white hair, and 
 black feet, eyes and nose. Owen Wister says of this animal: "He is 
 white, all white, and shaggy, and twice as large as any goat you ever saw. 
 His white hair hangs long all over him like a Spitz dog's or an Angora 
 cat's; and against its shaggy white mass the blackness of his hoofs and 
 horns, and nose looks particularly black. His legs are thick, his neck is 
 thick, everything about him is thick, save only his thin black horns. 
 They're generally about six (often more than nine) inches long, they 
 spread very slightly, and they curve slightly backward. At their base 
 they are a little rough, but as they rise they become cylindrically smooth 
 and taper to an ugly point. His hoofs are heavy, broad and blunt. The 
 female is lighter than the male, and with horns more slender, a trifle. 
 And (to return to the question of diet) we visited the pasture where the 
 herd (of thirty-five) had been, and found no signs of grass growing or grass 
 eaten; there was no grass on that mountain. The only edible substance 
 
278 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 was a moss, tufted, stiff and dry to the touch. I also learned that the goat 
 is safe from predatory animals. With his impenetrable hide and his 
 disemboweling horns he is left by the wolves and mountain lions respect- 
 fully alone." (See American Animals, p. 57 ; Camp Fires of a Naturalist, 
 chapters VIII and XIII). 
 
 Milch Goats — Many breeds of these have been developed, and the 
 highest type is, perhaps, found in Switzerland. The Swiss farmers have 
 found the goat particularly adapted to their high mountains and have used 
 it extensively; thus, goats developed in the Saane and Toggenburg val- 
 leys have a world-wide reputation. Above these valleys the high moun- 
 tains are covered with perpetual snow, and winter sets in about Novem- 
 ber I St, lasting until the last of May. The goats are kept with the cows 
 in bams and fed upon hay; but as soon as the snow is gone from the val- 
 leys and the lower foot-hills, the cattle and goats are sent with the herders 
 and boy assistants, to the grazing grounds. A bell is put upon the cow 
 that leads the herd so as to keep it together and the boys, in their gay 
 
 peasant dresses, are as happy as 
 the playful calves and goats to get 
 out in the spring sunshine. The 
 herds follow the receding snows 
 up the mountains until about mid- 
 summer, when they reach the 
 high places of scanty vegetation; 
 then they start on the downward 
 journey, returning to the home 
 and stables about November ist. 
 The milk from goats is mixed with 
 that from cows to make cheese, 
 and this cheese has a wide reputa- 
 tion; some of the varieties are: 
 Roquefort, Schweitzer and Alten- 
 burger. Although the cheese is 
 excellent, the butter made from 
 goat's milk is quite inferior to 
 that made from the cow's. The 
 milk, when the animals are well 
 taken care of, is exceedingly 
 nourishing; it is thought to be the 
 best milk in the world for children. 
 Usually, the trouble with goat's 
 milk is, that the animals are not 
 kept clean nor is care taken in 
 milking. Germany has produced 
 many distinct and excellent breeds 
 of milch goats; the Island of 
 Malta, Spain, England, Ireland, 
 Egypt and Nubia have each 
 developed noted breeds. Of all 
 these, the Nubias give the most milk, sometimes yielding from four to six 
 quarts per day, while an ordinary goat is considered fairly good if it yields 
 two quarts per day. 
 
 Pooiia (India) goat. 
 
 Thompson. Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau 
 
 of Animal Industry, U. S. Department 
 
 of Agriculture. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 279 
 
 The Mohair Goats — There are two noted breeds of goats whose hair is 
 used extensively for weaving into fabrics; one of these is the Cashmere 
 and the other the Angora. The Cashmere goat has long, straight, silky 
 hair for an outside coat and has a winter under-coat of very delicate wool. 
 There are not more than two or three ounces of this wool upon one goat, 
 and this is made into the famous Cashmere shawls; ten goats furnish 
 barely enough of this wool for one shawl. The Cashmere goats are grown 
 most largely in Thibet, and the wool is shipped from the high tableland to 
 the Valley of Cashmere, and is made into shawls. It requires the work of 
 several people for a year to produce one of these famous shawls. 
 
 The Angora goat has a long, silky and very curly fleece. These goats 
 were first discovered in Angora, a city of Asia Minor south of the Black 
 Sea, and some 200 miles southeast from Constantinople. The Angora 
 goat is a beautiful and delicate animal, and furnishes most of the mohair, 
 which is made into the cloths known as mohair, alpaca, camel's hair and 
 many other fabrics. The Angora goat has been introduced into America, 
 in California, Texas, Arizona, and to some extent in the Middle West. It 
 promises to be a very profitable industry. (See Farmers' Bulletin No. 
 137, "The Angora Goat," United States Department of Agriculture.) 
 
 The skins of goats are used extensively; morocco, gloves and many 
 other articles are made from them. In the Orient, the skin of the goat is 
 used as a bag in which to carry water and wine. 
 
 References — American Animals, p. 55; Neighbors with Claws and 
 Hoofs, p. 190; Familiar Animals, pp. 169 and 183; Camp Fires of a 
 Naturalist, chapters VIII and XIII; Lives of Animals. 
 
 Angora goat. 
 
 Thompson, Twenty-first Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry 
 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
 
2 So Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 \ LESSON LXV 
 
 The Goat 
 
 Leading thought — Goats are among our most interesting domesticated 
 animals, and their history is closely interwoven with the history of the 
 development of civilization. In Europe, their milk is made into cheese 
 that has a world-wide fame; and from the hair of some of the species, 
 beautiful fabrics are woven. The goat is naturally an animal of the high 
 mountains. 
 
 MetJiod — A span of goats harnessed to a cart is second only to ponies, 
 in a child's estimation; therefore, the beginning of this lesson may well be 
 a span of goats thus employed. The lesson should not be given unless the 
 pupils have an opportunity for making direct observations on the animal's 
 appearance and habits. There shov:ld be some oral and written work in 
 English done with this lesson. Following are topics for such work: 
 "The Milch Goat of Switzerland," "How Cashmere Shawls are Made," 
 "The Angora Goat," "The Chamois." 
 
 Observations — i . Do you think that goats like to climb to high points ? 
 Are they fitted to climb steep, inaccessible places? Can they jump off 
 Steep places in safety? How does it happen the goat is sure-footed? 
 How do its legs and feet compare with those of the sheep ? 
 
 2. What does the goat eat? Where does it find its natural food on 
 mountains? How are the teeth arranged for cutting its food? Does a 
 goat chew its cud like a cow? 
 
 3. What is the covering of the goat? Describe a billy-goat's beard. 
 Do you suppose this is for ornament? For what is goat's hair used? 
 
 4. Do you think the goat has a keen sense of sight, of hearing and of 
 smell? Why? Why did it need to be alert and keen when it lived wild 
 upon the mountains? Do you think the goat is intelligent? Give in- 
 stances of this? 
 
 5. Describe the honis. Do they differ from the horns of the sheep? 
 How does a goat fight? Does he strike head on, like the sheep, or side- 
 wise? How does he show anger? 
 
 6. What noises does a goat make? Do you understand what they 
 mean? 
 
 7. Describe the goat, its looks and actions. Is the goat's tail short at 
 first or does it have to be cut off like the lamb's tail? Where and how is 
 goat's milk used? AVhat kinds of cheese are made from it? For what is 
 its skin used? Is its flesh evr eaten? 
 
 Everyone knows the gayety of young kids, which prompts them to cut the most 
 amusing and burlesque capers. The goat is naturally capricious and inquisitive, and 
 one might say crazy for every species of adventure . It positively delights in perilous 
 ascensions. At times it will rear a)id threaten you with its head and horns, apparently, 
 with the worst intentions, whereas it is usually an invitation to play. The bucks, 
 however, fight violently with each other; they seem, to have no consciousness of the most 
 terrible blows. The ewes themselves arc Jiot exempt from this vice. 
 
 They knoiu very well whether or not they have deserved punishment. Drive them 
 out of the garden, where they are forbidden to go, with a whip and they will flee 
 without uttering a sound; but strike them without just cause and they will send forth 
 lam-entable cries. 
 
 Charles William Burkett ix "Our Domes'Iic Animals." 
 
Mammal Sttidy 
 
 281 
 
 A Sicilian shepherd. 
 Photo by J. H. Comstock. 
 
 THE SHEEP 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "The earliest important achievement oj ovine intelligence is to kncoj whether its own 
 notion or another's is most worth while, and if the other's, which one? Individual 
 sheep have certain qualities, instincts, competences, but in the man-herded flocks these 
 are superseded by something which I shall call the flock mind, though I cannot say very 
 well what it is, except that it is less than the sum of all their intelligences. This is why 
 there have never been any notable changes in the management of flocks since the flrst 
 herder girt himself with a wallet of sheep-skin and went out of his cave-dwelling to the 
 pastures."— "The Flock," by Mary Austin. 
 
 Both sheep and goats are at home on mountains, and sheep especially, 
 thrive best in cool, dry locations. As wild animals, they were creatures 
 of the mountain crag and chasm, although they frequented more open 
 places than the' mountain goats, and their wool was developed to protect 
 them from the bitter cold of high altitudes. They naturally gathered in 
 flocks, and sentinels were set to give warning of the approach of danger; 
 as soon as the signal came, they made their escape, not in the straight 
 away race like the deer, but in following the leader over rock, ledge and 
 precipice to mountain fastnesses where wolf nor bear could follow. Thus, 
 the instinct of following the leader blindly, came to be the salvation of the 
 individual sheep. 
 
 The teeth of the sheep are like those of the goat, eight incisors below 
 and none on the upper row, and six grinding teeth at the back of each side 
 
282 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 of each jaw. This arrangement of teeth on the small, delicate, pointed 
 jaws enables the sheep to crop herbage where cattle would starve ; it can 
 cut the small grass off at its roots, and for this reason, where vast herds of 
 sheep range, they leave a desert behind them. This fact brought about a 
 bitter feud between the cattle and sheep men in the far West. In forests, 
 flocks of sheep completely kill all underbrush, and now they are not per- 
 mitted to run in government reserves. 
 
 The sheep's legs are short and delicate below the ankle. The upper 
 portion is greatly developed to help the animal in leaping, a peculiarity to 
 which we owe the "leg of lamb" as a table delicacy. The hoof is cloven, 
 that is, the sheep walks upOi"< two toes; it has two smaller toes above and 
 behind these. There is a little gland between the front toes which secretes 
 
 A sheep of pedigree, Shropshire ram. 
 
 an oily substance, which perhaps serves in preventing the hoof from 
 becoming too dry. The ears are large and are moved to catch better the 
 direction of sound. The eyes are peculiar; in the sunlight the pupil is a 
 mere slit, while the iris is yellow or brownish, but in the dark, even of the 
 stable, the pupils enlarge, almost covering the eye. The ewes either lack 
 horns or have small ones, but the horns of wild rams are large, placed at the 
 side of the head and curled outward in a spiral. These honis are perhaps 
 not so much for fighting the enemy as for rival rams. The ram can strike 
 a hard blow with head and horns, coming at the foe head on, while the 
 goat always strikes sidewise. So fierce is the blow of the angry sheep, that 
 an ancient instrument of war was fashioned like a ram's head and used to 
 knock down walls, and was called a battering ram. A sheep shows anger 
 by stamping the ground with the front feet. The habit of rumination 
 enables the sheep to feed in a flock and then retire to some place to rest 
 and chew the cud, a performance peculiarly funny in the sheep. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 283 
 
 Sheep under attack and danger are silent; ordinarily they keep up a 
 constant, gentle bleating to keep each other informed of their where- 
 abouts; they also give a peculiar call when water is discovered, and 
 another to inform the flock that there is a stranger in the midst; they also 
 give a peculiar bleat, when a snake or other enemy which they conquer, is 
 observed. Their sense of smell is very acute. Mary Austin says, 
 "Young lambs are principally legs, the connecting body being simply a 
 contrivance for converting milk into more leg, so you understand how it is 
 that they will follow the flock in two days and are able to take the trail in 
 a fortnight, traveling four and five miles a day, falling asleep on their feet 
 and tottering forward in the way." 
 
 The older lambs have games which 
 they play untiringly, and which fit 
 them to become active members of the 
 flock; one, is the regular game of 
 "Follow My Leader," each lamb 
 striving to push ahead and attain 
 the place of leader. In playing this 
 the head lamb leads the chase over 
 most difficult places, such as logs, 
 stones and across brooks; thus is a 
 training begun which later in life may 
 save the flock. The other game is 
 peculiar to stony pastures; a lamb 
 climbs to the top of a boulder and its 
 comrades gather around and try to 
 butt it off; the one which succeeds in 
 doing this, climbs the rock and is "it 
 sure-footedness 
 
 : Ji 
 
 ^ rWi 
 
 If.:-. 
 
 
 r : 
 
 !^^^':'S 
 
 
 
 
 Mutual contentment. 
 
 This game leads to agility and 
 A lamb's tail is long and is most expressive of lambkin 
 bliss, when feeding time comes; but, alas! it has to be cut off so that later 
 it will not become matted with burrs and filth. In southern Russia there 
 is a breed of sheep with large, flat, fat tails which are esteemed as 
 a great table delicacy. This tail becomes so cumbersome that wheels 
 are placed beneath it, so that it trundles along behind its owner. 
 
 We have a noble species of wild sheep in the Rocky Mountains 
 which is Hkely to become extinct soon. The different breeds of 
 domesticated sheep are supposed to have been derived from different 
 wild species. Of the domesticated varieties, we have the ^ Merinos 
 which originated in Spain and which give beautiful, long, fine \yool 
 for our fabrics; but their flesh is not very attractive. The Merinos 
 have wool on their faces and legs and have wrinkled skins. The English 
 breeds of sheep have been especially developed for mutton, although 
 their wool is valuable. Some of these like the Southdo\vn, Shro[)shire, 
 and Dorset, give a medium length of wool, while the Cotswold has 
 very long wool, the ewes having long strings of wool over their eyes 
 in the fashion of "bangs." 
 
 The dog, as descended from the wolf, is the ancient enemy of sheep; 
 and even now after hundreds of years of domestication, some_ of our 
 dogs will revert to savagery and chase and kill sheep. This, in fact, 
 has been one of the great drawbacks to sheep raising in the (Eastern 
 United States. The collie, or sheep-dog, has been bred so many years as 
 the special care-taker of sheep, that a beautiful relationship has been 
 
284 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 established between these dogs and their flocks. For instances of this, 
 read the chapter on sheep-dogs in A Country Reader; "Wully" in Wild 
 Animals I Have Known, and "Bob, Son of Battle." 
 
 LESSON LXVI 
 The Sheep 
 
 Leading tliought — Sheep live naturally in high altitudes. AVhen 
 attacked by enemies, they follow their leader over difficult and dangerous 
 mountain places. 
 
 Method — The questions of this lesson should be given to the pupils and 
 the observations should be made upon the sheep in pasture or stable. 
 Much written work may be done in connection with this lesson. The 
 following topics are suggested for themes : "The Methods by which Wool 
 is Made into Cloth," "The Rocky Mountain Sheep," "The Sheep-herders 
 of California and their Flocks," "The True Story of a Cosset Lamb." 
 
 Horned Dorset ram. 
 
 Observations — i. What is the chief character that separates sheep 
 from other animals? What is the difference between wool and hair? 
 Why is wool of special use to sheep in their native haunts? Is there any 
 hair on sheep? 
 
 2. Where do the wild sheep live? What is the climate in these 
 places? Does wool serve them well on this account? What sort of 
 pasturage do sheep find on mountains? Could cows live where sheep 
 thrive? Describe the sheep's teeth and how they are arranged to enable 
 it to crop vegetation closely? What happens to the vegetation on the 
 range, when a great flock of sheep passes over it? Why are sheep not 
 allowed in our forest preserves? 
 
Mammal Study 285 
 
 3. What are the chief enemies of sheep in the wilderness? How do 
 the sheep escape them? Describe the foot and leg of the sheep and 
 explain how they help the animal to escape its enemies. We say of cer- 
 tain men that they "follow hke a flock of sheep." Why do we make this 
 comparison ? What has this habit of following the leader to do with the 
 escape of sheep from wolves and bears? 
 
 4. How do sheep fight? Do both rams and ewes have horns? Do 
 they both fight ? How does the sheep show anger ? Give your experience 
 with a cross cosset lamb. 
 
 5. Do you think that sheep can see and hear well? What is the posi- 
 tion of the sheep's ears when it is peaceful? When there is danger? 
 How do the sheep's eyes differ from those of the cow? 
 
 6. Does the sheep chew its cud like the cow? Describe the actionas 
 performed by the sheep. How is this habit of cud chewing of use to the 
 wild sheep? 
 
 7. Describe a young lamb. Why has it such long legs? How do es 
 it use its tail to express joy? What happens to this tail later? What 
 games have you seen lambs play? Tell all the stories of lambs that you 
 know. 
 
 8. How much of sheep language do you understand? What is the 
 use to the wild flock of the constant bleating? 
 
 9. For what purposes do we keep sheep? How many breeds of 
 sheep do you know? What are the chief difterences between the English 
 breeds and the Merinos? Where and for what purposes is the milk of 
 sheep used? 
 
 10. Have you ever seen a collie looking after a herd of sheep? If so, 
 describe his actions. Did you ever know of dogs killing sheep ? At what 
 time of day or night was this done? Did you ever know of one dog 
 attacking a flock of sheep alone. What is there in the dog's ancestry 
 which makes two or three dogs, when hunting, give chase and attack 
 sheep? 
 
 
 r 
 
 li^^^ 
 
 
 ^^^Hp ' 
 
 '"^V 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^-^^__^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^f^-^^^^^^^^^^M 
 
 Photo by Gerrit Miller 
 
286 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 
 .■»«*K :-> 
 
 
 A herd of poiiic:^ in the Isle of Shetland guarded by a sheep-dog. 
 
 THE HORSE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "There was once a little animal r.o bigger than a fox. 
 And on five toes he scrambled over Tertiary rocks. 
 They called him Eokippus, and tkey called him very small. 
 And they thought him of no value when they thotight of him at all. 
 
 Said the little Eohippns, I am going to be a horse! 
 And on my middle finger nails to run my earthly course! 
 I am going to have a flowing tail! I am going to have a mane! 
 And I am going to stand fourteen hands high on the Psychozooic plain!'^ 
 
 — Mrs. Stetson. 
 
 It was some millions of years ago, that Eohippus lived out in the 
 Rocky Mountain Range; its fore feet had four toes and the splint of the 
 fifth ; the hind feet had three toes and the splint of the fourth. Eohippus 
 wasfolloweddown the geologic ages by the Orohippus and the Mesohippus 
 and various other hippuses, which showed in each age a successive enlarge- 
 ment and specialization of the middle toe and the minimizing and final 
 loss of the others. This first little horse with many toes, lived when the 
 earth was a damp, warm place and when animals needed toes to spread 
 out to prevent them from miring in the mud. But as the ages went on, 
 the earth grew colder and drier, and a long leg ending in a single hoof, was 
 very serviceable in running swiftly over the dry plains; and according to 
 the story read in the fossils of the rocks, our little American horses 
 migrated to South America; and also trotted dry-shod over to Asia in 
 the Mid-pleocine age, arriving there sufficiently early to become the com- 
 panion of prehistoric man. In the meantime, horses were first hunted by 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 287 
 
 savage man for theii 
 flesh, but were later 
 ridden. At present, 
 there are wild horses 
 in herds on the plains 
 of Tartary; and there 
 are still sporadic herds 
 of mustangs on the 
 great plains of our 
 own country, although 
 for the most part, they 
 are branded and be- 
 long to someone, even 
 though they live like 
 wild horses; these 
 American wild horses 
 are supposed to be 
 descendents of those 
 brought over centu- 
 ries ago by the Span- 
 iards. The Shetland Four-toed horse of the Eocene period. 
 ponies are also wild ^'^r Charles R. Knight. 
 
 in the islands north of Scotland, and the zebras roam the plains of Africa 
 the most truly wild of all. In a state of wildness, there is always a stal- 
 lion at the head of a herd of mares, and he has to win his position and keep 
 it by superior strength and prowess. Fights between stallions are terrible 
 to witness, and often result in the death of one of the participants. The 
 horse is well armed for battle; his powerful teeth can inflict deep wounds 
 and he can kick and strike hard with the front feet ; still more efficient 
 is the kick made with both hind feet while the weight of the body is borne 
 on the front feet, and the head of the horse is turned so as to aim well the 
 terrible blow. There are no wild beasts of prey which will not slink away 
 to avoid a herd of horses. After attaining their gro^\1:h in the herd with 
 their mothers, the young males are forced by the leader to leave and go off 
 by themselves; in turn, they must by their own strength and attractions, 
 win their following of mares. However, there are times and places where 
 many of these herds join, making large bands wandering together. 
 
 The length of the horse's leg was evidently evolved to meet the need 
 for flight before fierce and swift enemies, on the great ancient plains. 
 The one toe, with its strong, sharp hoof, makes a fit foot for such a long 
 leg, since it strikes the ground with little waste of energ}' and is sharp 
 enough not to slip, but it is not a good foot for marshy places ; a horse will 
 mire where a cow can pass in safety. The development of the middle toe 
 into a hoof results in lifting the heel and wrist far up the leg, making them 
 appear to be the knee and elbow, when compared with the human body. 
 
 The length of neck and head are necessary in order that an animal, 
 with such length of leg as the horse, may be able to graze. The head of 
 the horse tells much of its disposition ; a perfect head should be not too 
 large, broad between the eyes and high between the ears, while below the 
 eyes, it should be narrow. The ears, if lopped or turned back, denote a 
 treacherous disposition. They should point upward or forward; the ears 
 laid back is always a sign that the horse is angry; sensitive, quick-moving 
 
288 
 
 Hatuibook of Nature-Study 
 
 ears indicate a high-strung, sensitive animal. The e^^es are placed so 
 that the horse can see in front, at the side and behind, the last being 
 
 necessary in order to aim a kick. Hazel 
 eyes are usually preferred to dark ones, 
 and they should be bright and prominent. 
 The nostrils should be thin-skinned, wide- 
 flaring and sensitive; as a wild animal, 
 scent was one of the horse's chief aids in 
 detecting the enemy. The lips should 
 not be too thick and the lower jaw should 
 be narrow where it joins the head. 
 
 The horse's teeth are peculiar; there 
 are six incisors on both jaws; behind them 
 ,, _ is a bare space called the bar, of 
 
 w^hich we have made use for 
 placing the bit. Back of the 
 bar, there are six molars or 
 grinders on each side of each jaw. At the age of about three 
 years, canine teeth or tushes appear behind the incisors; these are 
 more noticeable in males, and never seem to be of much use. 
 Thus, the horse has on each jaw, when full-grown, six incisors, two 
 canines, and twelve molars, making forty teeth in all. The incisors are 
 prominent and enable the horse to bite the grass more closely than can 
 the cow. The horse when chewing, does not have the sidewise motion of 
 the jaws peculiar to the cow and sheep. 
 
 The horse's coat is, when rightly cared for, glossy and beautiful; but 
 if the horse is allowed to run out in the pasture all winter, the coat becomes 
 very shaggy, thus reverting to the condition of wild horses which stand in 
 need of a warmer coat for winter; the hair is shed every year. The 
 mane and the forelock are useful in protecting the head and neck from 
 flies; the tail is also an efficient fly-brush. Although the mane and tail 
 
 Hoofs of horses from earliest ages to the present time, 
 arranged in pairs, hind and front. 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 289 
 
 have thus a practical value, they add greatly to the animal's beauty. To 
 dock a horse's tail as an ornament is as absurd as the sliced ears and welted 
 cheeks of savages; and horses thus mutilated suffer greatly from the 
 attacks of flies. 
 
 Owing to the fact that wild horses made swift flight from enemies, the 
 colts could not be left behind at the mercy of wolves. Thus it is, the colt 
 like the lamb, is equipped with long legs from the first, and can run very 
 rapidly; as a runner, it could not be loaded with a big compound stomach 
 full of food, like the calf, and therefore, must needs take its nourishment 
 from the mother often. The colt's legs are so long that, in order to graze, 
 it spreads the front legs wide apart in order that it may reach the grass 
 with its mouth. When the colt or the horse lies down out of doors and in 
 perfect freedom, it lies flat upon the side. In lying down, the hind quar- 
 ters go first, and in rising, the front legs are thrust out first. 
 
 English draft-hone. 
 
 The horse has several natural gaits and some that are artificial. Its 
 natural methods of progression are the walk, the trot, the amble, the 
 gallop. When walking there are always two or more feet on the ground 
 and the movement of the feet consists in placing successively the right 
 hind foot, the right fore foot, left hind foot, left fore foot, right hind foot, 
 etc. In trotting, each diagonal pair of legs is alternately lifted and thrust 
 forward, the horse being unsupported twice during each stride. In 
 ambling, the feet are moved as in the walk, only differing in that a hind 
 foot or a fore foot is lifted from the ground, before its fellow fore foot or 
 hind foot is set down. In a canter, the feet are landed on the ground in 
 the same sequence as a walk but much more rapidly; and in the gallop, 
 the spring is made from the fore foot and the landing is on the diagonal 
 hind foot and just before landing, the body is in the air and the legs are all 
 bent beneath it. 
 
290 
 
 Ha)idbook of Nature-Study 
 
 An excellent horseman once said to me, "The whip may teach a horse 
 to obey the voice, but the voice and hand control the well-broken horse," 
 and this epitomizes the best horse training. He also said, "The horse 
 knows a great deal, but he is too nervous to make use of his knowledge 
 when he needs it most. It is the horse's feelings that I rely on. He 
 always has the use of his feelings and the quick use of them." It is a 
 well-known fact that those men who whip and scold and swear at their 
 horses, are meantime showing to the world that they are fools in this 
 particular business. Many of the qualities which we do not like in our 
 domesticated horses, were most excellent and useful when the horses were 
 wild, for instance, the habit of shying was the wild horse's method of 
 escaping the crouching foe in the grass. This habit as well as many others 
 
 Saddle-Iiorse. 
 
 is best controlled by the voice of the driver instead of a blow from the 
 whip. 
 
 Timothy hay, or hay mixed with clover, form good, bulky food for the 
 horse, and oats and com are the best concentrated food. Oats are best for 
 driving-horses and com for the working team. Dusty hay should not be 
 fed to a horse; but if unavoidable, it should always be dampened before 
 feeding. A horse should be fed with regularity, and should not be used 
 for a short time after having eaten. If the horse is not warm, it should 
 be watered before feeding, and in the winter the water should have the 
 chill taken off. The frozen bit should be warmed before being placed in 
 the horse's mouth; if anyone doubts the wisdom of this, let him put a 
 frozen piece of steel in his own mouth. The tight-drawn, cruel use of the 
 over check-rein should not be permitted, although a moderate check is 
 often needed and is not cruel. When the horse is sweating, it should be 
 blanketed immediately if hitched outside in cold weather; but in the 
 bam, the blanket should not be put on until the perspiration has stopped 
 steaming. The grooming of a horse is a part of its rights, and its legs 
 should receive more attention during this process than its body, a fact 
 not always well understood. 
 
 The breeds of horses may always be classified more or less distinctly as 
 follows: Racers or thoroughbreds, the saddle-horse, or hunter; the 
 
Mammal Study . 291 
 
 coach-horse; the draft -horse and the pony. For a description of breeds 
 see dictionaries or cyclopedias. Of the draft-horses, the Percherons, 
 Shires and Clydesdales are most common; of the carriage and coach- 
 horses, the English hackney and the French and German coach-horses are 
 famed examples. Of the roadster breeds, the American trotter, the 
 American saddle-horse and the English thoroughbred are most famous. 
 
 A good coacher. 
 
 LESSON LXVII 
 The Horse 
 
 Leading thought — The horse as a wild animal depended largely upon 
 its strength and fleetness to escape its enemies, and these two qualities 
 have made it of greatest use to man. 
 
 Method — Begin this study of the horse with the stories of wild horses. 
 "The Pacing Mustang" in Wild Animals I Have Known, is an excellent 
 story to show the habits of the herds of wild horses; Chapter first in A 
 Country Reader and the story of horses in Life of Animals are excellent as 
 a basis for study. Before beginning actual study of the domestic horses, 
 ask for oral or written English exercises descriptive of the lives of the 
 wild horses. Get Remington's pictures illustrating the wild horses of 
 America. After the interest has been thus aroused the following observa- 
 tions may be suggested, a few at a time, to be made incidentally in the 
 street or in the stable. 
 
 Observations — i. Compare the length of the legs of the horse with its 
 height. Has any other domestic animal legs as long in proportion? 
 What habits of the ancestral wild horses led to the development of such 
 long legs? Do you think the length of the horse's neck and head corre- 
 spond to the length of its legs? Why? 
 
292 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 2. Study the horse's leg and foot. The horse walks on one toe. 
 Which toe do you think it is? What do we call the toe-nail of the horse? 
 What advantage is this sort of a foot to the horse? Is it best fitted for 
 running on dry plains or for marshy land? Does the hoof grow as our 
 nails do? Do you know whether there were ever any horses with three 
 toes or four toes on each foot? Make a sketch of the horse's front and 
 hind leg and label those places which correspond to our wrist, elbow, 
 shoulder, hand, heel, knee and hip. 
 
 3. Where are the horse's ears placed on the head? How do they 
 move? Do they flap back and forth like the cow's ears when they are 
 moved, or do they turn as if on a pivot? What do the following different 
 positions of the horse's ears indicate : When lifted and pointing forward ? 
 When thrown back? Can you tell by the action of the ears whether a 
 horse is nervous and high-strung or not? 
 
 4. What is the color of the horse's eyes? The shape of the pupil? 
 What advantage does the position of the eyes on the head give to the wild 
 horse? Why do we put blinders on a horse? Can you tell by the expres- 
 sion of the eye the temper of the horse? 
 
 5. Look at the mouth and nose. Are the nostrils large and flaring? 
 Has the horse a keen sense of smell? Are the lips thick or thin ? When 
 taking sugar from the hand, does the horse use teeth or lips? 
 
 6. Describe the horse's teeth. How many front teeth ? How many 
 back teeth? Describe the bar where the bit is placed. Are there any 
 
 PALO ALTO IN fS92. 
 
 "Palo Alio', a famous ntituiHi; horse. 
 
Mammal Study 293 
 
 canine teeth ? If so, where ? Do you know how to tell a horse's age by 
 its teeth? (See Elements of Agriculture, Warren, page 304, and The 
 Horse, Roberts, page 246.) Can a horse graze the grass more closely 
 than a cow? Why? When it chews does it move the jaws sidewise like 
 the cow? Why? Why did the wild horses not need to develop a cud- 
 chewing habit? 
 
 7. W^hat is the nature of the horse's coat in summer? If the horse 
 runs in the pasture all winter, how does its coat change? When does the 
 horse shed its coat? What is the use of the horse's mane, forelock and 
 tail? Do you think it is treating the horse well to dock its tail? 
 
 8. Why do colts need to be so long-legged? How does a colt have 
 to place its front legs in order to reach down and eat the grass? Does the 
 colt need to take its food from the mother often? How does it differ 
 from the calf in this respect? How has this difference of habit resulted 
 in a difference of form in the calf and colt? 
 
 9. When the horse lies down which part goes down first? When 
 getting up which rises first? How does this differ from the method of the 
 cow? When the horse lies down to sleep does it have its legs partially 
 under it like the cow? 
 
 10. In walking which leg moves first? Second? Third? Fourth? 
 How many gaits has the horse? Describe as well as you can all of these 
 gaits. (See pictures illustrating the word "movement" in the Standard 
 Dictionary.) 
 
 11. Make a sketch of a horse showing the parts. (See Webster's 
 Unabridged). When we say a horse is fourteen hands high what do v/e 
 mean? 
 
 12. In fighting, what weapons does the horse use and how? 
 
 13. In training a horse, should the voice or the whip be used the 
 most? What qualities should a man have to be a good horse trainer? 
 Why is shying a good quality in wild horses ? How should it be dealt with 
 in the domestic horse? 
 
 14. W^hat sort of feed is best for the horse? How and when should 
 the horse be watered? Should the water be warmed in cold weather? 
 Why? Should the bit be warmed in winter before putting it in a horse's 
 mouth? Why? Should a tight over check-rein be used when driving? 
 W^hy? When the horse has been driven until it is sweating what are the 
 rules for blanketing it when hitched out of doors and when hitched in the 
 barn? What is your opinion of a man who lets his horse stand waiting in 
 the cold, unblanketed in the village street. If horses were kept out of 
 doors all the time would this treatment be so cruel and dangerous ? Why ? 
 Why should dusty hay be dampened before it is fed to a horse? Why 
 should a horse be groomed? Which should receive the most attention, 
 the legs or the body? 
 
 15. How many breeds of horses do you know? What is the use of 
 each? Describe as well as you can the characteristics of the following 
 breeds: The thoroughbred, the hackney, and other coach-horses; the 
 American trotter, the Percheron, the Clydesdale. 
 
 16. Write English themes on the following subjects: "The Pre- 
 historic Horses of America," "The Arabian Horse and Its Life With Its 
 Master," "The Bronchos and Mustangs of the West," "The Wild Horses 
 of Tartary," "The Zebras of Africa." "The Shetland Ponies and the 
 Islands on Which Thev Run Wild." 
 
294 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Supplementary reading — The Horse, Roberts; Elements of Agricul- 
 ture, Warren; Life of Animals, Cram; Neighbors with Claws and Hoofs; 
 A Country Reader; Agriculture for Beginners; Black Beauty; John 
 Brent, by Theodore Withrop; Half Hours with Mammals, Holder; 
 Chapters on Animals, Hammerton; "Kaweah's Run" in Claws and 
 Hoofs. 
 
 ^^ff 
 
 Many horses shy a good deal at objects they meet on the road. This mostly arises 
 from nervousness, because the objects are not famtliar to them. Therefore, to cure the 
 habit, you must get your horse accustomed to what he sees, and so give him confidence. 
 . Be careful never to stop a horse that is drawing a vehicle or load in the middle 
 of a hill, except for a rest; and if for a rest, draw him across the hill and place a big 
 stone behind the wheel, so that the strain on the shoidder may be eased. Unless abso- 
 lutely necessary never stop a horse on a hill or in a rut, so that when he starts again it 
 means a heavy tug. Many a horse has been made a jibber and his temper spoilt by 
 not observing this ride. 
 
 — H. B. M. Buchanan in "A Country Reader." 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 295 
 
 
 
 ■%iiL. 
 
 •?'X' 
 
 ^XSfcl/ -^ ' " '■*r^ 
 
 TZ/f original wild cattle of America. 
 Photo by John L. Rich. 
 
 CATTLE 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 That in numbers there is safety, is a basic principle in the Hves of 
 wild cattle, probably because their chief enemies, the wolves, hunted in 
 packs. It has often been related that, when the herd is attacked by 
 wolves, the calves are placed at the center of the circle made by the cattle, 
 standing with heads out and horns ready for attack from every quarter. 
 But when a single animal, like a bear or tiger, attacks any of the herd, 
 they all gather around it in a narrowing circle of clashing horns, and 
 many of these great beasts of prey have thus met their death. The cow 
 is as formidable as the bull to the enemv, since her horns are strong and 
 sharp and she tosses her victim, unless it is too large. The heavy head, 
 neck and short massive horns of the bull, are not so much for defence 
 against enemies as against rival bulls. The bull not only tosses and gores 
 his victim, but kneels or tramples upon it. Both have effective weapons 
 of defence in the hind feet, which kick powerfully. The buffalo bull of 
 India will attack a tiger single handed, and usually successfully. It is a 
 strange thing that all cattle are driven mad by the smell of blood, and 
 weird stories are told of the stampeding of herds from this cause, on the 
 plains of our great West. 
 
 Cattle are essentially grass and herbage eaters, and their teeth are 
 peculiarly arranged for this. There are eight front teeth on the lower 
 jaw, and a homy pad opposite them on the upper jaw. Back of these on 
 each jaw there is a bare place and six grinding teeth on each side. As a 
 cow crops the herbage, her head is moved up and down to aid in severing 
 the leaves, and the peculiar sound of the tearing of the leaves thus made 
 is not soon forgotten by those who have heard it. In the wild or domes- 
 ticated state the habit of cud-chewing is this : The cattle graze in morn- 
 ings and evenings, swallowing the food as fast as cropped, and storing it 
 
296 
 
 Course of food -in a 
 
 cow's stomach. 
 
 I, niminant stomach; II, where 
 
 the cud-balls are formed; 
 
 III. IV, true stomachs, 
 
 mother; the young 
 for a long journey; 
 
 and will 
 
 stir unless 
 
 touched. 
 
 mother is 
 
 to be absent 
 
 a 
 "frozen" 
 never 
 actually 
 As the 
 obliged 
 for some time grazing 
 with the herd, the 
 calf is obliged to go 
 without nourishment 
 for a number of hours, 
 and so it is provided 
 with a large compound 
 stomach which, if filled 
 twice per day, suffices 
 to insure health and 
 growth. The cow, on 
 the other hand, giv- 
 ing her milk out only 
 twice per day, needs a 
 large udder in which 
 to store it. The size 
 of the udder is what 
 has made the cow 
 useful to us as a milch 
 animal. 
 
 A fine cow is a 
 beautiful creature, her 
 soft yellow skin be- 
 neath the sleek coat 
 of short hair, the well 
 proportioned body, 
 the mild face, crowned 
 with spreading, 
 polished horns and 
 illuminated with large 
 gentle eyes, are all 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 in their ruminating stomachs. During the 
 heat of the day, they move to the shade, 
 preferably to the shady banks of streams, 
 and there in quiet the food is brought 
 up, a small portion at a time, and chewed with 
 a peculiar sidewise movement of the jaws and 
 then swahowed, passing to the true stomach. 
 There is probably no more perfect picture of 
 utter contentment, than a herd of cows chewing 
 
 ■ their cuds in the shade, or standing knee-deep 
 in the cool stream on a summer's day. The 
 cattle in a herd when grazing, keep abreast and 
 move along, heads in the same direction. 
 
 Connected with the grazing habit, is that of 
 
 the hiding of the new-bom calf by its 
 
 calf is a wabbly creature and ill-fitted 
 
 so the mother hides it, and there it stays 
 
 <i«-- •:•;,. 
 ■"'.?'• 
 
 A pet Holstein. 
 
Mammal Study 297 
 
 elements of beauty which artists have recognized, especially those 
 of the Dutch school. The ancients also admired bovine eyes, and 
 called their most beautiful goddess the ox-eyed Juno. 
 
 The cow's ears can be turned in any direction, and her sense of hearing 
 is keen; so is her sense of smell, aided by the moist, sensitive skin of the 
 nose; she always snififs danger and also thus tests her food. Although a 
 cow if well kept has a sleek coat, when she is allowed to run out of doors 
 during the winter, her hair grows long and shaggy as a protection. The 
 cow walks on two toes, or as we say has a split hoof. She has two lesser 
 toes above and behind the hoofs which we call dew-claws. The part of 
 her leg which seems at first glance to be her knee, is really her wrist or 
 ankle. Although short-legged, the cow is a good runner, as those who 
 have chased her can bear witness. She can walk, gallop and has a pacing 
 trot; she is a remarkable jumper, often taking a fence like a deer; she 
 also has marvelous powers as a swimmer, a case being on record where a 
 cow swam five miles. But a cow would be illy equipped for comfort if it 
 were not for her peculiar tail, which is made after the most approved 
 pattern of fly-brushes, and is thus used. Woe betide the fly she hits with 
 it, if the blow is as efficient as that which she incidentally bestows on the 
 head of the milker. It is to get rid of flies, that the cattle, and especially 
 the buffaloes, wallow in the mud, and thus coat themselves with a fly- 
 proof armor. 
 
 There is a fairly extensive range of emotions expressed in cattle 
 language, from the sullen bellow of the angry animal to the lowing which 
 is the call of the herd, and the mooing which is meant for the calf; and 
 there are many other bellowings and mutterings which we can partially 
 understand. 
 
 Every herd of cows has its leader, which has won the position by fair 
 fight. Add a new cow to the herd, and there is at once a trial of strength, 
 to adjust her to her proper place; and in a herd of cows, the leader leads; 
 she goes first and no one may say her nay. In fact, each member of the 
 herd has her place in it; and that is why it is so easy to teach cows each 
 to take her own stanchion in the stable. In a herd of forty cows which I 
 knew, each cow took her stanchion, no matter in what order vShe happened 
 to enter the stable. 
 
 A cow at play is a funny sight; her tail is lifted aloft like a pennant and 
 she kicks as lightly as if she were made of rubber. She is also a sure- 
 footed beast, as anvone can attest who has seen her nmning down the 
 rocky mountain sides of the Alps, at a headlong pace and never making a 
 mistake. In lying down, the cow first kneels with the front legs, or 
 rather drops on her wrists, and then the hind quarters go down, and then 
 the front follow. She does not lie flat on her side when resting, like the 
 horse when at ease, but with her legs partially under her. In getting up, 
 she rests upon her wrists and then lifts the hind quarters. 
 
 TJw Usefulness of Cattle 
 
 When man emerged from the savage state, his first step toward civili- 
 zation was domesticating wild animals and training them for his own use. 
 During the nomad stage, when tribes wandered over the face of the 
 earth, they took their cattle along. From the first, these animals have 
 been used in three capacities : First, for carrying burdens and as draught 
 
298 
 
 Hafidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 animals; second, as meat; third, as givers of milk. They were also used 
 in the earlier ages as sacrifices to the various deities, and in Egypt, some 
 were held as sacred. 
 
 As beasts of burden and draft animals, oxen are still used in many 
 parts of the United States. For logging, especially in pioneer days, oxen 
 were far more valuable than horses. They are patient and will pull a few 
 inches at a time, if necessary, a tedious work which the nervous horse 
 refuses to endure. Cows too, have been used as draft animals, and are so 
 used in China today, where they do most of the plowing; in these oriental 
 countries milk is not consumed to any extent, so the cow is kept for the 
 work she can do. In ancient times in the East, white oxen formed a part 
 of royal processions. 
 
 Uctj cattle. 
 
 Because of two main uses of cattle by civilized man, he has bred them 
 in two directions; one for producing beef, and one for milk. The beef 
 cattle are chiefly Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway, Short-horn or Durham, and 
 Hereford; the dairy breeds are the Jersey, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Holstein- 
 Frisian and Brown Swiss. The beef animal is, in cross-section, approxi- 
 mately like a brick set sidewise. It should be big and full across the loins 
 and back, the shoulders and hips covered heavily with flesh, the legs stout, 
 the neck thick and short, and the face short; the line of the back is 
 straight, and the stomach line parallel with it. Very different is the 
 appearance of the milch cow. Her body is oval, instead of being approxi- 
 mately square in cross-section. The outline of her back is not straight, 
 
Mammal Stiidy 299 
 
 but sags in front of the hips, which are prominent and bony. The 
 shoulders have Httle flesh on them; and if looked at from above, her body- 
 is wedge-shaped, widening from shoulders backward. The stomach line 
 is not parallel with the back bone, but slants downward from the shoulder 
 to the udder. The following are the points that indicate a good milch 
 cow: Head high between the eyes, showing large air passages and 
 indicating strong lungs. Eyes clear, large and placid, indicating good 
 disposition. Mouth large, with a muscular lower jaw, showing ability to 
 chew efficiently and rapidly. Neck, thin and fine, showing veins through 
 the skin. Chest deep and wide, showing plenty of room for heart and 
 lungs. Abdomen, large but well supported, and increasing in size toward 
 the rear. Ribs, well spread, not meeting the spine like the peak of a roof, 
 but the spine must be prominent, revealing to the touch the separate 
 vertebrae. Hips, much broader than the shoulders. Udder, large, the 
 four quarters of equal size, and not fat; the "milk veins" which carry 
 the blood from the udder should be large and crooked, passing into the 
 abdomen through large openings. Skin, soft, pliable and covered with 
 fine, oily hair. She should have good digestion and great powers of 
 assimilation. The milch cow is a milk-making machine, and the more 
 fuel (food) she can use, the greater her production. 
 
 The physiological habits of the beef and milch cattle have been 
 changed as much as their structure. The food given to the beef cow goes 
 to make flesh; while that given to the milch cow goes to make milk, 
 however abundant her food. Of course, there are all grades between the 
 beef and the milch types, for many farmers use dual herds for both. 
 However, if a farmer is producing milk it pays him well to get the best 
 possible machine to make it, and that is always a cow of the right type. 
 
 A Geography Lesson 
 
 All the best breeds of cattle have been evolved in the British Isles and 
 in Europe north of Italy and west of Russia. All our domesticated cattle 
 were developed from wild cattle of Europe and Asia. The cattle which 
 roam in our rapidly narrowing grazing lands of the far West are European 
 cattle. America had no wild cattle except the bison. In geography 
 supplementary readers, read about Scotland, England, the Channel 
 Islands, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland and the dift'erent kinds 
 of cattle developed in these countries; for example, "A Holland Dairy," 
 in Northern Europe, Ginn & Co. 
 
 How to Produce Good Milk 
 
 There are three main ingredients of milk — fat, curd and ash. The 
 fat is for the purpose of supplying the animal with fat and we make it into 
 butter; the curd supplies muscle, or the lean meat of the animal, and 
 is the main ingredient of cheese, although cheese to be good should con- 
 tain a full amount of butter fat; the ash which may be seen as residue 
 when milk is evaporated, builds up the bone of the animal. The best 
 butter cows are those which give a larger per cent, of fat and a small 
 per cent, of curd, like the Jerseys; the best cheese cows are those 
 which give a fair per cent, of fat and a larger yield of curd, like the 
 Ayrshire and Holstein. 
 
300 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 A cow for producing cheese, is not profitable, unless she gives seven 
 thousand pounds of milk per year; a butter cow, a Jersey for instance, 
 should produce five thousand pounds of milk per year to be really 
 profitable. 
 
 The stable where milch cows are kept should be thoroughly cleaned 
 before each milking, and should be swept each day; the cows' udders 
 should be brushed, and the milkers should wear clean aprons and should 
 wash their hands before milking. Milk should never be strained in the 
 bam, but in some place where the air is fresh. If milk is perfectly clean, 
 it will keep sweet much longer; sterilized milk put in bottles will keep 
 sweet for weeks and even months. Loud talking should not be permitted 
 in the stables while the cows are being milked, and each cow should be 
 milked by the same person for the entire season. 
 
 
 ^Cr^: 
 
 
 TJie perfect milch type. 
 
 Milk to be legally sold in New York State must possess three per cent, 
 of butter fat. For upper grades or first year work in the high school, 
 there could not be a more profitable exercise than teaching the pupils the 
 use of the Babcock milk tester. 
 
 The Care of the Milch Cow 
 
 The importance cannot be over-estimated of teaching the pupils in 
 rural districts, the proper care of milch cattle for the production of milk. 
 The milch cow is a perfect machine, and should be regarded as such in 
 producing milk. First, she should have plenty of food of the right kind, 
 that is, a w^ll-balanced ration. Second, she should have a warm, clean 
 stable and be siipplied with plenty of good, fresh air. A cold stable 
 makes it necessary to provide much more food for the cow; a case on 
 record shows that when a bam was opened up in cold weather for neces- 
 sary repairing, the amount of milk from the cows stabled in it, decreased 
 ten per cent, in twenty-four hours. There should be a protected place for 
 
Mammal Study 301 
 
 drinking, if the cattle must be turned out of the bam for water in winter; 
 it is far better to have the water piped into the bam, although the herd 
 should be given a few hours each day in the open air. A dog should 
 never be used for driving cows. To be profitable, a cow should give milk 
 ten months of the year at least. Calves should be dehorned when they 
 are a few days old by putting caustic potash on the budding horns, thus 
 obviating the danger of damaging the cow by dehorning. 
 
 In a properly run dairy, a pair of scales stands near the can for receiv- 
 ing the milk; and as the milk from each cow is brought in, it is weighed 
 and the amount set down opposite the cow's name on a "milk sheet," that 
 is tacked on the wall, near by. At the end of each week, the figures on 
 the milk sheet are added, and the farmer knows just how much milk each 
 cow is giving him, and w^hether there are any in the herd which are not 
 paying their board. 
 
 References — Elements of Agriculture, AVarren; Agriculture for 
 Beginners, Burkett, Stevens and Hill, p. 216; First Principles of Agricul- 
 ture, Vorhees, p. 117; Elements of Agriculture, Sever, p. 57; Ele- 
 ments of Agriculture, Shepperd, chapters 15 and 22; First Principles 
 of Agriculture, Goff and Maine, p. 154; Agriculture Through the 
 Laboratory, School and Garden, Jackson and Dougherty, chapter 8; The 
 Dairy Herd, Farmers' Bulletin No. 55, U. S. Dept. of Agr.; Care of Milk 
 on the Farm, Farmers' Bulletin No. 63, U. S. Dept. of Agr. 
 
 LESSON LXVIII 
 The Cow 
 
 Leading thought — Certain characteristics which enable the cow to live 
 successfully as a wild animal, have rendered her of great use to us as a 
 domestic animal. 
 
 Method — Begin the lesson with leading the pupils to understand the 
 peculiar adaptation of cattle for success, as wild animals. This will have 
 to be done largely by reading and asking for oral or written work on the 
 following topics: "The Aurochs," "Wild Cattle of the Scottish High- 
 lands," "The BufYaloes of the Orient," "The American Bison," "The 
 Cow-boys of the West and their Work with their Herds," "The Breeds of 
 Beef Cattle, Where they Came From, and Where Developed," "The 
 Breeds of Milch Cattle, their Origin and Names." The following ques- 
 tions may be given out a few at a time and answered as the pupils have 
 opportunity for observation. 
 
 Observations — i . W^hat are the characteristics of a fine cow? Describe 
 her horns, ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Do you think she can hear well? 
 What is the attitude of her ears when she is listening? Do you think she 
 has a keen sense of smell? Is hernose moist? Is her hair long or short? 
 Smooth or rough ? 
 
 2. The cow walks on two toes. Can you see any other toes which she 
 does not walk on ? Why is the cow's foot better adapted than that of the 
 horse, to walk in mud and marshes? What do we call the two hind toes 
 which she does not walk on? Can you point out on the cow's leg those 
 parts which correspond with our elbow, wrist, knee and ankle? Is the 
 cow a good runner? Is she a good jumper? Can she swim? 
 
302 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 3. For what use was the cow's tail evidently intended? How do the 
 wild buffalos and bisons get rid of attacks of flies? 
 
 4. How much of cattle language do you understand? How does the 
 cow express pleasure? Lonesomeness? Anger? How does the bull 
 express anger? What does the calf express with the voice? 
 
 5. Is there always a leader in a herd of cows? Do certain cows of 
 the herd always go first and others last? Do the cows readily learn to 
 take each her own place in the stable? How is leadership of the herd 
 attained ? Describe cattle at play. 
 
 6. At what time of day do cattle feed in the pasture? When and 
 where do they chew the cud ? Do they stand or lie to do this? Describe 
 how a cow lies down and gets up. 
 
 7. How do wild cattle defend themselves from wolves? From bears 
 or other solitary animals? 
 
 8. For what purposes were cattle first domesticated? For how 
 many purposes do we rear cattle today? 
 
 9. Name and give brief descriptions of the different breeds of cattle 
 with which you are familiar. Which of these are beef and which milch 
 types? 
 
 10. What are the distinguishing points of a good milch cow? Of a 
 good beef animal? What does the food do for each of these? Which 
 part of the United States produces most beef cattle? Which the most 
 milch cattle? 
 
 1 1 . What do we mean by a balanced ration ? Do you know how to 
 compute one? What is the advantage of feeding cattle a balanced 
 ration ? 
 
 12. How many pounds of milk should a dairy cow produce in a year 
 to be profitable if the product is cheese? If the product is butter? Why 
 this discrepancy? What must be the percent, of butter fat in milk to 
 make it legally salable in your state? How many months of the year 
 should a good cow give milk? 
 
 13. Why should a cow be milked always by the same person ? Does 
 the milker always sit on the same side? Why should loud talking and 
 other noise at milking time be avoided? Should a dog be used in driving 
 dairy cows? Why? 
 
 14. Why is a cool draughty barn an expensive place in which to keep 
 cattle? Why is a barn not well-ventilated, a danger? 
 
 15. Why and where is the dehorning of cattle practiced? When and 
 how should a calf be dehorned? 
 
 16. Why should milk not be strained in the bam? Why is it profit- 
 able for the dairy farmer to keep his stable clean and to be cleanly in the 
 care of milk? How does the food of cows affect the flavor of the milk? 
 Why should a farmer keep a record of the number of pounds of milk which 
 each cow in his dairy gives each day? 
 
 17. For what are oxen used? Wherein are they superior to horses 
 as 'draft animals? Do you know of any place where oxen are used as 
 riding animals? 
 
 18. How many industries are dependent upon cattle? 
 
 19. Give oral or written exercises on the following themes : "How 
 the Best Butter is Made;" "The Use of Bacteria in Butter;" "How Dairy 
 Cheese is Made;" "How Fancy Cheeses are Made." 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 3°2 
 
 THE PIG 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "I uandcr through the underbresh, 
 Where pig tracks ptntiii' to'rds the crick, 
 Is picked and printed in the fresh 
 Black bottom-lands, like wimnien prick 
 Their pie-crust with a fork." — Rilev. 
 
 |Y a forest law of William the First of England in the 
 eleventh century, it was ordained that any that were 
 found guilty of killing the stag or the roebuck or the 
 wild boar, should have their eyes put out. This shows 
 that the hunting of the wild boar in England was 
 considered a sport of gentlemen in an age when nothing 
 was considered sport unless it was dangerous. The 
 wild hog of Europe is the ancestor of our common 
 domesticated breeds; although independent of these, the Chinese domes- 
 ticated their own wild species, even before the dawn of history. 
 
 The wild hog likes damp situations where it may wallow in the water 
 and mud; but it also likes to have, close by, woods, thicket or under- 
 brush, to which it can retire for rest and also when in danger. The stiff, 
 bristling hairs which cover its thick skin, are a great protection when it is 
 pushing through thorny thickets. When excited or angry, these bristles 
 rise and add to the fury of its appearance. Even in our own country, 
 the wild hogs of the South whose ancestors escaped from domestication, 
 have reverted to their original savagery, and are dangerous when infuri- 
 ated. The onlv recorded instance when our great national hunter, Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt, was forced ignominiously to climb a tree, was after he 
 
 Anxious for diniu^r. 
 
304 Hmuibook of Nature-SUidy 
 
 had emptied his rifle into a herd of "javeHns," as the wild pigs of Texas 
 are called; the javelins are the peccaries, which are the American repre- 
 sentatives of the wild hog. 
 
 That the hog has become synonymous with filth is the result of the 
 influence of man upon this animal, for of all animals, the pig is naturally 
 the neatest, keeping its bed clean, often in the most discouraging and ill- 
 kept pens. The pig is sparsely clothed with bristles and hairs, which 
 yield it no protection from the attacks of flies and other insects. Thus it 
 is the pig, in order to rid itself of these pests, has learned to wallow in the 
 mud. However, this is in the nature of a mud bath, and is for the pur- 
 pose of keeping the body free from vermin. The wild hogs of India make 
 for themselves grass huts, thatched above and with doors at the sides, 
 whieh shows that the pig, if allowed to care for itself, understands well 
 the art of nest-building. 
 
 One of the most interesting things about a pig, is its nose; this is a 
 fleshy disc with nostrils in it and is a most sensitive organ of feeling; it 
 can select grain from chaff, and yet is so strong that it can root up the 
 ground in search for food. "Root" is a pig word, and was evidently 
 coined to describe the act of the pig when digging for roots; the pig's nose 
 is almost as remarkable as the elephant's trunk, and the pig's sense of 
 smell is very keen ; it will follow a track almost as well as a dog. There 
 are more instances than one of a pig being trained as a pointer for hunting 
 birds, and showing a keener sense of smell, and keener intelligence in 
 this capacity, than do dogs. French pigs are taught to hunt for truffles, 
 which are fungi growing on tree roots, a long way below the surface of the 
 ground; the pig detects their presence through the sense of smell. 
 
 The pig has a full set of teeth, having six incisors, two canines and 
 seven grinding teeth on each jaw; although in some cases there are only 
 four incisors on the upper jaw. A strange thing about a pig's teeth, is the 
 action of the upper canines, or tushes, which curve upward instead of 
 downward; the lower canines grind up against them, and are thus 
 sharpened. The females have no such development of upper tushes as 
 do the males; these tushes, especially the upper ones, are used as weapons; 
 with them, the wild boar slashes out and upward, inflicting terrible 
 wounds, often disabling horses and killing men. Professor H. F. Button 
 describes the fighting of hogs thus: "To oppose the terrible weapons of 
 his rival, the boar has a shield of skin over his neck and shoulders, which 
 may become two inches thick, and so hard as to defy a knife. When two 
 of these animals fight, each tries to keep the tushes of his opponent against 
 the shield, and to get his own tushes under the belly or flank of the other. 
 Thus, each goes sidewise or in circles, which has given rise to the expres- 
 sion, 'to go sidewise like a hog to war.' " 
 
 When, as a small girl, I essayed the difficult task of working button- 
 holes, I was told if I did not set my stitches more closely together, my 
 buttonhole would look like a pig's eye, a remark which made me observant 
 of that organ ever after. But though the pig's eyes are small, they cer- 
 tainly gleam with intelligence, and they take in all that is going on, 
 which may in any way affect his pigship. 
 
 The pig is the most intelligent of all the farm animals, if it is only given 
 a chance; it has excellent memory and can be taught tricks readily; it is 
 affectionate and will follow its master around like a dog. Anyone who 
 has seen a trained pig at a show picking out cards and counting, must 
 
Mammal Study 
 
 305 
 
 grant that it has brains, although we stuff it so with fattening food, that 
 it does not have a chance to use its brain, except now and then when it 
 breaks out of the sty and we try to drive it back. Under these circum- 
 stances, we grant the pig all the sagacity usually imputed to the one who 
 once possessed swine and drove them into the sea. Hunters ot wild hogs 
 proclaim that they are full of strategy and cunning, and are exceedingfy 
 fierce. We pay tribute to the pig's cleverness when free to outwit us, 
 w^hen we say of other uncertain undertakings, that they are like "buying 
 a pig in a poke." 
 
 The head of the wild hog is wedge-shaped with pointed snout, and this 
 form enables the animal to push into the thick underbrush along the river 
 banks, whenever it is attacked. 
 But civilization has changed this 
 bold profile of the head, so that 
 now in many breeds, there is a 
 hollow between the snout and 
 eyes, giving the form which we 
 call "dished." Some breeds have 
 sharp, forward-opening ears, while 
 others have ears that lop. The 
 wild pig of Europe and Asia has 
 large, open ears extending out 
 wide and alert on each side of the 
 head. 
 
 The covering of the pig is a 
 thick skin beset with bristling 
 hairs; when the hog is excited, 
 the bristles rise and add to the 
 fury of its appearance. The bris- 
 tles aid in protecting the animal 
 when it is pushing through thorny 
 thickets. The pig's querly tail is merelv 
 
 Good for the pigs and good 
 for the orchard. 
 
 an 
 
 ornament, although the 
 tail of the wart hog of Africa, if pictures may be relied upon, might be 
 used in a limited fashion as a fly-brush. 
 
 When the pig is allowed to roam in the woods, it lives on roots, nuts, 
 and especially acorns and beech nuts; in the autumn it becomes very fat 
 through feeding upon the latter. The mast-fed bacon of the semi-wild 
 hogs of the Southern States is considered the best of all. But almost any- 
 thing animal or vegetable, that comes in its way, is eaten by the hog, and 
 it has been long noted that the hog has done good service on our frontier 
 as a killer of rattlesnakes. The pig is 'well fitted for locomotion on either 
 wet or dry soil, for the two large hoofed toes enable it to walk well on dry 
 ground and the two hind toes, smaller and higher up, help to sustain it on 
 marshy soil. Although the pig's legs are short, it is a swift runner unless 
 it is too fat. The razor-backs of the wSouth are noted for their fleetness. 
 
 We understand somewhat the pig's language; there is the constant 
 grunting, which is a sound that keeps the pig herd together. We under- 
 stand perfectly the complaining squeal of hunger, the satisfied grunt 
 signifying enjoyment of food, the squeal of terror when seized, and the 
 nasal growl when fighting. But there is much more to the pig's conversa- 
 tion than this; I know a certain lady, who is a lover of animals, and who 
 once undertook to talk pig language as best she could imitate it, to two of 
 
3o6 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 her sows when they were engaged in eating. They stopped eating, looked 
 at each other a moment and forthwith began fighting, each evidently 
 attributing the lady's remark to the other, and obviously it was of an 
 uncomplimentary character. 
 
 The pig's ability to take on fat was evidently a provision, in the wild 
 state, for storing up fat from mast that should help sustain the animal 
 during the hardships of winter; and this character is what makes swine 
 useful for our own food. Pigs, to do best, should be allowed to have 
 pasture and plenty of fresh green food. Their troughs should be kept 
 clean and they should have access to ashes, and above all, they should 
 have plenty of pure water; and as the pig does not perspire freely, access 
 to water where it can take its natural mud-baths helps to keep the body 
 cool and the pig healthy in hot weather. 
 
 The breeds of hogs most common in America are the Berkshires, which 
 are black with white markings, and have ears extending erect; the 
 Poland Chinas, which are black and white with drooping ears; the Duroc- 
 Jersey, which are red or chestnut with drooping ears; the Yorkshire and 
 Cheshire, which are white with erect ears, while the Cheshire White is 
 white with drooping ears. The Poland China and Duroc-Jersey are both 
 pure American breeds. 
 
 References — Elementary Agriculture, AVarren; Our Domestic Animals, 
 Burkett; The Country Reader, Buchanan; Lives of Animals, Ingersoll; 
 Types and Breeds of Farm Animals, Plumb; and the bulletins of the U. S. 
 Department of Agriculture. 
 
 LESSON LXIX 
 
 The Pig 
 
 Leading tlwuglit — The pig is something more than a source of pork. 
 
 It is a sagacious animal and naturally cleanly in its habits when not made 
 
 prisoner by man. 
 
 Method — The questions in this lesson may be given to the pupils a few 
 
 at a time, and those who have access to farms or other places where pigs 
 
 are kept may make 
 the observations and 
 in giving them to the 
 class they should be 
 discussed. Supple- 
 mentary reading 
 should be given the 
 pupils, which may in- 
 form them as to the 
 habits and peculiari- 
 ties of the wild hogs. 
 Theodore Roosevelt's 
 experience in hunting 
 the wart-hog in Africa 
 will prove interesting 
 reading. 
 
 Observations — i. 
 How does the pig's 
 nose differ from that 
 
 Bottle-fed babies. 
 
Mammal Study 307 
 
 of other animals? What is it used for besides for smelling? Do you 
 think the pig's sense of smell is very keen? Why do pigs root? 
 
 2. Describe the pig's teeth. For what are they fitted? What are 
 the tushes for? Which way do the upper tushes turn? How do wild 
 hogs use their tushes? 
 
 3. Do you think that a pig's eyes look intelligent? What color are 
 they? Do you think the pig can see well? 
 
 4. Is the pig's head straight in front or is it dished ? Is this dished 
 appearance ever found in wild hogs? Do the ears stand out straight or 
 are they lopped ? What advantage is the wedge-shaped head to the wild 
 hogs? 
 
 5. How is the pig covered ? Do you think the hair is thick enough to 
 keep off flies? Why does the pig wallow in the mud? Is it because the 
 animal is dirty by nature or because it is trying to keep clean? Do the 
 hog's bristles stand up if it is angry? 
 
 6. If the pig could have its natural food what would it be and where 
 would it be found ? Why and on what should pigs be pastured ? What 
 do pigs find in the forest to eat? What kind of bacon is considered the 
 best? 
 
 7. On how many toes does the pig walk? Are there other toes on 
 which it does not walk? If wading in the mud are the two hind toes of 
 use? Do wild pigs run rapidly? Do tame pigs run rapidly if they are not 
 too fat? Do you think the pig can swim? Do you think that the pig's 
 tail is of any use or merely an ornament? 
 
 8. What cries and noises do the pigs make which we can understand? 
 
 9. How do hogs fight each other? When the boars fight, how do they 
 attack or ward off the enemy? Where do we get the expression going 
 "sidewise like a hog to war?" 
 
 10. How many breeds of pigs do you know? Describe them. 
 
 11. What instances have you heard that show the hog's intelligence? 
 
 12. Give an oral or written English exercise on one of the following 
 topics: "The antiquity of swine; how they were regarded by the ancient 
 Egyptians, Greeks and Romans;" (see encyclopedia). "The story of 
 hunting wild hogs in India; "The razor-back hogs of the South;" "The 
 wart-hog of Africa." 
 
 *'TJte nice Utile pig witJi a qiterly tail, 
 All sojt as satin a)id pinky pale 
 Is a very different thing by far 
 Than the lumps of iniquity, big pigs are." 
 
 — Nonsense Rhyme. 
 
3o8 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 VI. INSECT STUDY 
 
 ^ \i NSECTS are among the most interesting and available of 
 all living creatures for nature-study. The lives of 
 many of them afford more interesting stories than are 
 found in fairy lore; many of them show exquisite colors 
 and, more than all, they are small and are, therefore, 
 easily confined for observation. 
 
 While the young pupils should not be drilled in 
 insect anatomy, as if they were embryo zoologists, yet it 
 is necessary for the teacher, who would teach intelli- 
 gently, to know something of the life stories, habits and 
 structure of the common insects. Generally speaking, 
 all insects develop from eggs. To most of us the 
 word egg brings before us the picture of the egg of the hen or of some 
 other bird. But insect eggs are often far more beautiful than those of any 
 bird ; they are of widely differing forms, and are often exquisitely colored 
 and the shells may be ornately ribbed and pitted, sometimes adorned 
 with spines, and are as beautiful to look at through a microscope as the 
 most artistic piece of mosaic. 
 
 From the eggs, larvae [sing, larva) issue. These larvae may be 
 caterpillars, or the creatures commonly called worms, or may be maggots 
 
 The egg of the cotton moth, greatly enlarged. 
 From Manual for the Study of Insects. 
 
 or grubs. The larval stage is always devoted to feeding and to growth. 
 It is the chief business of the larva to eat diligently and to attain maturity 
 as soon as possible; for often the length of the larval period depends 
 more upon food than upon lapse of time. All insects have their skele- 
 tons on the outside of the body; that is, the outer covering of the body is 
 chitinous, and the soft and inner parts are attached to it and supported 
 
 The forest tent-cater pillar shedding its skin. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 309 
 
 by it. This skin is so 
 firm that it cannot stretch 
 to accommodate the in- 
 creasing size of the grow- 
 ing insect, thus from time 
 to time it is shed. But 
 before this is done, a new 
 skin is formed beneath 
 the old one. After the 
 old skin bursts open and 
 the insect crawls forth, 
 the new skin is sufficiently 
 soft and elastic to allow 
 for the increase in the 
 size of the insect. Soon, 
 the new skin becomes 
 hardened like the old one, 
 and after a time, is shed. 
 This shedding of the skin 
 is called molting. Some insects shed their skins only four or five times 
 during the period of attaining their growth, while other species may molt 
 twenty times or more. 
 
 After the larva has attained its full growth, it changes its skin and its 
 form, and becomes a pupa. The pupa stage is ordinarily one of inaction, 
 except that very wonderful changes take place within the body itself. 
 Usually the pupa has no power of moving around, but in many cases it 
 can squirm somewhat, if disturbed. The pupa of the mosquito is active 
 and is an exception to the rule. The pupa is usually an oblong object 
 and seems to be without head, feet or wings; but if it is examined closely, 
 especially in the case of 
 butterflies and moths, the 
 antennae, wings and legs ^y 
 may be seen, folded down f tL 
 
 Full-grown caterpillar of the luna moth. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 :3^, 
 
 N 
 
 
 / 
 
 beneath the pupa skin. 
 
 Many larvae, especially 
 those of moths, weave 
 about themselves a cover- 
 ing of silk which serves to 
 protect them from their 
 enemies and the weather, 
 during the helpless pupa 
 period. This silken cover- 
 ing is called a cocoon. 
 The larvae of butterflies 
 do not make a silken 
 cocoon, but the pupa is 
 suspended to some object 
 by a silken knob, and in 
 some cases by a halter of 
 
 silk, and remains entirely naked. The pupa of a butterfly is called a 
 chrysalis. Care should be taken to have the children use the words — 
 pupa, chrysalis and cocoon — understandingly. 
 
 A luna 
 
 cocoon 
 Photo 
 
 cut open, showing tlie pupa. 
 
 by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
3IO 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 After a period varying from days to months, depending upon the 
 species of insect and the cHmate, the pupa skin bursts open and from it 
 
 emerges the adult insect, often 
 equipped with large and beautiful 
 wings and always provided with 
 six legs and a far more complex 
 structure of body than character- 
 ized it as a larva. The insect never 
 grows after it reaches this adult 
 stage and, therefore, never molts. 
 Some people seem to believe that a 
 small fly will grow into a large fly, 
 and a small beetle into a large beetle; but after an insect attains its 
 
 A butterfly chrysalis. 
 
 A lima moth. 
 
 The delicate, exquisite green of ihe luna's wings is set off by the rose-purple, velvet border of the front 
 wings, and the white fur on the body and inner edge of the hind wings. Litile wonder that it has been called 
 ihe "Empress of the night". The long swallOiV tail of the hind wings give the moth a most graceful shape, at 
 the same time probably afford it protection from observation. During the daytime the moth hangs wings 
 do:vn beneath ihe green leaves, and these long projections of the hind wings folded together resemble a 
 petiole, making the insect look very much like a large leaf. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 311 
 
 perfect wings, it does not grow larger. Many adult insects take very 
 little food, although some continue to eat in order to support life. The 
 adult stage is ordinarily shorter than the larval stage; it seems a part of 
 nature's economic plan that the grown-up insects should live only long 
 enough to lay eggs, and thus secure the continuation of the species. 
 Insects having the four distinct stages in their growth, egg, larva, pupa 
 and adult, are said to undergo complete metamorphosis. 
 
 But not all insects pass through an inactive pupa stage. With some 
 insects, like the grasshoppers, the young, as soon as they are hatched, 
 resemble the adult forms in appearance. These insects, like the larva, 
 shed their skins to accommodate their growth, but they continue to feed 
 and move about actively until the final molt when the perfect insect 
 appears. Such insects are said to have incomplete metamorphosis, 
 which simply means that the form of the body of the adult insect is 
 not greatly different from that of the young; the dragon-flies, crickets, 
 grasshoppers and bugs are of this type. The young of insects with an 
 incomplete metamorphosis are called nymphs instead of larvae. 
 
 A young grasshopper, enlarged. 
 
 The line shows its actual length. 
 
 The adult of the same 
 grasshopper, natural 
 
 size. 
 
 Summary of the Metamorphoses of Insects 
 
 Kinds of Metamorphosis 
 
 I. Complete metamorphosis 
 
 II. Incomplete metamorphosis 
 
 Names of Stages 
 
 Larva. 
 
 Pupa. (The pupa is sometimes 
 
 enclosed in a cocoon.) 
 .Adult or winged insect. 
 
 Rwo- 
 
 Nymph (several stages) . 
 .Adult, or imago. 
 
 Insect brownies; tree-hoppers as seen through a lens. 
 
312 
 
 Handbook of Nat it re-Study 
 
 The Structure of Insects 
 
 The insect body is made up of ring-like segments which are grown 
 together. These segments are divided into groups according to their use 
 and the organs which tliey bear. Thus the segments of an insect's body 
 are grouped into three regions, the head, the thorax and the abdomen. 
 The head bears the eyes, the antennae, and the mouth-parts. On each 
 side of the head of the adult insect may be seen the compound eyes; these 
 are so called, because they are made up of many small 
 eyes set together, much like the cells of the honeycomb. 
 These compound eyes are not found in larvae. In addi- 
 tion to the compound eyes, many adult insects possess 
 simple eyes; these are placed between the compound 
 eyes and are usually three in number. Often they 
 cannot be seen without the aid of a lens. 
 
 The antennas or feelers are composed of many seg- 
 ments and are inserted in front of the eyes or between 
 them. They vary greatly in form. In some insects 
 they are mere threads; in others, like the silk- worm 
 moths, they are large, feather-like organs. 
 The mouth-parts of insects vary greatly in structure and in form, 
 being adapted to the life of the insect species to which they minister. 
 Some insects have jaws fitted for seizing their prey, others for chewing 
 
 A part of the 
 
 compound eye 
 
 of an insect, 
 
 enlarsed. 
 
 Simple 
 
 eye 
 
 Ovipositor 
 
 fc»t * Tars OS 
 
 'To«-pad orlVitvillus 
 
 Grasshopper, ivith the parts of the external anatomy named. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 3'^3 
 
 A sphinx moth icitli the sucking 
 
 tongue unrolled. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 leaves, others have a sucking tube for 
 getting the juices from plants or the 
 blood from animals, and others long 
 delicate tubes for sipping the nectar 
 from flowers. 
 
 In the biting insects, the mouth- 
 parts consist of an upper lip, the labrum, 
 and under lip, the labium, and two 
 pairs of jaws between them. The upper 
 pair of jaws is called the mandibles and 
 the lower pair, the maxillae (sing, 
 maxilla). There may be also within 
 the mouth, one or two tongue-like 
 organs. Upon the maxillae and upon 
 the lower lip there may also be feelers 
 which are called palpi (sing, palpus). 
 The jaws of insects, when working, 
 do not move up and down, as do ours, 
 
 like shears. In 
 
 but move sidewise 
 many of the insects, 
 palpi 
 
 the children are 
 
 i?5» 
 
 A tree-hopper, show- 
 ing the mouth as a 
 long, three-jointed 
 sucking tube, at a. 
 
 Upper IrpcpJoUrHW 
 
 able to observe the mandibles and the 
 
 without the aid of a lens. 
 
 The thorax is the middle region of the insect 
 
 body. It is composed of three of the body seg- 
 ments more or less firmly joined together. The 
 
 segment next the head is called the prothorax, the 
 
 middle one, the mesothorax, and the hind one, the 
 
 metathorax. Each of these segments bears a 
 
 pair of legs and, in the winged insects, the second 
 
 and third segments bear the wings. Each leg 
 
 consists of two small segments next 
 to the body, next to them a longer 
 segment, called the femur, beyond 
 this a segment called the tibia, and 
 beyond this the tarsus or foot. The 
 tarsus is made up of a number of 
 segments, varying from one to six, 
 the most common number being 
 five. The last segment of the tarsus 
 usually bears one or two claws. 
 
 While we have little to do with 
 the internal anatomy of insects in 
 elementary nature-study, the chil- 
 dren should be taught something of 
 the way that insects breathe. The 
 child naturally believes that the 
 insect, like himself, breathes through 
 the mouth, while as a matter of fact, 
 insects breathe through their sides. 
 If we examine almost any insect 
 ron carefully, we can find along the sides 
 
 n. mouth.t>arts of a grasshopper ^'^ ^he body a series of openings^ 
 dissected off, enlarged and named. These are called the spiracles, and 
 
 -ttfantJibleS'' 
 Upper Jaws 
 
 Tongue 
 
 tHaxillae or" 
 
314 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 through them the air passes into the insect's body. The number 
 of spiracles varies greatly in different insects. There is, however, 
 never more than one pair on a single segment of the body, and they do 
 not occur on the head. The spiracles, or breathing pores, lead mto a 
 system of air tubes which are called tracheae (tra'-ke-ee) , which permeate 
 the insect's body and thus carry the air to every smallest part of its 
 anatomy. The blood of the insect bathes these thin-walled air tubes 
 and thus becomes purified, just as our blood becomes purified by bathing 
 the air tubes of our lungs. Thus, although the insects do not have 
 localized breathing organs, like our lungs, they have, if the expression 
 may be permitted, lungs in every part of their little bodies. 
 
 n 
 
 ea 
 
 IffouHi' 
 
 Prop leg 
 
 True leg's 
 
 \ 
 
 Spiracles ov 
 Breathing' pot*es 
 
 The sphinx caterpillar, with the parts of the external anatomy named. 
 
 Summary of Structure of oji Insect 
 
 Antennae. 
 Compound eyes. 
 Simple eyes or ocelli. 
 
 C Labrum, or upper lip. 
 Mandibles, or upper jaws. 
 Maxillae, or lower jaws, and maxillary 
 
 palpi. 
 Labium and labial palpi. 
 Prothorax and first pair of legs. 
 
 f second pair of legs. 
 Mesothorax and | ^^g^ p^^^. q£ ^^^gs. 
 
 Head 
 
 Mouth-parts 
 
 Thorax 
 
 f third pair of legs. 
 Metathorax and | second pair of wings. 
 
 Wing 
 
 Leg 
 
 veins. 
 ^ cells. 
 
 ' Two small segments called 
 coxa and trochanter. 
 Femur. 
 Tibia. 
 
 Tarsus and claws, 
 ears (in locusts only), 
 spiracles, 
 ovipositor. 
 References.— Manual for the Study of Insects and Insect Life, Comstock. 
 
 Abdomen \ The abdomen bears 
 
Insect Study 
 
 315 
 
 THE BLACK SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HIS graceful butterfly is a very good friend to the 
 flowers, being a most efficient pollen carrier. It 
 haunts the gardens and sips nectar from all the blossom 
 cups held out for its refreshment; and it is found 
 throughout almost all parts of the United States. 
 The grace of its appearance is much enhanced by the 
 "swallow-tails," two projections from the hind mar- 
 gins of the hind wings. The wings are velvety black 
 with three rows of yellow spots across them, the outer 
 row being little crescents set in the margin of the wing: 
 
 and each triplet of yellow spots is in the same cell of the wing 
 
 between the same two veins. The hind wings are more elaborate, 
 
 for between the two inside rows of yellow spots, there are exquisite 
 
 metallic blue splashes, more vivid and more sharply outlined toward 
 
 the inside of the wing and shading off to black at the outside. And 
 
 just above the inner angle of the hind wing is an orange eye-spot with 
 
 a black center. On the lower surface of the wings, most of the yellow 
 
 spots are replaced with orange. 
 
 The mother butterfly is larger than her mate and has more blue on her 
 
 wings, while he has the yellow markings of the hind wings much more 
 
 conspicuous. She lays her egg, just the color of a drop of honey, on the 
 
 under surface of the leaf of the food plant. 
 
 After about ten days there hatches from this 
 
 egg a spiny little fellow, black and angular, 
 
 with a saddle-shaped, whitish blotch in the 
 
 middle of its back. But it would take an 
 
 elfin rider to sit in this warty, spiny saddle. 
 
 The caterpillar has six spines on each segment, 
 
 making six rows of spines, the whole length 
 
 of the body; the spines on the black portions 
 
 are black and those on the saddle white, but 
 
 they all have orange-colored bases. 
 
 When little, spiny saddle-back gets ready 
 
 to change its skin to one more commodious 
 
 for its increased size, it seeks some convenient 
 
 spot on the leaf or stem and spins a little 
 
 silken carpet from the silk gland opening in 
 
 its under lip; on this carpet it rests quietly 
 
 The eggs of the black swallow- 
 tail butter tiy, enlarged. 
 
 Photo-micrograph by M. V. 
 Slingerland. 
 
 for some time, and then the old tight skin 
 splits down theback, the head portion coming 
 oK separately. Swelling out to fill its new 
 skin to the utmost, it leaves its cast-off clothes 
 chnging to the silken carpet and marches back to its supper. 
 
 But after one of these changes of skin it becomes a very different 
 looking caterpillar, for now it is as smooth as it was formerly spinv; it is 
 now brilliant caraway green, ornamented with round wise stripes of 
 velvety black; and set in the front margin of each of these stripes are six 
 yellow spots. In shape, the caterpillar is larger toward the head; 
 its true feet have little , sharp claws and look very dift'erent from the 
 
3i6 
 
 Hmidhook of Nature-Study 
 
 Black swallow-tail caterpillars, shotuing 
 
 tu-'O stages of growth. The larger 
 
 one has the scent organs protriided. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 four pairs ot prolegs and the hind 
 prop-leg, all of which enable him 
 to hold fast to the stem or the leaf; 
 these fat legs are green, each 
 ornamented with a black, velvety 
 polka-dot. 
 
 When we were children we spent 
 hours poking these interesting 
 creatures with straws to see them 
 push forth their brilliant orange 
 horns. We knew this was an act 
 of resentment, but we did not 
 realize that from these horns was 
 exhaled the nauseating odor of 
 caraway which greeted our nostrils. 
 We incidentally discovered that 
 they did not waste this odor upon 
 each other, for once we saw two of 
 the full-grown caterpillars meet on 
 a caraway stem. Neither seemed 
 to know that the other was there 
 until they touched ; then both drew 
 back the head and butted each 
 other Hke billy-goats. Whack! 
 whack! Then both turned labor- 
 iously around and hurried off in a 
 panic. 
 
 The scent organs of these caterpillars are really little Y-shaped pockets 
 in the segment back of the head, pockets full of this peculiar caterpillar 
 perfume. Under the stimulus of attack, the pocket is turned wrong side 
 out and pushed far out making the "horns," and at the same time throw- 
 ing the strong odor upon the air. This spoils the flavor of these cater- 
 pillars as bird food, so they live on in serene peace, never hiding under 
 the leaves but trusting, Hke the skunk, to a peculiar power of repelling 
 
 the enemy. . , . , . 
 
 We must admire this caterpillar for the methodical way m which it 
 eats the leaf: Beginning near the base, it does not bum its bridges 
 behind it by eating through the midrib, but eats everything down to the 
 midrib; after it arrives at the tip of the leaf it finishes midrib and all on 
 its return journey, doing a clean job, and finishing everything as it moves 
 along. (See Moths and Butterflies, Dickerson, p. 42.) 
 
 When the caterpillar has completed its growth, it is two inches long; 
 it then seeks some sheltered spot, the lower edge of a clapboard or fence 
 rail being a favorite place ; it there spins a button of silk which it grasps 
 firmly with its hind prop-leg, and then, with head up, or perhaps 
 horizontal, it spins a strong loop or halter of silk, fastening each end 
 of it flrmly to the object on which it rests. It thrusts its head 
 through, so that the halter acts as a sling holding the insect from falling. 
 There it' sheds its last caterpillar skin, which shrinks back around the 
 button, revealing the chrysalis which is angular with ear-like projections 
 in front. Then comes the critical moment, for the chrysalis lets go 
 of the button with its caterpillar feet, and trusting to the sHng for 
 
Insect Study 
 
 317 
 
 support, pushes ofif the shrunken skin just shed and inserts the hooks, 
 
 with which it is fur- 
 nished, firmly in the 
 button of silk. Some- 
 times during this pro- 
 cess, the chry-salis loses 
 its hold entirely and falls 
 to the ground, which is 
 a fatal disaster. The 
 chrysalis is yellowish 
 brown and usually looks 
 very much like the ob- 
 ject to which it is at- 
 tached, and is thus un- 
 doubtedly protected 
 from sight of possible 
 enemies. Then some 
 day it breaks open, and 
 from it issues a crumpled 
 mass of very damp insect 
 velvet, which soon ex- 
 pands into a beautiful 
 butterfly. 
 
 References . — Every- 
 The chrysalis. The caterpillar of the day Butterflies, Scud- 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. black swallow-tail ready der; Moths and Butter- 
 to change to a chrysalis. fljeg^ Dickerson ; How to 
 
 Know the Butterflies, Comstock; Moths and Butterflies, Ballard. 
 
 LESSON LXX 
 
 The Black Swallow-Tail Butterfly 
 
 Leading thougJit — The caterpillars of the swallow-tail butterflies have 
 scent organs near the head which they thrust forth when attacked, thus 
 giving off a disagreeable odor which is nauseating to birds. 
 
 Method — In September, bring into the schoolroom and place in the 
 terrarium, or breeding cage, a caraway or parsley plant on which these 
 caterpillars are feeding, giving them fresh food day by day, and allow the 
 pupils to observe them at recess and thus complete the lesson. 
 
 The Caterpillar and Chrysalis. 
 
 Observations. — i. Touch the caterpillar on the head wath a bit of 
 grass. What does it do? What color are the horns? Where do they 
 come from? Are there two separate horns or two branches of one horn? 
 What odor comes from these horns? How does this protect the cater- 
 pillar? Does the caterpillar try to hide under the leaves when feeding? 
 Is this evidence that it is not afraid of birds? 
 
 2. Describe the caterpillar as follows: What is its shape? Is it 
 larger toward the head or the rear end ? What is its ground color? How 
 is it striped ? How many black stripes ? How many yellow spots in each 
 
31 8 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 black stripe? Are the yellow spots in the middle, or at each edge of the 
 
 stripe ? 
 
 3. How do the front three pairs of legs look? How do they compare 
 I with the prolegs ? How many prop-legs are there? What is the color of 
 i the prolegs? How are they marked? Describe the prop-leg. What is 
 
 its use? 
 
 4. Observe the caterpillar eating a leaf. How does it manage so as 
 not to waste any? 
 
 5. Have you found the egg from which the caterpillar came ? What 
 color is it? Where is it laid? 
 
 I 6. How does the young caterpillar look? What are its colors? 
 
 ' How many fleshy spines has it on each segment? Are these white on the 
 
 white segments and black on the black segments? What is the color of 
 
 the spines at their base? 
 
 Black swallow-tail butter-fly. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 7. Watch one of these caterpillars shed its skin. How does it pre- 
 pare for this? How does it spin its carpet? Where does the silk come 
 from? Describe how it acts when shedding its skin? 
 
 8. When a caterpillar is full grown, how does it hang itself up to 
 change to a chrysahs? How does it make the silk button? How does it 
 weave the loop or halter? How does it fasten it? When the halter is 
 woven what does the caterpillar do with it? Describe how the last 
 caterpillar skin is shed. How does the insect use its loop or halter while 
 getting free from the molted skin? 
 
 9. Describe the chrysalis. What is its general shape? What is its 
 color? Is it easily seen? Can you see where the wings are, within the 
 chrysalis? How is the chrysalis supported? 
 
 10. How does the chrysalis look when the butterfly is about to 
 emerge? Where does it break open? How does the butterfly look at 
 first? - - 
 
Insect Study 
 
 319 
 
 The Butterfly 
 
 1. Why is this butterfly called the black swallow-tail ? What is the 
 ground color of the wings? How many rows of yellow spots on the front 
 wings? Are they all the same shape? How are they arranged between 
 each two veins? Describe the hind wings. What colors are on them 
 that are not on the front wings? Describe where this color is placed. 
 Describe the eye-spot on the hind wing. Where is it? How do the 
 markings on the lower side of the wing differ from those above? How 
 does the ground color differ from the upper side? 
 
 2. What is the color of the body of the butterfly? Has it any 
 marks? Has it the same number of legs as the Monarch? Describe its 
 antennae. Watch the butterfly getting nectar from the petunia blossom 
 and describe the tongue. Where is the tongue when not in use? 
 
 3. How does the butterfly pass the winter? How does the mother 
 butterfly differ in size and m markings from her mate? 
 
 ''The 'caraway worms' were the ones that revealed to its the mystery of the pupa and 
 butterfly. We saw one climb up the side of a house, and watched it as with many slou\ 
 graceful movements of the head, it wove for itself the loop of stlk which we called the 'swing' 
 and which held it in place after it changed to a chrysalis. We wondered ichy such a 
 brilliant caterpillar should change to such a didl-colored object, almost the color 0} the 
 clapboard against which it hung. Then, one day, we found a damp, crumpled, black 
 butterfly hanging to the empty chrysalis skin, its wings 'all mussed' as we termed it; 
 and we gazed at it pityingly; but ez'en as we gazed, the crumpled wings expanded and 
 then there came to our childish minds a dim realization of the miracle wrought within 
 that little, dingy, empty shell." 
 
 —How TO Know the Butterflies, Comstock. 
 
320 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The Monarch Butterfly 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 _T IS a great advantage to an insect to have the 
 bird problem ehminated, and the monarch 
 butterfly enjoys this advantage to the utmost. 
 Its method of flight proclaims it, for it drifts 
 about in a lazy, leisurely manner, its glowing 
 red making it like a gleaming jewel in the air, a 
 very different flight indeed from the zigzag 
 dodging movements of other butterflies. The 
 monarch has an interesting race history. It is 
 a native of tropic America, and has probably 
 
 learned through some race instinct, that by following its food plant north 
 
 with the opening season, it gains immunity from special enemies other 
 
 than birds, which attack it in some stage in its native haunts. Each 
 
 mother butterfly follows the spring northward as it advances, as far as she 
 
 finds the milkweed sprouted. 
 
 There she deposits her eggs, 
 
 from which hatch individuals 
 
 which carry on the migration 
 
 as far to the north as possible. 
 
 It usually arrives in New York 
 
 State early in July. As 
 
 cold weather approaches, the 
 
 monarchs often gather in large 
 
 flocks and move back to the 
 
 South. How they find their 
 
 way we cannot understand, 
 
 since there are among them 
 
 none of the individuals which 
 
 pressed northward early in the 
 
 season. 
 
 The very brilliant copper- 
 red color of the upper sides of 
 
 the wings of the monarch is 
 
 made even more brilliant by 
 
 the contrasting black markings 
 
 which outline the veins and 
 
 border the wings, and also 
 
 cover the tips of the front wings 
 
 with a triangular patch; this 
 
 latter seems to be an especially 
 
 planned background for show- 
 ing off the pale orange and 
 
 white dots set within it. There 
 
 are white dots set, two pairs in two rows, between each two veins 
 
 in the black margin of the wings; and the fringe at the edge of 
 
 the wings shows corresponding white markings. The hind wings 
 
 and the front portions of the front wings have, on their lower sides, a 
 
 ground color of pale yellow, which makes the insect less conspicuous when 
 
 it alights and folds its wings above its back, upper surfaces together. 
 
 TJie monarch butterfly. 
 
Insect Sttidy 
 
 321 
 
 The black veins, on the lower surface of the hind wings, are outlined with 
 white, and the white spots are much larger than on the upper surface. 
 The body is black, ornamented with a few pairs of white spots above and 
 with many large white dots below. The chief distinguishing characteris- 
 tic of insects, is the presence of six legs; but in this butterfly, the front 
 legs are so small that they scarcely look like legs. 
 
 It is easy to observe the long, coiled tongue of the butterfly. If the 
 act is done gently, the tongue may be uncoled by lifting it out with a pin. 
 
 To see a butterfly feeding 
 upon nectar, is a very in- 
 itcresting process and may be 
 observed in the garden almost 
 any day. I have also ob- 
 served it indoors, by bringing 
 in petunias and nasturtiums 
 for my imprisoned butterflies, 
 but they are not so likely to 
 eat when in confinement. 
 The antennse are about two- 
 thirds as long as the body and 
 each ends in a long knob ; this 
 knob, in some form, is what 
 distinguishes the antennae of 
 the butterflies from those of 
 moths. The male monarch 
 has a black spot upon one of 
 the veins of the hind wing; 
 this is a perfuine pocket and 
 is filled with what are called 
 scent scales; these are scales 
 of peculiar shape which cover 
 the wing at this place and 
 give forth an odor, which we 
 with our coarse sense of smell 
 cannot perceive; but the lady monarch is attracted by this odor. The 
 male monarch may be described to the children, as a dandy carrying a 
 perfume pocket to attract his sweetheart. 
 
 It is very interesting to the pupils if ^'^ 
 
 they are able to see a bit of the butterfly's 
 wing through a three-fourths objective ; the 
 
 covering of scales, arranged in such perfect ^7,.. . ^ „„ ^.a * - 1H41a* 
 rows, is very, beautiful and also very 
 wonderful. The children know that thev 
 get dust upon their fingers from butterflies' 
 wings, and they should know that each 
 grain of this dust is an exquisite scale with 
 notched edges and a ribbed surface. 
 
 The monarch is, for some reason un- 
 known to us, distasteful to birds, and its 
 brilliant colors are an advertisement to all 
 birds of discretion, that here is an insect 
 which tastes most disagreeably and that, therefore, should be left severely 
 
 The viceroy butter-jiy. 
 
 Note the black band on the hind wings which 
 
 distinguishes it from the monarch, which 
 
 it imitates in color and markings. 
 
 «j»*' 
 
 t i i- 
 
 I M » » 4« ^ 
 
 £l.^Jly3-<^A»^ 
 
 "-* -i-X 
 
 
 The scales on a butterfly's wing, 
 as seen through a microscope. 
 
322 
 
 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 alone. There is another butterfly called the viceroy, which has taken 
 advantage of this immunity from bird attack on the part of the monarch 
 and has imitated its colors in a truly remarkable way, differing from 
 it only in being sm.aller in size and having a black band across the 
 middle of the hind wing. (See The "Ways of the Six Footed, "A Sheep 
 in Wolf's Clothing"). 
 
 The milkweed caterpillar, which is the young of the monarch butterfly, 
 is a striking object, and when fully grown is about two inches long. The 
 milkweed is a succulent food and the caterpillar may mature in eleven 
 days; it is a gay creature, with ground 
 color of green and cross stripes of 
 yellow and black. On top of the 
 second segment, back of the head, are 
 two long, slender whiplash-like organs, 
 and on the seventh segment of the 
 abdomen is a similar pair. When 
 the caterpillar is frightened, the whip- 
 lashes at the front of the body twitch 
 excitedly; when it walks, they move 
 back and forth. Those at the rear of 
 the body are more quiet and not so 
 expressive of caterpillar emotions. 
 These filaments are undoubtedly of 
 
 use ni frightening away the little 
 
 
 '^jh 
 
 
 'f^^S^^K-^^KKSk^HKrJt 
 
 ^i 
 
 
 ¥c^ 
 '^p 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 
 The monarch caterpillar. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 parasitic flies, that lay their eggs upon 
 
 the backs of caterpillars; these eggs 
 
 hatch into little grubs that feed upon 
 
 the internal fatty portions of the 
 
 caterpillar and bring about its death 
 
 through weakness. I remember well 
 
 when I was a child, the creepy feeling 
 
 with which I beheld these black and 
 
 yellow-ringed caterpillars waving and 
 
 lashing their whips back and forth after I had disturbed them; if the 
 
 ichneumon flies were as frightened as I, the caterpillars were surely safe. 
 The caterpillar will feed upon no plant except milkweed; it feeds both 
 
 day and night, with intervals of rest, and when resting, hides beneath the 
 
 leaf. Its striking colors undoubtedly defend it from birds, because it is 
 
 as distasteful to them as is the butterfly. However, 
 Avhen frightened, these caterpillars fall to the ground 
 where their stripes make them very inconspicuous 
 among the grass and thus perhaps save them from 
 the attack of animals less fastidious than birds. 
 These caterpillars, like all others, grow by shedding 
 the skeleton skin as often as it becomes too tight. 
 
 The monarch chrysalis is, I maintain, the most 
 beautiful gem in Nature's jewel casket; it is an oblong 
 jewel of jade, darker at the upper end and shading to 
 the most exquisite whitish green below; outlining this 
 lower paler portion are shining flecks of gold. If we 
 look at these gold flecks with a lens, we cannot but 
 believe that they are bits of polished gold-foil. There 
 
 Monarch chrysalis. 
 
 A jewel of living jade 
 and gold. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 323 
 
 may be other gold dots also, and outlining the apex 
 of the jewel, is a band of gold with a dotted lower edge 
 of jet; and the knob at the top, to which the silk 
 which suspends the chrysalis is fastened, is also jet. 
 The chrysalis changes to a darker blue-green after two 
 days, and black dots appear in the gold garniture. 
 As this chrysalis is usually hung to the under side of a 
 fence rail or overhanging rock, or to a leaf, it is 
 usually surrounded by green vegetation, so that its 
 green color protects it fnnn prying eyes. Yet it is 
 hardly from birds that it hides; perhaps its little gilt 
 buttons are a hint to birds that this jewel is not 
 palatable. As it nears the time for the butterfly to 
 emerge, the chrysalis changes to a duller and darker 
 The ivinter home of ^^^^- "^^e butterfly emerges about twelve days after 
 the viceroy cater- the change to a chrysalis. 
 
 pillar. References — Every Day Butterflies, Scudder; 
 
 How to Know the Butterflies, Comstock; Moths and Butterflies, 
 Dickerson; Ways of the Six Footed, Comstock; Moths and Butter- 
 flies, Ballard. 
 
 The male monarch butterfly, showing the scent pockets 
 
 on the hind wings- 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
324 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON LXXI 
 
 The Monarch Butterfly 
 
 Leading thotight — The monarch butterfly migrates northward, every 
 spring and summer, moving up as fast as milkweed appears, so as to give 
 food to its caterpillar; and it has often been noticed migrating back 
 southward in the autumn in large swarms. This insect is distasteful to 
 birds in all its stages. Its chrysalis is one of the most beautiful objects in 
 all nature. 
 
 Method — This lesson should be given in September, while yet the 
 caterpillars of the monarch may be found feeding upon milkweed, and 
 while there are yet many specimens of this gorgeous butterfly to be seen. 
 The caterpillars may be brought in, on the food plant, and their habits 
 and performances studied in the schoolroom; but care should be taken 
 not to have the atmosphere too dry. 
 
 The Butterfly 
 
 Ohservations-i . How can you tell the monarch butterfly from all others ? 
 What part of the wings is red? What portions are black? What por- 
 tions are white? What are the colors and markings on the lower side of 
 the wings? What is the color of the body and how is it ornamented? 
 
 2. Is the flight of the monarch rapid or slow and leisurely? Is it a 
 very showy insect when flying? Are its colors more brilliant in the sun- 
 shine when it is flying than at any other time? Why is it not afraid of 
 birds? 
 
 3. When the butterfly alights, how does it hold its wings? Do you 
 think it is as conspicuous when its wings are folded as when they are open ? 
 
 4. Can you see the butterfly's tongue? Describe the antennas. 
 How do they differ from the antennae of moths? How many legs has this 
 butterfly? How does this differ from other insects? Note if you can see 
 any indications of front legs. 
 
 5. Is there on the butterfly you are studying, a black spot near one of 
 the veins on each hind wing? Do you know what this is? What is it for? 
 
 6. Why are the striking colors of this butterfly a great advantage to 
 it? Do you know of any other butterfly which imitates it and thus gains 
 an advantage? 
 
 The Monarch Caterpillar 
 
 1. Where did 3^ou find the Monarch caterpillar? Was it feeding 
 below or above on the leaves? Describe how it eats the milkweed leaf. 
 
 2. What are the colors and the markings of the caterpillar? Do you 
 think these make it conspicuous? 
 
 3. How many whip-lash shaped filaments do you find on the cater- 
 pillar? On which segments are they situated? Do these move when the 
 caterpillar walks or when it is disturbed? Of what use are they to the 
 caterpillar? 
 
 4. Do you think this caterpillar would feed upon anything except 
 milkweed? Does it rest, when not feeding, upon the upper or the lower 
 surface of the leaves? Does it feed during the night as well as the day? 
 
 5. If disturbed, what does the caterpillar do? When it falls down 
 among the grass how do its cross stripes protect it from observation? 
 
 6. Tell all the interesting things which vou have seen this caterpillar 
 do. 
 
Insect Study 725 
 
 The Chrysalis 
 
 1. When the caterpillar gets ready to change to a chrysalis what does 
 it do ? How does it hang up ? Describe how it sheds its skin . 
 
 2. Describe the chrysalis. What is its color? How and where is 
 it ornamented ? Can you see, in the chrysalis, those parts which cover the 
 wings of the future butterfly? 
 
 3. To what is the chrysalis attached? Is it in a position where it 
 does not attract attention ? How is it attached to the object ? 
 
 4. After three or four days, how does the chrysalis change in color? 
 Observe, if you can, the butterfly come out from the chrysalis, noting the 
 following points: Where does the chrysalis skin open? How does the 
 butterfly look when it first comes out? How does it act for the first two 
 or three hours? How does the empty chrysalis skin look? 
 
 .4 BUTTERFLY AT SEA 
 
 Far out at sea — the siin was higJi, 
 
 While veered the ivind and flapped the sail; 
 
 We saw a snow-white biitterjiv 
 Dancing before the fit fid gale 
 Far out at sea. 
 
 The Hale wanderer, who had lost 
 
 His ivay, of danger nothing knew; 
 Settled a while upon the mast; 
 
 Then -fluttered o'er the waters blue 
 Far out at sea. 
 
 Above, there gleamed the boundless sky; 
 
 Beneath, the boiuidless ocean shcoi; 
 Between them danced the butterfly, 
 
 The spirit-life of this fair scene. 
 Far out at sea. 
 
 The tiny soul that soared away. 
 
 Seeking the clouds on fragile wings. 
 Lured by the brighter, purer ray 
 
 Which hope's ecstatic morning brings — 
 Far out at sea. 
 
 Away he sped, with sliiiinnering glee, 
 Scarce seen, now lost, yet onward borne/ 
 
 Night comes with wind and rain, and he 
 A'o more will dance before the morn. 
 Far out at sea. 
 
 He dies, unlike his mates, I ween. 
 
 Perhaps not sooner or ivorse crossed; 
 And he hath felt and known and seen 
 
 A larger life and hope, though lost 
 Far out at sea. 
 
 — R. 11. 11..RNE. 
 
326 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE ISABELLA TIGER MOTH OR WOOLLY BEAR 
 
 TcacJicr's Story 
 
 "Broivn and furry, Which may be the chosen spot, 
 
 Caterpillar in a hurry, No toad spy you. 
 
 Take your ivalk Hovering bird of prey pass by yon; 
 
 To the shady leaf or stalk, Spin and die, 
 
 Or ivhat not, To live again a butterfly." 
 
 — Christina Rosetti. 
 
 ANY times during autumn, the children find and bring 
 in the very noticeable caterpillar which they call 
 the "woolly bear." It seems to them a companion 
 of the road and the sunshine; it usually seems in 
 a hurry, and if the children know that it is thus 
 hastening to secure some safe place in which to 
 hide during the season of cold and snow, they are 
 far more interested in its future fate. If the cater- 
 pillar is already curled up for the winter, it will 
 "come to" if warmed in the hand or in the sunshine. 
 The woolly bear is variable in appearance; 
 sometimes there are five of the front segments 
 black, four of the middle reddish brown, and 
 three of the hind segments black. In others 
 there are only four front segments black, six 
 reddish ones, and two that are black at the end 
 of the body; there are still other variations, so that each individual will 
 tell its own story of color. There are really thirteen segments in this 
 caterpillar, not counting the head; but the last two are so joined that 
 probably the children will only count twelve. There are a regular num- 
 ber of tubercles on each side of each segment, and from each of these arises 
 a little rosette of hairs; but the tubercles are packed so closely together, 
 that it is difficult for the children to see how many rosettes there are on 
 each side. While the body of the caterpillar looks as if it were covered 
 with evenly clipped fur, there are usually a few longer hairs on the rear 
 segment. 
 
 There is a pair of true legs on each of the three front segments which 
 form the thorax, and there are four pairs of prolegs. All of the segments 
 behind the front three, belong to the abdomen, and the prolegs are on 
 the 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th abdominal segments; the prop-leg is at the rear 
 end of the body. The true legs of this caterpillar have little claws, and 
 are as shining as if encased in patent leather; but the prolegs and prop- 
 leg are merely prolongations of the sides of the body to assist the insect in 
 holding to the leaf. The yellow spot on either side of the first segment is 
 a spiracle; this is an opening leading into the air tubes within the body, 
 around which the blood flows and is thus purified. There are no spiracles 
 on the second and third segments of the thorax, but eight of the abdominal 
 segments have a spiracle on either side. 
 
 The woolly bear's head is polished black; its antennae are two tiny, 
 yellow projections which can easily be seen with the naked eye. The 
 eyes are too small to be thus seen; because of its minute eyes, the woolly 
 bear cannot see very far and, therefore, it is obliged to feel its way. It 
 does this by stretching out the front end of the body and reaching in every 
 
bisect Study 
 
 327 
 
 Woolly bears. 
 
 Photo by y.l. V. Slingerland. 
 
 direction, to observe if there is anything to cHng to in its neighborhood. 
 When we try to seize the woolh' bear, it rolls up in a little ball, and the 
 hairs are so elastic that we take it up with great difficulty. These hairs 
 are a protection from the attacks of birds which do not like bristles for 
 food; and when the caterpillar is safely rolled up, the bird sees only a 
 little bundle of bristles and lets it alone. The woolly bear feeds upon 
 many plants, grass, clover, dandelion and others. It does not eat very 
 much after we find it in autumn, because its growth is completed. The 
 woolly bear should be kept in a box which should be placed out of doors, 
 so fhat it may be protected from storms but have the ordinary winter 
 temperature. Keeping it in a warm room during the winter often proves 
 fatal. 
 
 Normally, the woolly bear does not make its cocoon until April or 
 May. It finds some secluded spot in the fall, and there curls up in 
 safety for the long winter nap; when the warm weather comes in the 
 spring, it makes its cocoon by spinning silk about itself; in this silk are 
 woven the hairs which it sheds easily at that time, and the whole cocoon 
 seems made of felt. It seems amazing that such a large 
 caterpillar can spin about itself and squeeze itself into 
 such a small cocoon; and it is quite as amazing to see 
 the smooth little pupa within the cocoon, in which is 
 condensed all that was essential of the caterpillar. 
 Sometimes when the caterpillars are kept in a warm 
 room, they make their cocoons in the fall, but this is not 
 natural. 
 
 The issuing of the moth from the cocoon is an 
 interesting lesson for the last of May. The size of the 
 moth which comes from the cocoon is quite comparal)le 
 as a miracle with the size of the caterpillar that went 
 into it. The moth is in color dull, grayish, tawny yel- 
 low with a few black dots on the wings; sometimes the 
 hind wings are tinted with dull orange-red. On the middle of the 
 back of the moth's body there is a row of six black dots; and on 
 each side of the body is a similar row. The legs are reddish 
 above and tipped with black. The antennae are small and inconspicuous. 
 
 Whe cocoon of ihe 
 woolly bear. 
 
 Photo by 
 M. V. Slingerland. 
 
328 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The moths are night fliers, and the mother moth seeks some plant on 
 which to lay her eggs, that will be suitable food for the little caterpillar 
 as soon as it is hatched. 
 
 References — Moths and Butterflies, Ballard. 
 
 TJte Isabella tiger-moths, the adults of the woolly hear. 
 The larger is the female. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 LESSON LXXII 
 The Isabella Tiger-Moth, or Woolly Bear 
 
 Leading thouglit — When we see the woolly bear hurrying along in the 
 fall, it is hunting for some cozy place in which to pass the winter. It 
 makes its cocoon of silk woven with its own hair. In May, it comes forth 
 a yellowish moth with black dots on its wings. 
 
 MetJiod — Have the children bring in woolly bears as they find them, 
 place them in boxes or breeding jars which have grass or clover growing 
 in them. The children can handle the caterpillars while they are study- 
 ing them, and then they should be put back into the breeding jars and be 
 set out of doors where they can have natural conditions; thus the entire 
 history may be studied. 
 
 The Caterpillar 
 Observations — i. How can you tell the woolly bear from all other 
 caterpillars? Are they all colored alike? How many segments of the 
 body are black at the front end? How many are red? How many seg- 
 ments are black at the rear end of the body? How many segments does 
 this make in all? 
 
 2. Look closely at the hairs of the woolly bear. Are they set 
 separately or in rosettes? Are any of the hairs of the body longer than 
 others or are they all even? 
 
 3. Can you see, just back of the head, the true legs with their little 
 sharp claws ? How many are there ? 
 
 4. Can you see the fleshy legs along the sides of the body? How 
 many are there of these? 
 
Insect Study 329 
 
 5. Can you see the prop -leg, or the hindmost leg of all? Of what use 
 to the caterpillar are these fleshy legs? 
 
 6. Describe the woolly bear's head. How does it act when eating? 
 
 7. Can you see a small, bright yellow spot on each side of the segment 
 just behind the head? "What do you suppose this is? Can you see little 
 openings along each side of all the segments of the body, except the second 
 and third? What are they? Describe how the woolly bear breathes. 
 
 8. On what does the woolly bear feed? If you can find a little 
 woolly bear, give it fresh grass to eat and see how it grows. "Why does it 
 shed its skin? 
 
 9. When the woolly bear is hurrying along, does it lift its head and 
 the front end of its body now and then? Why does it do this? Do you 
 think it can see far? 
 
 10. What does the woolly bear do when you try to pick it up? Do 
 you find you can pick it up easily? Do you think that these stifif hairs 
 protect woolly bear from its enemies? What are its enemies? 
 
 11. Where should the woolly bear be kept in winter to make it com- 
 fortable ? 
 
 The Cocoon 
 
 1 . When does the woolly bear make its cocoon ? 
 
 2. Of what material is it made? How does the woolly bear get into 
 its cocoon? 
 
 3 . Wh at happens to it inside the cocoon ? 
 
 4. Cut open a cocoon and describe how woolly bear looks now. 
 
 TJie Moth 
 
 1 . Where did the moth come from ? 
 
 2 . How did it come out of the cocoon ? See if you can find the empty 
 pupa case in the cocoon. 
 
 3. What is the color of the moth and how is it marked? Are the 
 front and hind wings the same color? 
 
 4. AVhat are the markings and colors of the body? Of the legs? 
 
 5. What do you think that the Mother Isabella will do, if you give her 
 liberty ? 
 
 The mute insect, fix't upon the plant 
 
 Oil whose soft leaves it hangs, and from u-hose cup 
 
 Drains imperceptibly its nourisliment, 
 
 Endear' d my ivanderings. 
 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 Before your sight, 
 
 Mcunls on the breeze the btttterfiy, and soars. 
 Small creature as she is, from earth's bright fiourrs 
 Into the dewy clouds. 
 
 WORD-SWORTIl. 
 
33° 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The cecropia moth. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 THE CECROPIA 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HE silk-worm which gives us the silk of com- 
 merce, has been domesticated for centuries in 
 China. Because of this domestication, it is 
 wilhng to be handled and is reared successfully 
 in captivity, and has thus come to be the source 
 of most of our silken fabrics. However, we have 
 in America native silk-worms which produce a 
 silk that is stronger and makes a more lustrous 
 cloth than does that made from the Chinese 
 species. But we have never had the time and 
 the patience, here in America, to domesticate 
 these giant silk-worms of ours, and so they are, as yet, of no commercial 
 importance. 
 
 The names of our common native silk- worms are : The cecropia, 
 promethea, polyphemus, and luna. In all of these species the moths are 
 large and beautiful, attracting the attention of everyone who sees them. 
 The caterpillars are rarely found, since their varied green colors render 
 them inconspicuous among leaves on which they feed. None of the 
 caterpillars of the giant silk-worms occur in sufficient numbers to injure 
 the foliage of our trees to any extent; they simply help nature to do a 
 little needful pruning. All of the moths are night flyers and are, there- 
 fore, seldom seen except by those who are interested in the visitors to our 
 street lights. 
 
 The cecropia is the largest of our giant silk-worms, the wings of the 
 moth expanding sometimes six and one-half inches. It occurs from the 
 Atlantic Coast to the Rocky Mountains. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 331 
 
 The cecropia cocoon is found most abundantly on our orchard and 
 shade trees; it is called by the children the "cradle cocoon," since it is 
 shaped like a hammock and hung close below a branch, and it is a very 
 
 safe shelter for the helpless creature within it. 
 It is made of two walls of silk, the outer one being 
 thick and paperlike and the inner one thin and 
 firm, between these walls is a matting of loose 
 silk, showing that the insect knows how to 
 make a home that will protect it from winter 
 weather. It is a clever builder in another 
 respect, since at one end of the cocoon it spins 
 the silk lengthwise instead of crosswise, thus 
 making a valve through which the moth can 
 ])ush, when it issues in the spring. It is very 
 interesting to watch one of these caterpillars 
 spin its cocoon. It first makes a framework by 
 stretching a few strands of silk, which it spins 
 from a gland opening in the lower lip; it then 
 makes a loose net-work upon the supporting 
 
 
 The eggs of the cecropia 
 
 moth. 
 Photo by M. v. Slingerland. 
 
 ■<-.. 
 
 strands, and then begins laying 
 on the silk by moving its head 
 back and forth, leaving the sticky 
 thread in the shape of connect- 
 ing M's or of figure 8's. Very 
 industriously does it work, and 
 after a short time it is so screened 
 by the silk, that the rest of 
 its performance remains to us 
 a mystery. It is especially 
 mysterious, since the inner wall 
 of the cocoon encloses so small a cell that the caterpillar is obliged 
 to compress itself in order to fit within it. This achievement 
 would be something like that of a man who should build around 
 
 The cecropia caterpillar molting. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 4k, 
 
 Full-grown cecropia caterpillars. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 \' 
 
33' 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 himself a box only a few inches longer, wider and thicker than himself. 
 After the cocoon is entirely finished, the caterpillar sheds its skin for 
 the last time and changes into a pupa. 
 
 Very different, indeed, does the pupa look from the brilliant colored, 
 warty caterpillar. It is compact, brown, oval and smooth, with ability 
 to move but very little when disturbed. The cases which contain the 
 wings, which are later to be the objects of our admiration, are now folded 
 down like a tight cape around the body; and the antennas, like great 
 feathers, are outlined just in front of the wing cases. There is nothing 
 more wonderful in all nature than the changes which are worked within 
 one of these little, brown pupa cases; for within it, processes go on which 
 change the creature from a crawler among the leaves to a winged inhabi- 
 tant of the air. 
 When we see how 
 helpless this pupa 
 is, we can under- 
 stand better how 
 much the strong 
 silken cocoon is 
 needed for protec- 
 tion from ene- 
 mies, as well as 
 from inclement 
 weather. 
 
 In spring, 
 usually in May, 
 after the leaves 
 are well out on 
 the trees, the 
 pupa skin is shed 
 in its turn, and 
 Cecropia caterpillar weaving its cocoon. out of it comes 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. -j^l^g WCt and 
 
 wrinkled moth, its wings all crumpled, its furry, soft body very 
 tintidy; but it is only because of this soft and crumpled state that it 
 is able to push its way out through the narrow door into the outer 
 world. It has, on each side of its body just back of the head, two 
 little horny hooks that help it to work its way out. It is certainly a 
 sorry object as it issues, looking as if it had been dipped in water and 
 had been squeezed in an inconsiderate hand. But the wet wings soon 
 spread, the bright antennae stretch out, the furry body becomes 
 dry and fluffy, and the large moth appears in all its perfection. The 
 ground color of the wings is a dusky, grayish brown while the outer 
 margins are clay colored; the wings are crossed, beyond the middle, 
 by a white band which has a broad outside margin of red. There 
 is a red spot near the apex of the front wing, just outside of the 
 zigzag white line; each wing bears, near its center, a crescent-shaped 
 white spot bordered with red. But though it is so large, it does 
 not need to eat; the caterpillar did all the eating that was necessary 
 for the whole life of the insect; the mouth of the moth is not 
 sufficiently perfected to take food. 
 
 When the cecropia caterpillar hatches from the egg, it is about a 
 quarter of an inch long and is black; each segment is ornamented 
 
Insect Study 
 
 ?>?>Z 
 
 with six spiny tubercles. Like all other caterpillars, it has to grow by 
 shedding its horny, skeleton skin, the soft skin beneath stretching to give 
 more room at first, then finally hardening and being shed in its turn. 
 This first molt of the cecropia cater])illar occurs about four days after it 
 is hatched, and the caterpillar which issues looks quite different than 
 
 it did before; it is now dull orange or 
 yellow with l)lack tul)ercles. After six 
 or seven days mcjre of feeding, the skin is 
 again shed and now the caterpillar appears 
 with a yellow body; the two tubercles 
 on the top of each segment are now 
 larger and more noticeable. They are 
 l)lue on the first segment, large and 
 orange-red on the second and third seg- 
 ments, and greenish blue with blackish 
 spots and spines on all the other 
 
 segments except the eleventh, 
 which has on top, instead of a 
 pair of tubercles, one large, 
 yellow tubercle, ringed with 
 black. The tubercles along the 
 side of the insect are blue during 
 this stage. The next molt occurs 
 five or six days later; this time 
 the caterpillar is bluish green in 
 color, the large tubercles on the 
 second and third segments being 
 deep orange, those on the upper 
 part of the other segments yel- 
 low, except those on the first 
 and last segments, which are blue. All the other tubercles along 
 the sides are blue. After the fourth molt it appears as an enormous 
 caterpillar, often attaining the length of three inches, and is as 
 
 large through as a man's thumb; its colors 
 are the same as in the preceding stage. 
 There is some variation in the colors of the 
 tubercles on the caterpillars during these 
 different molts; in the third 
 stage, it has been observed that 
 
 A cecropia cocoon. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 TJie cecropia cocoon cut open, showing the pupa within it. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
334 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 the tubercles usually blue are sometimes black. After the last molt 
 the caterpillar eats voraciously for perhaps two weeks or longer and 
 then begins to spin its cocoon. 
 
 References — Moths and Butterflies, Ballard; Moths and Butterflies, 
 Dickcrson; Caterpillars and their Moths, Elliot and Soule. 
 
 Just out of the cocoon. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 LESSON LXXII 
 The Cecropia 
 
 Leading thought — The cecropia moth passes the winter as a pupa in a 
 cocoon which the caterpillar builds out of silk for the purpose. In the 
 spring the moth issues and lays her eggs on some tree, the leaves of which 
 the caterpillar relishes. The caterpillars are large and green with beauti- 
 ful blue and orange tubercles. 
 
 Method — It is best to begin with the cocoons, for these are easily found 
 after the leaves have fallen. These cocoons if kept in the schoolroom 
 should be thoroughly wet at least once a week. However, it is better to 
 keep them in a box out of doors where they can have the advantage of 
 natural moisture and temperature; and from those that are kept outside 
 the moths will not issue, until the leaves open upon the trees and 
 provide food for the young caterpillars when the eggs hatch. 
 
 The Cocoon 
 Observations — i. How does the cocoon look on the outside? What is 
 its general shape? To what is it fastened? Is it fastened to the lower 
 or the upper side of a twig? Are there any dried leaves attached to it? 
 
 2. Where do you find cecropia cocoons? How do they look on the 
 tree? Are they conspicuous? 
 
 3. Cut open the cocoon, being careful not to hurt the inmate. Can 
 you see that it has an outer wall which is finn? What lies next to this? 
 
Insect Study ^35 
 
 Describe the wall next to the pupa. How does this structure protect the 
 pupa from changes of temperature and dampness? 
 
 4. Is the outside covering easy to tear? What birds are strong 
 enough to tear this cocoon apart? 
 
 5. Are both ends of the cocoon alike? Do you find one end where 
 the silk is not woven across but is placed lengthwise? Why is this so? 
 Do you think that the moth can push out at this end better' than at the 
 other? Do you think the caterpillar, when it wove the cocoon, made it 
 this way so that the moth could get out easily? 
 
 The Pupa 
 _ I. Take a pupa out of a cocoon carefully and place it on cotton in a 
 wide-mouthed fruit jar where it may be observed. Can the pupa move 
 at all? Is it unable to defend itself? Whv does it not need to defend 
 itself? 
 
 2. Can you see in the pupa the parts that will be the antennae and the 
 mouth ? 
 
 3. Describe how the wing coverings look. Count the rings in the 
 abdomen. 
 
 4. Why does the pupa need to be protected by a cocoon? 
 
 The Moth 
 
 1. What is the first sign which you discover that the moth is coming 
 out of the cocoon? Can you hear the little scratching noise? What do 
 you suppose makes it? How does the moth look when it first comes out? 
 If it were not all soft and wet how could it come out from so small an 
 opening? 
 
 2 . Describe how the crumpled wings spread out and dry. How does 
 the covering of the wings change in looks? 
 
 3 . Make a water-color drawing or describe in detail the fully expanded 
 moth, showing the color and markings of wings, body and antennae. 
 
 4. Do the moths eat anything? Why do they not need to eat? 
 
 5. If one of the moths lays eggs, describe the eggs, noting color, size 
 and the way they are placed. 
 
 The Caterpillar 
 
 1. On what do you find the cecropia caterpillar feeding? Describe 
 its actions while feeding. 
 
 2. What is the color of the caterpillar? Describe how it is orna- 
 mented. 
 
 3. Can you see the breathing pores, or spiracles, along the sides of the 
 body? How many of these on each segment? How do they help the 
 caterpillar to breathe? 
 
 4. Describe the three pairs of true legs on the three segments just 
 back of the head. Do these differ in form from the prolegs along the sides 
 of the body? What is the special use of the prolegs? Describe the prop- 
 leg which is the hindmost leg of all. 
 
 5. Do 3^ou know how many times the cecropia caterpillar sheds its 
 skin while it is growing? Is it always the same color? 
 
 6. Watch the caterpillar spin its cocoon, describe how it begins and 
 how it acts as long as you can see it. Where does the silk come from? 
 
33^ 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE PROMETHEA 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HE promethea is not so large as the cecropia, 
 although the female resembles the latter some- 
 what. It is the most common of all our giant 
 silk-worms. Its caterpillars feed upon wild 
 cherry, lilac, ash, sassafras, buttonwood and 
 many other forest trees. 
 
 During the winter, leaves may often be seen 
 hanging straight down from the branches of 
 wild cherry, lilac and ash. If these leaves are 
 examined, they wall be found to be wrapped 
 around a silken case containing the pupa of the 
 promethea. It is certainly a canny insect 
 which hides itself during the winter in so good 
 a disguise, that only the very wisest of birds 
 ever suspect its presence. When the promethea caterpillar begins to 
 spin, it selects a leaf and covers the upper side with silk, then it covers the 
 petiole with silk, fastening it with a strong band to the twig, so that not 
 even most violent winter winds will be able to tear it off. Then it draws 
 the two edges of the leaf about itself like a cloak as far as it will reach, and 
 inside this folded leaf it makes its cocoon, which always has an opening in 
 the shape of a conical valve at the upper end, through which the moth 
 
 1 
 
 Promethea cocoons. 
 
 Note how the leaves are fastened by silk to the twigs. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 337 
 
 may emerge in the spring. This caterpillar knows more botany than 
 some people do, for it makes no mistake in distinguishing a compound 
 leaf from a simple one. When it uses a leaflet of hickory for its cocoon, 
 it fastens the leaflet to the mid stem of the leaf and then fastens the stem 
 to the twig. The male pupa is much more slender than that of the female. 
 The moths do not issue until May or Jure. 
 
 The moth works its way out through the valve at the top of the cocoon. 
 The female is a large, reddish brown moth with markings resembling 
 somewhat those of the cecropia. The male is very different in appear- 
 ance; its front wings have very graceful, prolonged tips, and both wings 
 are almost black, bordered with ash color. The promethea moths differ 
 somewhat in habit from the other silk-worms, in that they fly during the 
 late afternoon as well as at night. The eggs are whitish with brown stain, 
 and are laid in rows, a good many on the same leaf. 
 
 The caterpillars, as they hatch from the eggs, have bodies ringed with 
 black and yellow. They are sociable little fellows and live together side 
 by side amicably, not exactly "toeing the mark" like a spelling class, but 
 all heads in a row at the edge of the leaf where each is eating as fast as 
 
 possible. When they 
 are small, the caterpil- 
 lars remain on the under 
 side of the leaves out of 
 sight. In about five 
 days, the first skin is 
 shed and the color of the 
 caterpillar remains about 
 the same. Four or five 
 days later, the second 
 molt occurs, and then 
 the caterpillar appears in 
 a beautiful bluish green 
 costume, with black 
 tubercles, except four 
 large ones on the second 
 and third segments, and 
 one large one on the 
 eleventh segment, which 
 are yellow. This cater- 
 pillar has an interesting 
 habit of weaving a carpet of silk on which to change its skin : it seems 
 to be better able to hold on while pushing off the old skin, if it has the 
 silken rug to cling to. After the third molt, the color is a deeper greenish 
 blue and the black tubercles are smaller, and the five big ones are larger 
 and bright orange in color. After the fourth molt, which occurs after a 
 period of about five or six days, the caterpillar ai)pears in its last stage. 
 It is now over two inches long, quite smooth and most prosperous looking. 
 Its color is a beautiful, light, greenish blue, and its head is yellow. It has 
 six rows of short, round, black tubercles. The four large tubercles at the 
 front end of the body are red, and the large tubercle on the rear end of the 
 body is yellow. 
 
 The cynthia is a beautiful moth which has come to us from Asia; it is 
 very large with a ground color of olive-green, with lavender tints and 
 
 Promethea caterpillars. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
33^ 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 white markings; there are white tufts of hairs on the abdomen. It 
 builds its cocoon hke the promethea, fastening the petiole to the twig. 
 
 TJie male promethea. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 therefore the lesson indicated for the promethea will serve as well for 
 the cynthia. The cynthia caterpillars live upon the ailanthus tree and 
 are found only in the regions where this tree has been introduced. 
 
 References — ^Moths and Butterflies, Dickerson; Caterpillars and Their 
 Moths, Elliot and Soule; Moths and Butterflies, Ballard, 
 
 Tlie female promethea. 
 
 Photo by M. V. SHngerland. 
 
Insect Study 339 
 
 LESSON LXXIV 
 
 The Promethea 
 
 Leadhig thought — The promethea caterpillar fastens a leaf to a twig 
 with silk and then makes its cocoon within this leaf. The male and female 
 moths are very different in appearance. 
 
 Method — ^This work should begin in the late fall, when the children 
 bring in these cocoons which they find dangling on the lilac bushes or 
 wild cherry trees. Much attention should be paid to the way the leaf is 
 fastened to the twig so it will not fall. The cocoons should be kept out 
 of doors, so that the moths will issue late in the spring when they can have 
 natural conditions for laying their eggs, and the young caterpillars are 
 supplied with plenty of food consisting of new and tender leaves. 
 
 TJie Cocoon 
 
 Observations — i On what tree did you find it? Does it look like a 
 cocoon? Does it not look like a dried leaf still clinging to the tree? Do 
 you think that this disguise keeps the birds from attacking it? Do you 
 know which birds are clever enough to see through this disguise ? 
 
 2 . How is the leaf fastened to the twig ? Could you pull it ofl[ readily ? 
 What fastened the leaf to the twig? 
 
 3. Tear off the leaf and study the cocoon. Is there an opening to it? 
 At which end? What is this for? 
 
 4. Cut open a cocoon. Is it as thick as that of the cecropia ? 
 
 5. Study the pupa. Is it as large as that of the cecropia? 
 
 6. Can you see where the antennae of the moth are? Can you see the 
 wing covers? Can the pupa move? 
 
 The Moth 
 
 1. Are there two kinds of moths that come from the promethea 
 cocoons? Does one of them look something like the cecropia? This is 
 the mother promethea. 
 
 2. Are any of the moths almost black in color with wings bordered 
 with gray and with graceful prolonged tips to the front wings? This is 
 the father moth. 
 
 3 . Make water color drawings of promethea moths, male and female. 
 
 4. If a promethea mother lays eggs, describe them. 
 
 TJie Caterpillar 
 
 1. How do the promethea caterpillars look when they first hatch 
 from the eggs? Do they stay together when they are very young? How 
 do they act? Where do they hide? 
 
 2. How do they change color as they grow older? Do they remain 
 together or scatter? Do they continue to hide on the lower sides of 
 leaves? 
 
 3. What preparation does a promethea caterpillar make before 
 changing its skin? Why does it shed its skin? Does its colors change 
 with every change of skin? 
 
 4. Describe the caterpillar when it is full-grown. What is its 
 ground color? What are the colors of its ornamental tubercles? The 
 color of its head? 
 
 5. Describe how a promethea caterpillar makes its cocoon. 
 
340 
 
 Handbook of Nalnre-Stiidy 
 
 THE HUMMINGBIRD. OR SPHLNX, MOTHS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 F during the early evening, when all the swift hum- 
 ming birds are abed, we hear the whirr of rapidly 
 moving wings and detect the blur of them in the 
 twilight, as if the creature carried by them hung 
 entranced before some deep-throated flower, and 
 then whizzed away like a bullet, we know that it 
 
 was a hummingbird, or sphinx, moth. And when 
 
 ^^||^ ^^^ we see a caterpillar with a horn on the wrong end of 
 '■"^'-"^"'^"^ ^^^ ^]-ig body, a caterpillar which, when disturbed, rears 
 threateningly, then we may know it is the sphinx 
 larva. And when we find a strange, brown seg- 
 mented shell, with a long jug handle at one side, buried in the earth as 
 we spade up the garden in the spring, then we know we have the sphinx 
 pupa. 
 
 The sphinx was a vaudeville person of ancient mythology who went 
 about boring people by asking them riddles; and, if they could not give 
 the right answers, very promptly ate them up. Although Linnseus gave 
 the name of sphinx to these moths, because he fancied he saw a resem- 
 blance in the resting or threatening attitude of the larvse to the Egyptian 
 Sphinx, there are still other resemblances. These insects present three 
 riddles: The first one is, "Am I a humming-bird?" the second, "Why do 
 I wear a horn or an eye-spot on the rear end of my body where horns 
 and eyes are surely useless?" and the third, ""Why do I look like a jug 
 with a handle and no spout?" 
 
 The sphinx moths are beautiful and elegant creatures. They have 
 a distinctly tailor-made appearance, their colors are so genteel and 
 "the cut" so perfect. They have long, rather narrow, strong wings 
 which enable them to fly with extra- 
 ordinary rapidity. The hind wings 
 are shorter, but act as one with the 
 front wings. The body is stout and 
 spindle-shaped. The antennae are 
 thickened in the middle or toward 
 the tip, and in many species have 
 the tip recurved into a hook. 
 Their colors show most harmonious 
 combinations and most exquisite 
 contrasts; the pattern, although 
 often complex, shows perfect re- 
 finement. Olive, tan, brown and 
 ochre, black and yellow, and the 
 whole gamut of greys, with eye- 
 spots or bands athwart 
 the hind wings of rose 
 color or crimson, are 
 some of the sphinx color 
 schemes. 
 
 Most of the sphinx 
 moths have remark- 
 
 Sphinx larva in sphinx attitude. 
 From Manual for the Study of Insects. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 341 
 
 The tobacco sphinx moth witJi 
 
 tongue extended. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 able long tongues, being sometimes 
 twice the length of the body. 
 When not in use, the tongue is curled 
 like a watch spring in front and beneath 
 the head; but of what possible use is 
 such a long tongue! That is a story for 
 certain flowers to tell, the flowers which 
 have the nectar wells far down at the 
 base of tubular corollas, like the petunia, 
 the morning glory or the nasturtium; 
 such flowers were evidently developed to 
 match the long-tongued insects. Some 
 of these flowers, like the jimson weed and 
 nicotina, open late in the day so as to be 
 ready for these evening visitors. In 
 some cases, especially in the orchids, 
 there is a special partnership established 
 between one species of flower and one 
 species of sphinx moths. The tobacco 
 sphinx is an instance of such partner- 
 ship ; this moth visits tobacco flowers and helps develop the seeds 
 by carrying pollen from flower to flower; and in turn it lays its 
 eggs upon the leaves 
 of this plant, on which 
 its great caterpillar 
 feeds and waxes fat, 
 and in high dudgeon 
 often disputes the 
 smoker's sole right to 
 the "weed." Tobacco 
 probably receives 
 enough benefit from 
 the ministrations of 
 the moth to compen- 
 sate for the injury it 
 suffers from the cater- 
 pillars; but the owmer ^^'^ '"'^'^' ^f the sphinx caterpillar, n-hich 
 of the tobacco field, feeds on tomato. 
 not being a plant, does '^^°'° ^^ ^^- ^- SHngeriand. 
 not look at it in this equitable man 
 
 The sphinx caterpillars are leaf eaters and each species feeds upon a 
 limited number of i)lants which are usually related; for instance, one 
 feeds upon both the potato and tomato; another upon the Virginia 
 creeper and grapes. In color these caterpillars so resemble the leaves 
 that they are discovered with difficulty. Those on the Virginia creeper, 
 which shades porches, may be located by the black pellets of waste 
 material which fall from them to the ground; but even after this unmis- 
 takable hint I have searched a long time to find the caterpillar in the 
 leaves above; its color serves to hide the insect from birds which feed 
 upon it eagerly. In some species, the caterpillars are ornamented with 
 oblique stripes along the sides, and in others the strij^cs are lengthwise. 
 There is often a great variation in color between the caterpillars of 
 
342 
 
 Handbook of Xatiire-Stndy 
 
 The pupa of the common tomato 
 spliinx caterpillar. 
 
 Note that the part encasing the long tongue 
 
 is free and looks like the handle of a jug. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 the same species; the tomato worm 
 is sometimes green and sometimes I 
 black. 
 
 The horn on the rear end is often 
 in the young larva of different color 
 than the body; in some species it 
 stands straight up and in some it is 
 curled toward the back. It is an 
 absolutely harmless projection and 
 does not sting nor is it poison- 
 ous. Plowever, it looks awe-inspiring and perhaps protects its owner m 
 that way. The Pandora sphinx has its horn curled over its back in the 
 young stage but when fully grown the horn is shed ; in its place is an eye- 
 spot which, if seen between the leaves, is enough to frighten away any 
 cautious bird fearing the evil eye of serpents. The sphinx caterpillars 
 have a habit, when disturbed or when resting, of rearing up the front part 
 of the body, telescoping the head back into the thoracic segments, which in 
 most species are enlarged, and assuming a most threatening and ferocious 
 aspect. If attacked they will swing sidewise, this way and then that, 
 making a fierce crackling sound meanwhile, well calculated to fill the 
 trespasser with terror. When resting they often remain in this lifted 
 
 attitude for hours, ab- 
 solutely rigid. 
 
 The six true legs are 
 short with sharp, little 
 claws. There are four 
 pairs of fleshy prolegs, 
 each foot being armed 
 with hooks for holding on 
 to leaf or twig; and the 
 large, fleshy prop-leg on 
 the rear segment is able to 
 clasp a twig like a vise. 
 All these fleshy legs are 
 used for holding on, while the true legs are used for holding the edges 
 of the leaf where the sidewise working jaws can cut it freely. These 
 caterpillars do clean work, leaving only the harder and more woody 
 ribs of the leaves. The myron caterpillar seems 
 to go out of its way to cut off the stems of 
 both the grape and Virginia creeper. 
 
 There are nine pairs of spiracles, a pair on 
 each segment of the abdomen and on the first 
 thoracic segment. The edges of these air 
 openings are often strikingly colored. Through 
 the spiracles the air is admitted into 
 all the breathing tubes of the body around 
 which the blood flows and is purified; no insect 
 breathes through its mouth. These cater- 
 pillars, like all others, grow by shedding the 
 
 skeleton skin, which spHts down the back. ^, . ., i, 
 
 r\£i. r .1 , -11 • 1 he eses of the Myron 
 
 Often one of these caterpillars is seen sphinx. 
 
 covered with white objects which the ignorant, photo by m. v. siingeriand 
 
 Tailor-made niotli, the adult of the 
 Myron sphinx. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 343 
 
 who do not know that caterpillars never lay eggs, have called, eggs. 
 But the sphinx moths at any stage would have horror of such eggs as 
 these! They are not eggs but are httle silken cocoons spun by the 
 larvcB of a hymenopterous parasite. It is a tiny, four-winged "fly" which 
 lays its eggs within the caterpillar. The little grubs which hatch from 
 these eggs feed upon the fleshy portions of the caterpillar until they get 
 their growth, at which time the poor caterpillar is almost exhausted; 
 and then they have the impudence to come out and spin their 
 
 silken cocoons and 
 fasten them to the 
 back of their victim. 
 Later, they cut a little 
 lid to their silken cells 
 which they lift up as 
 they conie out into 
 the world to search 
 for more caterpillars. 
 As soon as the 
 sphinx larva has ob- 
 tained its growth, it 
 descends and burrows 
 into the earth. It 
 does not spin any 
 cocoon but packs the 
 soil into a smooth-walled cell in which it changes to a pupa. In the 
 spring the pupa works its way to the surface of the ground and the moth 
 issues. In the case of the tomato and tobacco sphinx pupa, the enor- 
 mously long tongue has its case separate from the body of the pupa, which 
 makes the "jug handle." The wing cases and the antennae cases can be 
 distinctly seen. In the case of the other species the pupae have the 
 tongue case fast to the body. The larva of the myron sphinx does not 
 enter the ground, but draws a few leaves about it on the surface of the 
 ground, fastens them with silk and there changes to a pupa. 
 
 References— Caterpillars and their Moths, Elliot and Soule ; Moths and 
 Butterflies, Dickerson; Moths and Butterflies, Ballard; Manual for the 
 Stvidy of Insects, Comstock. 
 
 .4 full-grown caterpillar of the Alyron sphinx. 
 
 A " cake ivalk. 
 
 The caterpillars of the Myron sphinx 
 in attitude of defence. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
^.^ Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON LXXV 
 The Humming-bird, or Sphinx, Moths 
 
 Leading thought — ^The sphinx caterpillars have a slender horn or eye- 
 spot on th'e last segment of the body. When disturbed or when resting 
 they rear the front "part of the body in a threatening attitude. They spin 
 no cocoons but change to pupae in the ground. The adults are called 
 humming-bird moths^ because of their swift and purring flight. Many 
 flowers depend upon the sphinx moths for carrying their pollen. 
 
 Method — The sphinx caterpillar found on the potato or tobacco, or 
 one of the species feeding upon the Virginia creeper is in September 
 available in almost any locality for this lesson. The caterpillars should 
 be placed in a breeding cage in the schoolroom. Fresh food should be 
 given them every day and moist earth be placed in the bottom of the 
 cages. It is useless for the amateur to try to rear the adults from the 
 pupae in breeding cages. The moths may be caught in nets during the 
 evening when they are hovering over the petunia beds. These may be 
 placed on leaves in a tumbler or jar for observation. 
 
 The Caterpillar 
 
 Observations — i. On what plant is it feeding? What is its general 
 color? Is it striped? What colors in the stripes? Are they oblique or 
 lengthwise stripes? Are all the caterpillars the same color? 
 
 7 he pupae oj tiic Myron sphinx within 
 
 the cocoons. 
 
 Photo by M. V, Slingerland. 
 
Insect SUid\ 
 
 345 
 
 2. Can you find the caterpillar easily when feeding? Why is it not 
 conspicuous when on the plant? Of what use is this to the caterpillar? 
 
 3!^ Note the horn on the end of the caterpihar. Is it straight or 
 curled? Is it on the head end? What color is it? Do you think it is of 
 any use to the caterpillar? Do you think it is a sting? If there is no 
 horn, is there an eye-spot on the last segment? What color is it? Can 
 you think of any way in which this eye-spot protects the caterpillar? 
 
 4. Which segments of the caterpillar are the largest? When the 
 creature is disturbed what position does it assume? How does it move? 
 What noise does it make? Do you think this attitude scares away ene- 
 mies? What position does it assume when resting? Do you think that 
 it resembles the Egyptian Sphinx when resting? 
 
 5. How many true legs has this caterpillar? How does it use them 
 when feeding? How many prolegs has it? How are these fleshy legs 
 used? How are they armied to hold fast to the leaf or twig? Describe 
 the hind or prop-leg. How is it used? 
 
 6. Do you see the breathing 
 pores or spiracles along the sides 
 of the body? How many are 
 there? How are they colored? 
 How does the caterpillar breathe? 
 Do you think it can breathe 
 through its mouth? 
 
 7. How does the sphinx cater- 
 pillar grow? Watch your cater- 
 pillar and see it shed its skin. 
 Where does the old skin break 
 open? How does the new, soft 
 skin look? Do the young cater- 
 pillars resemble the full-grown 
 ones? 
 
 8. Describe how the cater- 
 pillar eats. Can you see the jaws 
 move? Does it eat up the plant 
 clean as it goes? 
 
 9. Have you ever found the sphinx caterpillar covered with whitish, 
 oval objects? What are these? Does the caterpillar look plump or 
 emaciated? Explain what these objects are and how they came to be 
 there. 
 
 ID. Where does the caterpillar go to change to a pupa? Does 
 it make cocoons? How does the pupa look? Can you see the long 
 tongue case, the wing cases, the antennae cases? 
 
 A M yron caterpillar that has been para- 
 sitized. The white objects upon it are 
 the cocoons of the little grubs ivhich 
 feed upon the fatty parts of the cater- 
 pillar. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 The Moth 
 
 1. Where did you find this moth? Was it flying by dayHght or in 
 the dusk? How did its swift moving wings sound? Was it visit- 
 ing flowers? What flowers? Where is the nectar in these flowers? 
 
 2. What is the shape of the moth's body? Is it stout or slender? 
 What colors has it ? How is it marked ? 
 
 3. The wings of which pair are longer? Sketch or describe the 
 form of the front and the hind wings? Are the outer edges scalloped, 
 
3^6 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The moths of the Myron sphinx on 
 Virginia creeper. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 notched or even? What 
 colors are on the front wino-? 
 On the hind one? Are these 
 colors harmonious and beauti- 
 ful? Make a sketch of the 
 moth in water-color. 
 
 4. What is the shape of 
 the antenna;? Describe the 
 eyes. Can you see the coiled 
 tongue? Uncoil it with a 
 pin and note how long it is. 
 Why does this moth need such 
 a long tongue? 
 
 5. From what flowers do 
 the sphinx moths get nectar? 
 How does the moth support 
 itself when probing for nectar? 
 Do you know any flowers 
 which are dependent on the 
 sphinx moths for carrying 
 their pollen? How many 
 kinds of sphinx moths do you 
 know? 
 
 Hurt no living thing: 
 Ladybird, nor butterfly. 
 Nor moth ivith dusty wing. 
 Nor cricket chirping cheerily, 
 Nor grasshopper so light of leap. 
 Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat. 
 Nor harmless worms that creep. 
 
 — Christina Rossetti. 
 
 The white-lined sphinx 
 moth. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 347 
 
 THE CODLING MOTH 
 
 Teacher s Story 
 
 is difficult to decide which seems the most disturbed, 
 the person who bites into an apple and uncovers 
 a worm, or the worm which is uncovered. From 
 our standpoint, there is nothing attractive about 
 the worm which destr.jys the beauty and appetizing 
 qualities of our fruit, but from the insect stand- 
 point the codling caterpillar (which is not a worm 
 at all), is not at all bad. When full-grown, it is 
 about three-fourths of an inch long, and is likely 
 to be flesh color, or even rose color, with brownish 
 head; as a young larva, it has a number of 
 darker rose spots on each segment and is whitish 
 in color; the shield on the first segment behind the head, and 
 that on the last segment of the body, are black. When full-grown, the 
 apple worm is plump and lively; and while jerking angrily at being dis- 
 turbed, we can see its true legs, one pair to each of the three segments of 
 the body behind the head. These true legs have sharp, single claws. 
 Behind these the third, fourth, fifth and sixth segments of the abdomen 
 are each furnished with a pair of fleshy prolegs and the hind segment has a 
 prop-leg. These fleshy legs are mere makeshifts on the part of the cater- 
 pillar for carrying the' long body; since the three pairs of front legs are 
 the ones from which develop the legs of the moth. The noticing of the 
 legs of the codHng moth is an important observation on the part of the 
 pupils, since, by their presence, this insect may be distinguished from 
 the young of the plum curculio, which is also found in apples but which 
 is legless. The codling moth has twelve segments in the body, back of 
 the head. 
 
 The codling larva usually enters the apple at the blossom end and 
 tunnels down by the side of the core until it reaches the middle, before 
 making its way out into the pulp. The larva weaves a web as it goes, 
 but this is probably incidental, since many caterpillars spin silk as they 
 go, "street yarn" our grandmothers might have called it. In this web are 
 entangled the pellets of indigestible inatter, makuig a very unsavory 
 looking mass. The place of exit is usually circular, large enough to 
 accommodate the body of the larva, and it leads out from a tunnel which 
 may be a half inch or more in diameter beneath the rind. Often the larva 
 makes the door sometime before it is ready to leave the apple, and plugs 
 it with a mass of debris, fastened together with the silk. As it_ leaves the 
 apple, the remnants of this plug may be seen streaming out of the open- 
 ing. Often also, there is a mass of waste pellets pushed out by the young 
 larva from its burrow, as it enters the apple; thus it injures the appear- 
 ance of the apple, at both entrance and e.Kit. It the apple has not received 
 infection by lying ne.xt to another rotting apple, it first begins to rot 
 around the burrow of the worm, especially near the place of exit. 
 
 The codling caterpillar injures the fruit in the following ways: The 
 apples are likely to be stunted and fall early; the apples rot about the 
 injured places and thus cannot be stored successfully; the apples thus 
 injured look unattractive and, therefore, their market value is lessened; 
 wormy apples, packed in barrels with others, rot and contaminate all the 
 
348 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 A ivormy apple. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 neighboring apples. This 
 insect also attacks pears 
 and sometimes peaches. It 
 has been carefully estimated 
 that every year the codHng 
 moth does three million 
 dollars worth of injury to 
 the apple and pear crops in 
 New York .State. Think of 
 paying three million dollars 
 a year for the sake of having 
 wormy apples! 
 
 The larvae usually leave 
 the apples before winter. If 
 the apples have fallen, they 
 crawl up the tree and there 
 make their cocoons beneath 
 the loose bark; but if they 
 leave the apples while they 
 are on the trees, they spin 
 silk and swing down. If carried into the storeroom or placed in 
 barrels, they seek quarters in protected crevices. In fact, while they 
 particularly like the loose bark of the apple trees, they are likely to build 
 their cocoons on nearby fences or on brush, wherever they can find the 
 needed protection. The cocoon is made of fine but rather rough silk 
 which is spun from a gland opening near the mouth of the caterpillar; 
 the cocoon is not beautiful although it is smooth inside. It is usually 
 spun between a loose bit of bark and the body of the tree; but after mak- 
 ing it, the insect seems in no hurry to change its condition and remains a 
 quite lively caterpillar until spring. It is while the codling larvae are in 
 their winter quarters that our bird 
 friends of the winter, the nut- 
 hatches, woodpeckers and chicka- 
 dees, destroy them in great num- 
 bers, hunting eagerly for them in 
 every crevice of the trees. It is 
 therefore good policy for us to coax 
 these birds to our orchards by 
 placing beef fat on the branches 
 and thus entice these little cater- 
 pillar hunters to visit the trees 
 every day. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that the 
 codlmg caterpillars, which make 
 cocoons before August first, change 
 immediately to pupte which soon 
 change to n\oths, and thus another 
 generation gets in its work before 
 the apples are harvested. 
 
 The codling moth is a beautiful "^^^^ ^^''^'^ °f '^'^ codling moth, 
 
 little creature with delicate antenna x,. much enlarged. 
 
 Photomicrograph by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 \ 
 
Insect St lid v 
 
 349 
 
 and a brown, mottled and banded 
 
 body; its wings are graced by wavy 
 
 bands of ashy and brown lines, and the 
 
 tips of the front wings are dark brown 
 
 with a pattern of gold bronze wrought 
 
 into them; the hind wings are shiny 
 
 brown with darker edges and little 
 
 fringes. The moths issue in the spring 
 
 and lay their eggs on the young apples 
 
 just after the petals fall. The egg 
 
 looks like a minute drop of dried milk 
 
 and is laid on the side of the bud; but 
 
 the little larva, soon after it is hatched, 
 
 crawls to the blossom and finds entrance 
 
 there; and it is therefore important 
 
 that its first lunch should include a bit 
 
 of arsenic and thus end its career before 
 
 it fairly begins. The trees should be 
 
 sprayed with some arsenical poison 
 
 directly after the petals fall, and before 
 
 the five lobes of the calyx close up 
 
 around the stamens. If the trees are 
 
 sprayed while blossoming, the pollen 
 
 is washed away and the apples do not 
 
 set; moreover, the bees which help us 
 
 much in carrying pollen are killed. 
 
 If the trees are sprayed directly after 
 
 the calyx closes up around the stamens the poison does not lodge 
 
 at the base of the stamens and the little rascals get into the apples without 
 
 getting a dose. (See Lesson on the Apple) . 
 
 The pupae and cocoons of the 
 
 codling moths. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 LESSON LXXVI 
 The Codling Moth 
 
 Leading thought — ^The codling moth is a tiny brown moth with bronze 
 
 markings which lays its 
 egg on the apple. The 
 larva hatching from the 
 egg enters the blossom 
 end and feeds upon the 
 pulp of the apple, in- 
 i urine it greatlv. After 
 attaining its growth it 
 leaves the apple and 
 hides beneath the bark 
 of the tree or in other 
 protected places, and 
 in the spring makes 
 the cocoon from which 
 the moth issues in time 
 
 The adult of the coddling moth. shoud}ig ilie variations to lay eggs upon the 
 
 of its markings, 
 size. 
 
 The tuv larger are twice natural ynuno' aDUlcS 
 Photo by M, v. Slingerland. '^ & 1 F • 
 
350 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Method — 
 The lesson 
 should begin 
 with a study 
 of wormy 
 apples, prefer- 
 ably in the 
 fall when the 
 worms are 
 still within 
 their burrows. 
 After the pu- 
 pils become 
 familiar with 
 the appear- 
 ance of the in- 
 sect and its 
 methods of 
 work, a prize 
 of some sort 
 might be 
 offered for the 
 one who will 
 to 
 the 
 greatest num- 
 
 Place these 
 
 Just ready to spray. A pear and two apples from which the petals bring 
 have recently fallen and with calyx lobes widely spread. school 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 ber of hibernating larvae found in their winter quarters, 
 larvae in a box with cheese-cloth tacked over its open side; place 
 this box out of doors in a protected position. Examine the cocoons 
 to find the pupae about the last of April; after the pupae appear, look for 
 the moths in about five days. 
 
 It would be a very good idea for the pupils to prepare a Riker mount 
 showing specimens of the moths, of the cocoons showing the cast pupa 
 skin, and of the caterpillar in a homeopathic vial of alcohol; pictures 
 illustrating the work of the insect may be added. The pictures should 
 be drawn by the pupils, showing the wormy apple, both the outside and 
 in section. The pupils can also sketch, from the pictures here given, the 
 young apple when just in the right condition to spray, with a note explain' 
 ing why. 
 
 Observations — i. Find an apple with a codling moth larva in it. 
 How large is the worm? How does it act when disturbed? 
 
 2. What is the color of the caterpillar's body? Its head? 
 
 3. How many segments are there in the body? How many of these 
 bear legs? What is the difference in form between the three front pairs 
 of legs and the others? 
 
 4. Look at a wormy apple. How can you tell it is wormy from the 
 outside? Can you see where the worm entered the app>le? Was the 
 burrow large or small at first? Can you find an apple with a worm in it 
 which has the door for exit made, but closed with waste matter? How is 
 this matter fastened together? If the apple has no worm in it, can you 
 see where it left the apple? Make a sketch or describe the evidence of 
 the caterpillar's progress through the apple. Do you find a web of silk in 
 
Insect St tidy 
 
 351 
 
 the wormy part? Why is this? Does the worm eat the seeds as well as 
 the pulp of the apple? 
 
 5. Take a dozen rotting apples, hoAv many of them are wormy? 
 Do the parts of the apple injured by the worm begin to rot first? In how 
 many ways does the codling moth injure the apple? Does it injure other 
 fruits than apples? 
 
 6. How late in the fall do you find the codling larvae in the apple? 
 Where do these larvae go when they leave the apple? 
 
 Work to be done in March or early April — Visit an orchard and look 
 under the loose bark on old trees, or along protected sections of fences or 
 brush piles and bring in all the cocoons you can find. Do not injure the 
 cocoons by tearing them from the places where they are woven, but bring 
 them in on bits of the bark or other material to which they are attached. 
 
 1. How does the cocoon look outside and inside? What is in the 
 cocoon? Why was the cocoon made? When was it made? 
 
 2. Place the cocoons in a box covered with cheese-cloth and place 
 the box out of doors where the contents can be frequently observed and 
 make the following notes: 
 
 3. When does the larva change to the pupa? Describe the pupa. 
 How does the cocoon look after the moth issues from it? 
 
 4. Describe the moth, noting color of head, thorax, body, front and 
 hind wings? 
 
 5. If these moths were free to fly around the orchard, when and 
 where would they lay their eggs? 
 
 6. When should the trees be sprayed to kill the young codling moth? 
 With what should they be sprayed? Why should they not be sprayed 
 during the blossoming period? Why not after the calyx closes? 
 
 Almost too late to spray. The apples on each side have the calyx 
 
 lobes nearly drawn together. The pear in the middle 
 
 still has the calyx cavity open. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
,^2 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 7. How do the nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and chickadees help 
 us in getting rid of the codhng moth ? , , 1 
 
 8. Write an essay on the hfe history of the codhng moth, the damage 
 done bv it, and the best methods of keeping it in check. 
 
 References— The following bulletins from the U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 
 ture' Farmers' Bulletin 247, "The Control of the Codhng Moth and 
 Apple Scab;" Bulletin 35, NeAv Series, Bureau of Entomology, "Report 
 on the Codhng Moth Investigations," price 10 cents; Bulletin 41, "The 
 Codling Moth," 105 pages, 15 cents, by Special Field Agent, C. B. Simp- 
 son; Bulletin 68, Part VII, "Demonstration Spraying for the Codling 
 Moth," price 5 cents. The Sj.raying of Plants, Lodeman, Macmillan 
 Company; Economic Entomology, Smith. 
 
 LEAF-MINERS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 "And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean 
 To be some happy creature's palace". 
 
 — Lowell. 
 
 AY not Lowell have had in mind, when he wrote 
 these lines, the canny little creatures which 
 find sustenance for "their complete growth 
 between the upper and lower surfaces of a leaf, 
 which seems to us as thin as a sheet of paper. 
 To most children, it seems quite incredible 
 that there is anything between the upper and 
 lower surfaces of a leaf, and this lesson should 
 hinge on the fact that in every leaf, however 
 thin, there are rows of cells containing the 
 living substance of the leaf, with a wall above 
 and a wall below to protect them. Some of the smaller insects have 
 discovered this hidden treasure, which they mine while safely protected 
 from sight, and thus make strange figures upon the leaves. 
 
 Among the most familiar of these are the serpentine mines, so called 
 because the figure formed by the eating out of the green pulp of the 
 leaf, curves like a serpent. These mines are made by the caterpillars 
 of tiny moths, which have long fringes upon the hind wings. The life 
 story of such a moth is as follows: The little moth, whose expanded 
 wings measure scarcely a quarter of an inch across, lays an egg on the 
 leaf; from this, there' hatches a tiny caterpillar that soon eats ^its way 
 into the midst of the leaf. In shape, the caterpihar is somewhat "square 
 built," being rather stocky and wide for its length; it feeds upon the 
 juicy tissues of the leaf and divides, as it goes, the upper from the lower 
 surface of the leaf; and it teaches us, if we choose to look^ that 
 these outer walls of the leaf are thin, colorless, and paper-hke. AVe can 
 trace the whole life history and wanderings of the little creature, from 
 the time when, as small as a pin point, it began to feed, until it 
 attained its full growth. As it increased in size, its appetite grew larger 
 also, and these two forces working together naturally enlarged its house. 
 When finally the little miner gets its growth, it makes a rather larger 
 and more commodious room at the end of its mine, which to us looks like 
 
Insect Study 
 
 353 
 
 Serpentine mines in nasturtium 
 leaf. 
 
 the head of the serpent; here it 
 
 changes to a pupa, perhaps after 
 
 nibbhng a hole with its sharp Httle 
 
 jaws, so that when it changes to a 
 
 soft, fluffy httle moth with mouth 
 
 unfitted for biting, it is able to escape. 
 
 In some species, the caterpillar comes 
 
 out of the mine and goes into the 
 
 ground to change to a piipa. By 
 
 holding up to the light a leaf thus 
 
 mined, we can see why this little chap 
 
 was never obliged to clean house; it 
 
 mined out a new room every day, and 
 
 left the sweepings in the abandoned 
 
 mine behind. Mines of this sort are 
 
 often seen on the leaves of nastur- 
 tium, the smooth pigweed, columbine, 
 
 and many other plants. There are 
 
 mines of many shapes, each form 
 
 being made by a different species of 
 
 insect. Some flare suddenly from a 
 
 point and are trumpet-shaped while 
 
 some are mere blotches. The blotch 
 
 mines are made, through the habits of 
 
 the insect within them ; it feeds around 
 
 and around, instead of forging ahead, 
 
 as is the case with the serpentine miners. The larvae of beetles, 
 
 flies and moths may mine leaves, each species having its own 
 
 special food plant. Most of the smaller leaf mines are made 
 
 by the caterpillars of the moths, which are fitly called the Tineina 
 
 or Tineids. Most of these barely have a wing expanse that will 
 
 reach a quarter of an inch and many are much smaller; they all have 
 
 narrow wings, the hind wings being mere threads bordered with 
 
 beautiful fringes. The specific names of these moths usually end in 
 
 "ella;" thus, the one that mines in 
 apple is malifoliella, the one in grain is 
 granella. One of these little moths, 
 Gelechia pinifoliella lives the whole 
 of its growing life in half of a pine 
 needle. The moth lays the egg at 
 about the middle of the needle, and 
 the little caterpillar that hatches from 
 it, gnaws its way directly into the heart 
 of the needle; and there, as snug 
 as snug can be, it lives and feeds until 
 it is almost a quarter of an inch 
 long, think of it ! Many a time I have 
 held up to the light a pine needle 
 thus inhabited, and have seen the little 
 miner race up and down its abode 
 as if it knew that something was hap- 
 
 
 Serpentine mines in leaf of 
 
 columbine. 
 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
 pening. When it finally attains its 
 
354 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Trttinpet mines in leaf of apple. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 growth it makes wider the Httle door, through which it entered ; it does 
 this very neatly, the door is an even oval, and looks as if it were made 
 with the use of dividers. After thus opening the door, the caterpillar 
 changes to a little, long pupa, very close to its exit; and later it emerges, 
 as an exquisite little moth with silvery bands on its narrow, brown wings, 
 
 and a luxurious fringe 
 on the edges of its 
 narrow, hind wings 
 and also on the outer 
 hind edges of the front 
 
 wmgs. 
 
 The gross mines in 
 the leaves of dock and 
 beet are not pretty. 
 The poor leaves are 
 slitted, sometimes for 
 their whole length, 
 and soon turn brown 
 and lie prone on the 
 ground, or dangle 
 pathetically from the 
 stalk. These mines 
 are made by the larvs 
 of a fly, and a whole 
 family live in the 
 same habitation. If 
 we hold a leaf thus 
 mined up to the hght, 
 while it is still green, 
 we can see several of 
 the larvae working, 
 each making a bag 
 in the life substance 
 of the leaf, and yet all joining together to make a great blister. The flies 
 that do this mischief belong to the family Anthomyince; and there are 
 several species which have the perturbing habit of mining the leaves of 
 beets and spinach. It behooves those of us who are fond of these 
 "greens," as our New England ancestors called them, to hold every leaf 
 
 The pine-needle leaf-miner. The mined leaves of 
 pine natural size. The caterpillar, pupa and moth 
 of the leaf miner much enlarged. The lines show actual 
 size of insect. 
 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
Inset t Study ^rr 
 
 up to the light before we put it into the skillet, lest we get more meat than 
 vegetable in these viands. The (lies, who thus take our greens ahead of 
 us, are perhaps a little larger than house-flies, and are generallv gray in 
 color with the front of the head silver-white. These insects 'ought to 
 teach VIS the value of clean culture in our gardens, since they also niine in 
 the smooth pigweed. 
 
 References~-M.2in\iQ.\ for the Study of Insects, Comstock. 
 
 LESSON LXXVII 
 
 Leaf-miners 
 
 Leading thought — ^The serpent-like markings and the blister-like 
 blotches which we often see on leaves are made by the larvae of insects 
 which complete their growth by feeding upon the inner living substance 
 of the leaf. 
 
 Method — The nasturtium leaf -miner is perhaps the most available for 
 this lesson since it may be found in its mine in early Septem^ber. How- 
 ever, the pupils should bring to the schoolroom all the leaves with mines 
 in them, that they can find and study the different forms. 
 
 Observations — i . Sketch the leaf with the mine in it, showing the shape 
 of the mine. What is the name of the plant on which the leaf grew? 
 
 2. Hold the leaf up to the light, can you see the insect within the 
 mine? What is it doing? Are there more than one insect in the mine? 
 Open the mine and see how the miner looks. 
 
 3. There are three general types of mines: Those that are long, 
 curving lines called serpentine mines; those that begin small and flare 
 out, called trumpet mines; and those that are blister-like called blotch 
 mines. Which of these is the mine you are studying? 
 
 4. Study a serpentine mine. Note that where the little insect began 
 to eat, the mine is small. Why does it widen from this point? What 
 happened in the part which we call the serpent's head? 
 
 5 . Look closely with a lens and find if there is a break above the mine 
 in the upper surface of the leaf or below the mine in the lower surface of 
 the leaf? If the insect is no longer in the mine can you find where it 
 escaped? Can you find a shed pupa-skin in the "serpent's head?" 
 
 6. Why does an insect mine in a leaf? What does it find to eat? 
 How is it protected from the birds or insects of prey while it is getting its 
 growth ? 
 
 7. Look on leaves of nasturtium, columbine, lamb's quarters, dock 
 and burdock, for serpentine mines. Are the mines on these different 
 plants alike? Do you suppose they are made by the same insect? 
 
 8. Look on leaves of dock, burdock, beet and spinach for blotch 
 mines. Are there more than one insect in these mines? If the insects are 
 present, hold the leaf out to the light and watch them eat. 
 
 9. Look in the leaves of pitch or other thick leaved pines (not white 
 pine), for pine needles which are yellow at the tip. Examine these for 
 miners. If the miner is not within, can you find the little circular door 
 
3 56 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 by which it escaped ? Would you think there was enough substance in a 
 half a pine needle to support a httle creature while it grew up 
 
 lo If vou find leaf-miners at work, do not pluck of? the leaves being 
 mined but cover each with a Httle bag of swiss muslm tied close about the 
 petiole and thus capture the winged insect. 
 
 Witch-hazel, showing ivork of leaf-rollers, leaf-miners 
 and gall-makers. 
 
Insect btiulv 
 
 357 
 
 THE LEAF-ROLLERS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 F we look closely at sumac leaves before they are 
 aflame from autumn's torch, we find many of the 
 leaflets rolled into little cornucopias fastened with 
 silk. The silk is not in a web, like that of the 
 spider, but the strands are twisted together, 
 hundreds of threads combined in one strong 
 cable, and these are fastened from roll to leaf, 
 like tent ropes. If we look at the young bass- 
 woods, we find perhaps many of their leaves cut 
 across, and the flap made into a roll and Hkewise 
 fastened with silken ropes. The witch-hazel, 
 which is a veritable insect tenement, also shows 
 these rolls. In fact, we may find them upon the 
 leaves of almost any species of tree or shrub, and 
 each of these rolls has its own special maker or indweller. Each species 
 of insect, which rolls the leaves, is limited to the species of plant on which 
 it is found ; and one of these caterpillars would sooner starve than take a 
 mouthful from a leaf of any other plant. Some people think that insects 
 will eat anything that comes 
 in their way; but of all 
 created animals, insects are 
 the most fastidious as to their 
 food. 
 
 Some species of leaf -rollers 
 unite several leaflets together, 
 while others use a single leaf. 
 In the case of the sumac leaf- 
 roller, it begins in a single leaf; 
 
 but 
 
 m 
 
 its later stages, it 
 
 fastens together two or three 
 of the terminal leaflets in order 
 to gain more pasturage. The 
 little silken tent ropes which 
 hold the folded leaves are well 
 worth study with a lens. 
 They are made of htmdreds of 
 threads of the finest silk, 
 woven from a gland opening 
 near the lower lip of the cater- 
 pillar. The rope is always 
 larger where it is attached to 
 the leaf than at the center, 
 because the caterpillar criss- 
 crosses the threads in order to 
 make the attachment to the 
 leaf larger and firmer. Unroll a tent carefully, and you may see the 
 fastenings used in an earlier stage, and may even find the first turned-down 
 edge of the leaf. However, the center of a leaf roller's habitation is 
 usuallv verv much eaten, for the whole reason for making its little house 
 
 Leaf-rolters in sumac, ivitti diagram showing the 
 fastening of the silk-stay-ropes. 
 
358 
 
 Ha^idbook of Nature-Study 
 
 is that the soft -bodied caterpillar may eat its fill completely hidden from 
 the eyes of birds or other animals. When it first hatches from the egg, it 
 feeds for a short time, usually on the under side of the leaf; but when still 
 so small that we can barely see it with the naked eye, it somehow mana^res 
 to fold over itself one edge of the leaf and peg it down. The problem of 
 how so small a creature is able to pull over and fold down or to make in a 
 roll a stitt leaf is hard to solve. I, myself, beheve it is done by makino- 
 many threads, each a little more taut than the last. I have watched 
 several species working, and the leaf conies slowly together as the cater- 
 pillar stretches its head and sways back and forth hundreds of times 
 fastening the silk first to one side and then to the other. Some observers 
 believe that the caterpillar throws its weight upon the silk, in order to 
 pull the leaf together; but in the case of the sumac leaf-roller, I am sure 
 
 this is not true, as I have 
 
 watched the process 
 
 again and again under a 
 
 lens, and could detect 
 
 no signs of this method. 
 
 Many of the caterpillars 
 
 which make rolls, change to 
 
 small moths known as 
 
 Tortricids. This is a very large 
 
 family, containing a vast number 
 
 of species and not all of the 
 
 members are leaf -rollers. These 
 
 little moths have the front wings 
 
 rather wide and more or less rectangular in 
 
 outhne. The entomologists have a pleasing 
 
 fashion of ending the names of all of these 
 
 moths with "ana;" the one that rolls the 
 
 currant leaves is Rosana, the one on 
 
 juniper is Rutilana, etc. Since many of the 
 
 caterpillars of this family seek the ground to 
 
 pupate and do not appear as moths until the 
 
 following spring, it is somewhat difficult to 
 
 study their complete life histories, unless one 
 
 has well-made breeding cages with earth at 
 
 the bottom ; and even then it is dilficult to 
 
 keep them under natural conditions, since in 
 
 an ordinary living room the insects dry up 
 
 and do not mature. 
 
 A leaf of 
 
 bassivood cut 
 
 and rolled hv 
 
 the bassivood 
 
 leaf-roller. 
 
 Comstock. 
 Manual. 
 
Insect Study 359 
 
 Leaflets of locust, fastened together to make a nest by the 
 caterpillar of a butterfly. 
 
 LESSON LXXVIII 
 The Leaf-rollers 
 
 Leading thought — ^There are many kinds of insects which roll the 
 leaves of trees and plants into tents, in which they dwell and feed during 
 .their early stages. 
 
 Method — ^This is an excellent lesson for early autumn when the pupils 
 may find many of these rolled leaves, which they may bring to the school- 
 room, and which will give material for the lesson. The rolls are found 
 plentifully on sumac, basswood and witch-hazel. 
 
 Observations — i. What is the name of the trees and shrubs from 
 which these rolled leaves which you have collected were taken ? 
 
 2. Are more than one leaf or leaflet used in making the roll? 
 
 3. Is the leaf rolled crosswise or lengthwise? How large is the tube 
 thus made? 
 
 4. Is the nest in the shape of a tube, or .are several leaves fastened 
 together, making a box-shaped nest*? 
 
 5. How is the roll made fast? Examine the little silken ropes with 
 a lens and describe one of them. Is it wider where it is attached to the 
 leaf than at the middle? Why? 
 
 6. How many of these tent ropes are there which make fast the roll? 
 Unroll a leaf carefully and see if you can find signs of the tent ropes that 
 fastened the roll together when it was smaller. Can you find where it 
 began? 
 
 7. As you unroll the leaves what do you see at the center? Has the 
 leaf been eaten? Can you discover the reason why the caterpillar made 
 this roll? 
 
 8. How do you think a caterpillar manages to roll a leaf so success- 
 fully? Where is the spinning gland of a caterpillar? How does the insect 
 act when spinning threads back and forth when rolling the leaf? What 
 sort of insect does the caterpillar which rolls the leaf change into? Do 
 you suppose that the same kind of caterpillars makes the rolls on two 
 different species of trees? 
 
 9. In July or early August get some of the rolls with the caterpillars 
 in them, unroll a nest, take the caterpillar out and put it on a fresh leaf 
 of the same kind of tree or shrub on which you found it, and watch it 
 make its roll. 
 
 Supplementary reading — "A Dweller in Tents" and "A Little Nomad," 
 in Ways of the Six-Footed. 
 
360 
 
 Handbook of Natiire-Stiuiy 
 
 The sp-i)iy 
 oak-gall. 
 
 The pointed bullet-gall 
 on oak tieigs. 
 
 A cluster 
 
 of galls on 
 
 midrib of 
 
 oak leaf. 
 
 The acorn 
 plum-gall. 
 
 Photo by 
 L. H. Weld. 
 
 THE GALL-DWELLERS 
 
 He retired to his chamber, took Jiis lamp, and summoned the genius as usual. 
 "Genius," said he, ''build me a palace near the sultan's, fit for the reception of my spouse, 
 the princess; but instead of stone, let the walls be formed of massy gold and silver, laid 
 in alternate rows; and let the interstices be enriched with diamonds and emeralds. The 
 palace must have a delightful garden, planted with aromatic shrubs and plants, bearing 
 the most delicious fruits and beautiful flowers. But, in particular, let there be an 
 immense treasure of gold and silver coin. The palace, moreover, must be well provided 
 with offices, storehouses, and stables full of the finest horses, and attended by equerries, 
 grooms, and hunting equipage." By the dawn of the ensuing morning, the genius 
 presented himself to Aladdin, and said, "Sir, your palace is finished; come and see if it 
 accords with your wishes." — Arabian Nights Entertainments. 
 
 LTHOUGH Aladdin is out of fashion, we still 
 have houses of magic that are even more 
 wonderful than that produced by his resource- 
 ful lamp. These houses are built through an 
 occult partnership between insects and plant 
 tissues ; and no one understands just how they 
 are made, although we are beginning to 
 understand a little concerning the reasons for 
 the growth. These houses are called galls 
 and are thus well named, since they grow 
 because of an irritation to the plant caused 
 by the insect. 
 There are many forms of these gall-dwellings, and they may grow upon 
 the root, branch, leaf, blossom, or fruit. The miraculous thing about 
 them is that each kind of insect builds its magical house on a certain part 
 of a certain species of tree or plant ; and the house is always of a certain 
 definite form on the outside and of a certain particular pattern within. 
 Many widely differing species of insects are gall-makers; and he who is 
 skilled in gall lore knows, when he looks at the outside of the house, just 
 what insect dwells within it. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 361 
 
 Oak apple, showing the larva of the gall insect. 
 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
 We may take the history of the common oak apple, as an example. 
 A little, four-winged, fly-like creature lays its eggs, early in the season, 
 on the leaf of the scarlet oak. As soon as the larva hatches, it begins to 
 
 eat into the substance of 
 one of the leaf veins. As it 
 eats, it discharges through 
 its mouth into the tissues 
 of the leaf, a substance 
 which is secreted from 
 glands within its body. 
 Immediately the building 
 of the house commences; 
 out around the little crea- 
 ture groAv radiating vegeta- 
 ble fibers, showing by their 
 position plainly that the 
 grub is the center of all of 
 this new growth; mean- 
 while, a smooth, thin cover- 
 ing completely encloses the 
 globular house; larger and 
 larger grows the house 
 until we are accustomed 
 to call it an oak apple, so 
 large is it. The little chap 
 inside is surely content and 
 happy, for it is protected from the sight of all of its enemies, and it 
 finds the walls of its house the best of food. It is comparable to a boy 
 living in the middle of a giant sponge cake, and who when hungry would 
 naturally eat out a larger cave in the heart of the cake. After the inmate 
 of the oak apple completes its growth, it changes to a pupa and finally 
 comes out into the world a tiny four-winged fly, scarcely a c|uarter of an 
 inch in length. 
 
 The story of the willow cone-gall is quite different. A little gnat lays 
 her eggs on the tip of the bud of a twig; as soon as the grub hatches and 
 begins to eat, the growth of the twig is arrested, the leaves are stunted 
 until they are mere scales and are obliged to overlap in rows around the 
 little inmate, thus making for it a cone-shaped house which is very 
 thoroughly shingled. The inhabitant of this gall is a hospitable little 
 fellow, and his house shelters and feeds many other insect guests. He 
 does not pay any attention to them, being a recluse in his own cell, but 
 he civilly allows them to take care of themselves in his domain, and 
 feed iipon the walls of his house. He stays in his snug home all winter 
 and comes out in the spring a tiny, two-winged fly. 
 
 There are two galls common on the stems of goldenrod. The more 
 numerous is spherical in form and is made by a fat and prosperous 
 looking little grub which later develops into a fly. But although it 
 is a fly that makes the globular gall in the stem of goldenrod, the 
 spindle-shaped gall often seen on the same stem has quite another 
 story. A little brown and gray mottled moth, about three-fourths of an 
 inch long, lays her egg on the stem of the young goldenrod. The cater- 
 pillar, when it hatches, lives inside the stem, which accommodatingly 
 
362 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Willow cone- galls. 
 Photo bv Verne Morton. 
 
 enlarges into an oblong room. The caterpillar feeds upon the substance 
 
 of the stem until it attains its growth, 
 something about its future needs. At 
 least it cuts, with its sharp jaws, a little 
 oval door at the upper end of its house 
 and makes an even bevel by widening 
 the opening toward the outside. It 
 then makes a little plug of debris 
 which completely fills the door; but 
 because of the bevel, no intrusive 
 beetle or ant can push it in. Thus 
 the caterpillar changes to a helpless 
 pupa in entire safety ; and when the 
 little moth issues from the pupa skin, 
 all it has to do is to push its head 
 against the door, and out it falls, and 
 
 and then seems to dimly realize 
 
 Spherical gall of goldenrod, 
 
 opened, showing its pros 
 
 peroiis looking owner. 
 
 Photo by M. V Slingerland. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 Z^Z 
 
 the recluse is now a creature 
 of the outside world. 
 
 Many galls are compound, 
 that is, they are made up 
 of a community of larvffi, 
 each in its own cell. The 
 mossy rose-gall is an instance 
 of this. The galls made by 
 mites and aphids are open 
 either below or above the 
 surface of the leaf; thelittle 
 conical galls on witch-hazel 
 are examples of these. In fact, each gall has 
 its own particular history, which proves a 
 most interesting story if we seek to read it 
 with our own eyes. 
 
 LESSON LXXIX 
 The Gall-dwellers 
 
 Mossy rose-gall. 
 Comstock's Manual 
 
 Leading thought — ^The galls are protective 
 
 habitations for the little insects which dwell 
 
 within them. Each kind of insect makes its 
 
 own pecuhar gall on a certain species of plant, and no one understands 
 
 just how this is done or why it is so. 
 
 Method— Ask the pupils to bring in as miany of these galls as possible. 
 
 Note that some have open doors and some are entirely closed. Cut open 
 
 a gall and see what sorts of insects are found within it. Place each 
 
 kind of gall in a 
 tumbler or jar 
 covered with cheese- 
 cloth and place 
 where they may be 
 under observation 
 for perhaps several 
 months; note what 
 sort of winged insect 
 comes from each. 
 
 Observations — i. 
 On what plant or 
 tree did this gall 
 grow? Were there 
 many like it? Did 
 they grow upon the 
 root, stem, leaf, 
 flower, or fruit? If 
 on the leaf, did they 
 grow upon the pet- 
 iole or the blade? 
 
 2. What is the 
 shape of the little 
 
 Porcupine gall on 
 leaf of white oak. 
 
 Section of same 
 shoiiiug cells. 
 
 Photo by C. J. Triggerson. 
 
 Female gall- 
 fly I a y i n g 
 eggs in oak 
 
 hud. 
 
3^4 
 
 Hamibook of Nature-Study 
 
 house? What is its color? Its size? Is it 
 smooth or wrinkled on the outside? Is it 
 covered with fuzz or with spines ? 
 
 3. Open the gall; is there an insect 
 within it? If so, where is it and how does 
 it look? What is the appearance of the 
 inside of the gall? 
 
 4. Is there a cell for the insect at the 
 very center of the gall, or are there many 
 such cells? 
 
 5. Has the house an open door? If 
 so, does the door open above or below? 
 Are there more than one insect in the 
 galls with open doors? AVhat sort of in- 
 sect makes this kind of house? 
 
 6. Do you find any insects besides the 
 original gall-maker within it? If so, what 
 are they doing? 
 
 7. Of what use are these houses to 
 their httle inmates? How do they pro- 
 tect them from enemies? How do they 
 furnish them with food? 
 
 8. Do the gall insects live all their 
 hves within the galls or do they change to 
 winged insects and come out into the 
 world? If so, how do they get out? 
 
 9. How many kinds of galls can you 
 find upon oaks? Upon goldenrod? Upon 
 witch-hazel? Upon willow? 
 
 Supple m e n tary reading — Outdoor 
 Studies, Needham, pages 18 and 37; 
 "Houses of Oak," in Insect Stories, 
 Kellogg; Manual for the Study of Insects. 
 
 A green little world 
 
 With nic at its heart ! 
 A house grown by magic, 
 
 Of a green stem, a part. 
 
 My walls give me food 
 And protect me from foes, 
 
 I eat at my leisure, 
 hi safety repose. 
 
 My house hatJi no ivindoiv, 
 'Tis dark as the night ! 
 
 But I make me a door 
 And batten it tight. 
 
 And when my wings grow 
 I thro'w wide my door; 
 
 And to my green castle 
 I return nevermore. 
 
 Stem of golden-rod, shelving the 
 spherical gall above, made by 
 larva of a fiy; and the spindle- 
 shaped gall beloiv, made by the 
 caterpillar of a moth. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 365 
 
 THE GRASSHOPPER 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 ECAUSE the grasshopper affords special facilities 
 for the study of insect structure, it has indeed 
 become a Vjurden to the students in the labora- 
 tories of American universities. But in nature- 
 study we must not make anything a burden, 
 least of all the grasshopper, which being such a 
 famous jumper as well as flier, does not long 
 voluntarily burden any object. 
 
 Since we naturally select the most salient 
 characteristic of a creature to present first to 
 young pupils, we naturally begin this lesson with 
 the peculiarity which makes this insect a "grass- 
 hopper." When any creature has unusually strong 
 hind legs, we may be sure it is a jumper, and the 
 grasshopper shows this peculiarity at first glance. The front legs are 
 short, the middle legs a trifle longer, but the femur of the hind leg is 
 nearly as long as the entire body, and contains many powerful muscles 
 which have the appearance of being braided, because of the way they are 
 attached to the skeleton of the leg; the tibia of the hind leg is long and as 
 stiff as if made of steel. When getting ready to jump the grasshopper 
 lowers the great femur below the level of the closed wings and until the 
 tibia is parallel with it and the entire foot is pressed against the ground. 
 
 ,-On'posiier 
 
 fc»t <*-TursuS 
 I 
 
 'Tot-pad orAjK'lluS 
 
 Grasshopper with parts of external anatomy named. 
 
,56 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The pair of double spines at the end of the tibia, just back of the foot, are 
 pressed against the ground Hke a spiked heel, and the whole attitude of 
 the insectis tense. Then, like a steel spring, the long legs straighten and 
 the insect is propelled high into the air and far away. This is a remark- 
 able example of insect dynamics ; and since so many species of birds feed 
 upon the grasshopper, its leaping power is much needed to escape them. 
 However, when the grasshopper makes a journey it uses its wings. 
 
 As we watch a grasshopper crawling up the side of a vial or tumbler we 
 can examine its feet with a lens. Between and in front of the claws is 
 an oval pad which clings to the glass, not by air pressure as was once sup- 
 posed, but by means of microscopic hairs, called tenent hairs, which secrete 
 a sticky fluid. Each foot consists of three segments and a claw; w^hen 
 the insect is quiet, the entire foot rests upon the ground ; but when 
 climbing on glass, the toe pads are used. 
 
 The grasshopper's face has a droll expression; would that some carica- 
 turist could analyze it! It is a long face, and the compound eyes placed 
 high upon it, give a look of solemnity. The simple eyes can be made out 
 with a lens. There is one just in front of each big eye, and another, like 
 the naughty little girl's curl, is "right in the middle of the forehead." 
 The antennae are short but alert. The two pairs of palpi connected with 
 the mouth-parts are easily seen, likewise the two pairs of jaws, the notched 
 mandibles looking like a pair of nippers. We can see these jaws much 
 
 Adult of red-legged 
 The nymph of the red-legged grasshopper 
 
 grasshopper, enlarged. Comstock's Manual. 
 
 better when the insect is eating, which act is done methodically. First, it 
 begins at one edge of a leaf, which it seizes between the front feet so as to 
 hold it firm; it eats by reaching up and cutting downwards, making an 
 even-edged, long hole on the leaf margin; the hole is made deeper by 
 repeating the process. It sometimes makes a hole in the middle of a leaf 
 and bites in any direction, but it prefers to move the jaws downward. 
 While it is feeding, its palpi tap the leaf continually and its whole atti- 
 tude is one of deep satisfaction. There is an uproUed expression to the 
 compound eyes which reminds us of the way a child looks over the upper 
 edge of its cup while drinking milk. The grasshopper has a preference 
 for tender herbage, but in time of drouth will eat almost any living plant. 
 Back of the head is a sun-bonnet-shaped piece, bent down at the sides, 
 forming a cover for the thorax. The grasshopper has excellent wings, as 
 efficient as its legs; the upper pair are merely strong, thick, membranous 
 covers, bending down at the sides so as to protect the under wings; these 
 wing-covers are not meant for flying and are held stiff and straight up in 
 the air, during flight. The true wings, when the grasshopper is at rest, are 
 folded lengthwise like a fan beneath the wing-covers; they are strongly 
 veined and circular in shape, giving much surface for beating the air. 
 The grasshoppers' flight is usually swift and short ; but in years of famine 
 
Insect Study 367 
 
 they fly high in the air and for long distances, a fact recorded in the Bible 
 regarding the plague of locusts. When they thus appear in vast hordes, 
 they destroy all the vegetation in the region where they settle. 
 
 The wings of grasshoppers vary in color, those of the red-legged species 
 being gray, while those of the Carolina locusts are black with yellow edges. 
 The abdomen is segmented, as in all insects, and along the lower side there 
 are two lengthwise sutures or creases which open and shut bellows-like, 
 when the grasshopper breathes. The spiracles or breathing pores can be 
 seen on each segment, just above this suture. 
 
 The grasshopper has its ears well protected; to find them, we must 
 lift the wings in order to see the two large sounding disks, one on each side 
 of the first segment of the abdomen. These are larger and much more 
 like ears than are the little ears in the elbows of the katydids. 
 
 The singing of the short-horned grasshoppers is a varied performance, 
 each species doing it in its own way. One species makes a most seductive 
 little note by placing the femur and tibia of the hind legs together, and 
 with the hind feet completely off the ground, the legs are moved up and 
 down with great rapidity, giving off a little purr. The wings in this case, 
 do not lift at all. There are other species that make the sound by rubbing 
 the legs against the wing-covers. 
 
 The grasshopper makes its toilet thus : It cleans first the hind £eet by 
 rubbing them together and also by reaching back and scrubbing them 
 with the middle feet ; the big hind femur it polishes with the bent elbow 
 of the second pair of legs. It cleans the middle feet by nibbling and 
 licking them, bending the head far beneath the body in order to do it. It 
 polishes its eyes and face with the front feet, stopping to lick them clean 
 
 between whiles, and it has a most comical 
 manner of cleaning its antennae; this is 
 accompHshed by tipping the head sidewise, 
 and bending it down so that the antenna of 
 one side rests upon the floor; it then plants 
 the front foot of that side firmly upon the 
 antenna and pulls it slowly backward between 
 the foot and floor. 
 
 The grasshopper has some means of defence 
 
 „ , , . ., as well as of escape ; it can give a painful nip 
 
 Scn'm."'"^ With its mandibles ; and when seized, it emits 
 
 copiously from the mouth a brownish liquid 
 
 which is acrid and ill-smelling. This performance interests children, 
 
 who are wont to seize the insect by its jumping legs and hold it up, 
 
 commanding it to "chew tobacco." 
 
 Grasshoppers are insects with incomplete metamorphosis, which 
 merely means that the baby grasshopper, as soon as it emerges from the 
 egg, is similar in form to its parent except that it has a very large head 
 and a funny little body, and that it has no quiet stage during life. When 
 immature, the under wings or true wings have a position outside of the 
 wing-covers and look like little fans. 
 
 The short-horned grasshoppers lay their eggs in oval masses protected 
 by a tough overcoat. The ovipositor of the mother grasshopper is a very 
 efficient tool, and with it she makes a deep hole in the ground, or sometimes 
 in fence rails or other decaying wood ; after placing her eggs in such a 
 cavity, she covers the hiding place with a gummy substance so that no 
 
368 
 
 Handbook of NaUtre-Sindy 
 
 intruders or robbers may work harm to her progeny. Most species of 
 grasshoppers pass the winter in the egg stage; but sometimes we find in 
 earlv spring the young ones which hatched in the fall, and they seem as 
 spry as if they had not been frozen stiff. 
 
 Upper lip crJabruW 
 
 LESSON LXXX 
 
 The Red-Legged 
 Grasshopper 
 
 thought — ^The 
 
 grass 
 
 Leading 
 hopper feeds upon grass and 
 other herbage and is especially 
 fitted for living in grassy fields 
 Its color protects it from being 
 seen by its enemies the birds. 
 If attacked, it escapes by long 
 jumps and by flight. It can 
 make long journeys on the wing. 
 
 Method — The red-legged 
 grasshopper {M. femitr-ruhriim) 
 has been selected for this lesson 
 because it is the most common of 
 all grasshoppers, though other 
 species may be used as well. 
 The red-legged locust, or grass- 
 
 ■-ttlantlibles-' 
 UppfrJaWs 
 
 tHaxilloe or"' 
 
 Under lip or tfllipiwi 
 
 The moiitli- parts of a grasshopper 
 dissected off, enlarged and named. 
 
 hopper has, as is indicated by its name, the large femiur of the hind legs 
 reddish in color. Place the grasshopper under a tumbler and upon a 
 spray of fresh herbage, and allow the pu[)ils to observe it at leisure. It 
 rnight be well to keep some of the grasshoppers in a cage similar to that 
 described for crickets. When studying the feet, or other parts of the 
 insect requiring close scrutiny, the grasshopper should be placed in a vial 
 so that it may be passed around and observed with a lens. Give the 
 questions a few at a time, and encourage the pupils to study these insects 
 in the field. 
 
 Observations — i. Since a grasshopper is such a high jumper, discover 
 if you can how he does this "event." Which pair of legs is the longest? 
 Which the shortest? How long are the femur and tibia of the hind leg 
 compared with the body. What do you think gives the braided appear- 
 ance to the surface of the hind femur? What is there peculiar about the 
 hind femur? Note the spines at the end of the tibia just behind the foot. 
 
 2. Watch the grasshopper prepare to jump and describe the process. 
 How do you think it manages to throw itself so far? If a man were as 
 good a jumper as a grasshopper in comparison to his size, he could jump 
 300 feet high or 500 feet in distance. Why do you think the grasshopper 
 needs to jump so far? 
 
 3. As the grasshopper climbs up the side of a tumbler or vial, look at 
 its feet through a lens and describe them. How many segments are 
 there? Describe the claws. How does it cling to the glass? Describe 
 the little pad between the claws. 
 
 4. Look the grasshopper in the face. Where are the compound eyes 
 situated? Can you see the tiny simple eyes like mere dots? How many 
 
Insect Study 
 
 369 
 
 How long are the antennae ? 
 
 For what are 
 
 are there ? Where are they ? 
 they used? 
 
 5. How does a grasshopper eat? Do the jaws move up and down or 
 sidewise? What does the grasshopper eat? How many pairs of palpi 
 
 can you see connected with the mouth- parts? 
 
 How are these used when the insect is eating? 
 
 When there are many grasshoppers, what 
 
 happens to the crops? 
 
 6. What do you see just back of the grass- 
 hopper's head, when looked at from above? 
 
 7. Can the grasshopper fly as well as 
 jump? How many pairs 
 
 Long horned, or meadow, 
 grasshopper. 
 
 wings has it? 
 
 Does 
 
 Front leg of katydid, 
 
 showing ear near elbow. 
 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
 Wing oj male and of female 
 
 meadoiv grasshoppers. 
 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
 and find the ear on the 
 the abdomen. 
 
 9. If you seize the grasshopper how 
 does it show that it is offended? 
 
 10. How does the grasshopper per- 
 form its toilet? Describe how it cleans 
 its antennae, face and legs. 
 
 11. What becomes of the grasshop- 
 pers in the winter ? Where are the eggs 
 laid ? How can you tell a young from a 
 full-grown grasshopper? 
 
 12. Do all grasshoppers have anten- 
 nae shorter than half the length of their 
 bodies ? Do some have antennas longer 
 than their bodies? Where are the long- 
 horned grasshoppers found ? Describe 
 how they resemble the katydids in the 
 way they make music and in the position 
 of their ears. 
 
 Supplementary reading — Chapters 
 XVI-XVIII in Grasshopper Land, Morley. 
 
 of 
 
 it use the first pair of 
 wings to fly with ? How 
 does it hold them when 
 flying? Where is the 
 lower or hind pair of 
 wings when the grass- 
 hopper is walking? How 
 do they differ in shape 
 from the front wings? 
 
 8. Note the abdomen. It is made of many 
 rings or segments. Are these rings continuous 
 around the enti ebody? Where do their breaks 
 occur? Describe the movement of the abdo- 
 men as the insect breathes. Can you see the 
 spiracles or breathing pores? Lift the wings, 
 first segment of 
 
 Short-horned and long-horned, 
 or meadow, grasshoppers. 
 
Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 '/ love to hear thine earnest voice 
 Wherever thou art hid. 
 Thou testy little dogmatist, 
 Thou pretty katydid, 
 
 THE KATYDID 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Thou mindest me of gentle folks. 
 Old gentle folks are they, 
 Thou say'st an ttndisputed tiling 
 In such a solemn ivay." 
 
 — Holmes. 
 
 ISTANCE, however, lends enchantment to the song of 
 the katydid, for it grates on our nerves as well as on 
 our ears, when at close quarters. The katydid makes 
 his music in a manner similar to that of the cricket 
 but is not, however, so well equipped since he has 
 only one file and only one scraper for plaA'ing. As 
 with the meadow grasshoppers and crickets, only the 
 males make the music, the wings of the females being 
 delicate and normally veined at the base. The ears, 
 too, are in the same position as those of the cricket, 
 and may be seen as a black spot in the front elbow. 
 The song is persistent and may last the night long: "Katy did, she didn't 
 she did." James Whitcomb Riley says, "The katydid is rasping at the 
 silence," and the word rasping well describes the note. 
 
 The katydids are beautiful insects, with green, finely veined, leaf-like 
 wing-covers under which is a pair of well developed wings, folded like 
 fans; they resemble in form the long-horned grasshoppers. The com- 
 mon northern species {Cyrtophyllus) is all green above except for the 
 long, delicate, fawn-colored antennae and the brownish fiddle of the male, 
 which consists of a flat triangle just back of the thorax where the wing- 
 covers overlap. Sometimes this region is pale brown and sometimes 
 green, and with the unaided eye we can plainly see the strong cross-vein, 
 bearing the file. The green eyes have darker centers and are not so large 
 as the eyes of the grasshopper. The body is green with white lines below 
 on either side. There is a suture the length of the abdomen in which are 
 placed the spiracles. The insect breathes by sidewise expansion and 
 contraction, and the sutures rhythmically open and shut; when they are 
 open, the spiracles can be seen as black dots. The legs are slender and the 
 hind pair, very long. The feet are provided with two little pads, one on 
 each side of the base of the claw. In the grasshopper there is only one 
 pad which is placed between the two hooks of the claw. The female has 
 a green, sickle-shaped ovipositor at the end of the body. With this she 
 lays her flat, oval eggs, slightly over-lapping in a neat row. 
 
 The katydids are almost all dwellers in trees and shrubs ; although I 
 have often found our common species upon asters and similar high weeds. 
 The leaf-like wings of these insects are, in form and color, so similar to the 
 leaves that they are very completely hidden. The katydid is rarely dis- 
 covered except by accident; although when one is singing, it may be 
 approached and ferreted out with the aid of a lantern. 
 
 The katydid,when feeding, often holds the leaf or the flower firmly with 
 the front feet, while biting it off like a grazing cow, and if it is tough, 
 chews it industriously with the sidewise working jaws. A katydid will 
 often remain quiet a long time with one long antenna directed forward 
 and the other backward, as if on the lookout for news from the front and 
 
Insect Study 
 
 371 
 
 the rear. 
 
 But when the katydid "cleans up," it does a thorough job. It 
 nibbles its front feet, paying special attention 
 to the pads, meanwhile holding the foot to its 
 mandibles with the aid of the palpi. But once 
 washing is not enough; I have seen a katydid 
 go over the same foot a dozen times in succes- 
 sion, beginning always with the hind spurs of 
 The front portions of the wings the tibia and nibbling along the tarsus to the 
 of a male katydid showing claws. It cleans its face with its front foot, 
 file on one ^J^'S and scraper drawing it downward over the eye and then 
 on e er. licking it clean. It cleans its antenna with 
 
 its mandibles by beginnmg at the base and drawing it up in a loop as fast 
 as finished. After watching the process of these lengthy ablutions, we 
 must conclude that the katydid is among the most fastidious members of 
 the insect "four hundred." 
 
 References — Manual for Study of Insects, Comstock; American Insects, 
 Kellogg; Ways of Six Footed, Comstock; Grasshopper Land, Morley. 
 
 The anguhir-winged katydid and her eggs. 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
372 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON LXXXI 
 Thk K at void 
 
 Leading thought— The katvdids resemble the long-horned grasshoppers 
 and the crickets. They Hve'in trees, and the male sings "katy-did" by 
 means of a musical instrument similar to that of the cricket. 
 
 Method — Place a katydid in a cricket cage in the schoolroom, giving it 
 fresh leaves or flowers ea'ch day, and encouraging the pupils to watch it at 
 recess. It may be placed in a vial and passed around, for close observa- 
 tion. In studying this insect, use the lesson on the red-legged grass- 
 hopper and also that on the cricket. These lessons will serve to call the 
 attention of the pupils to the differences and resemblances between the 
 katydid and these two allied insects. 
 
 
 A pair of dusky lovers. 
 Drawing by Ida Baker. 
 
 THE BLACK CRICKETS 
 
 Of the insect musicians the cricket is easily the most popular. Long associated 
 with man, as a companion of the hearth and the field, his song touches ever the 
 chords of htiman experience. Although we, in America, do not have the house- 
 cricket which English poets praise, yet our field-crickets have a liking for warm 
 corners, and will, if encouraged, take up their abode among our hearthstones. The 
 greatest tribute to the music of the cricket is the wide range of human emotion which 
 it expresses. "As merry as a cricket" is a very old saying and is evidence that the 
 cricket's fiddling has ever chimed with the gay moods of dancers and merrymakers. 
 Again, the cricket's song is made an emblem of peace; and again we hear that the 
 cricket's "plaintive cry'^' is taken as the harbinger of the sere and dying year. From 
 happiness to utter loneliness is the gamut covered by this sympathetic song. Leigh 
 Hunt found him glad and thus addresses him: 
 
 "And you, little housekeeper who class 
 Wiili those who think the candles come too soon. 
 Loving the fire, and with your tricksome tune 
 Nick the glad, silent moments as they pass." 
 
 Ways of the Six-Footed. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 373 
 
 THE BLACK CRICKET 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 IF we wish to become acquainted with these charming 
 httle troubadours of the field, we should have a 
 cricket cage with a pair of them within it. They are 
 most companionable, and it is interesting to note how 
 quickly they respond to a musical sound. I had a 
 pair in my room at one time, when I lived very near 
 a cathedral. Almost every time that the bells rang 
 during the night, my cricket would respond with a 
 most vivacious and sympathetic chirping. 
 The patent leather finish to this cricket's clothes is 
 of great use; for, although the cricket is an efhcient 
 jumper, it is after all, mostly by running between grass blades that it 
 escapes its enemies. If we try to catch one, we realize how slippery it is, 
 and how efficiently it is thus able to slide through the fmgers. 
 
 The haunts of the cricket are usually sunny; it digs a little cave 
 beneath a stone or clod in some field, where it can have the whole benefit 
 of all the sunshine, when it issues from its door. These crickets cannot 
 fly, since they have no wings under their wing-covers, as do the grass- 
 hoppers. The hind legs have a strong femur, and a short but strong tibia 
 with downward slanting spines along the hind edge, which undoubtedly 
 help the insect in scrambling through the grass. At the end of the tibia, 
 next to the foot, is a rosette of five spines, the two longer ones slanting to 
 
 A section of the file enlarged. 
 
 The wing of male cricket 
 
 enlarged. 
 
 a, file b. scraper. 
 
 The front leg of a cricket enlarged 
 showing ear at a. 
 
 meet the foot; these spines give the insect a firm hold, when making 
 ready for its spring. When walking, the cricket places the whole hind 
 foot flat on the ground, but rests only upon the claw and the segment next 
 to it, of the front pairs of feet. The claws have no pads like those of the 
 katydid or grasshopper; the segment of the tarsus next the claw has long 
 spines on the hind feet and shorter spines on the middle and front feet, 
 thus showing that the feet VJSQ not made for climbing, but for scrambling 
 along the ground. When getting ready to jump, the cricket crouches so 
 that the tibia and fomur of the hind legs are shut together and almost on 
 the ground. The dynamics of the cricket's leap are well worth studying. 
 
374 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The cricket's features are not so easily made out, because the head is 
 pohshcd and black; the eyes are not so polished as the head, and the 
 simple eyes are present but are discerned with difficulty. The antennae 
 are longer than the body and very active; there is a globular segment 
 where they join the face. I have not discovered that the crickets are so 
 fastidious'about keeping generally clean as are some other insects, but 
 they are always cleaning their antennee : I have seen a cricket play his 
 wing niandoHn lustily and at the same time carefully clean his antemicc; 
 he polished these by putting up a foot and bending the antenna down so 
 that his mouth reached it near the base; he then pulled the antenna 
 through his jaws with great deliberation, nibbling it clean to the very end. 
 The lens reveals to us that the flexibility of the antenna.' is due to the fact 
 that they are many jointed. The palpi are easily seen, a large pair above 
 and a smaller pair beneath the "chin." The palpi are used to test food 
 and prove if it be palatable. The crickets are fond of melon or other 
 sweet, juicy fruits, and by putting such food into the cage we can see them 
 bite out pieces with their sidewise working jaws, chewing the toothsome 
 morsel with gusto. They take hold of the substance they are eating with 
 the front feet as if to make sure of it. 
 
 The wing-covers of the cricket are bent down at the sides at right 
 angles, like a box cover. The wing-covers are much shorter than the 
 abdomen and beneath them are vestiges of wings, which are never used. 
 The male has larger wing-covers than the female, and they are veined in a 
 
 pecuhar scroll pattern. This veining 
 seems to be a framework for the purpose 
 of making a sounding board of the wing 
 membrane, by stretching it out as a 
 drum-head is stretched. Near the base 
 of the wing-cover, there is a heavy cross- 
 vein covered with transverse ridges, 
 which is called the file; on the inner 
 edge of the same wing, near the base, is 
 a hardened portion called the scraper. 
 When he makes his cry, the cricket lifts 
 his wing-covers at an angle of forty-five 
 degrees and draws the scraper of the 
 under wing against the file of the over- 
 lapping one; lest his musical apparatus 
 become worn out, he can change by 
 putting the other wing-cover above. 
 The wing-covers are excellent sounding 
 boards and they quiver as the note is 
 made, setting the air in vibration, and 
 sending the sound a long distance. The 
 female cricket's wing-covers are more normal in venation ; and she may 
 always be distinguished from her spouse by the long sword-like ovipositor 
 at the end of her body; this she thrusts into ^he ground when she lays 
 her eggs, thus placing them where they will remain safely protected 
 durmg the winter. Both sexes have a pair of "tail feathers," as the 
 children call them, which are known as the cerci {sing, cerca) and are 
 fleshy prongs at the end of the abdomen. 
 
 Male and female of the common 
 
 black cricket, showing differences 
 
 in their wings. The male is 
 
 below. 
 
 Photo by M. v. Slingerland. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 375 
 
 There would be no use of the cricket's playing his mandolin if there 
 were not an appreciative ear to listen to his music. This ear is placed 
 most conveniently in the tibia of the front leg, so that the crickets literally 
 hear with their elbows, as do the katydids and the meadow grasshoppers. 
 The ear is easily seen with the naked eye as a little white, disklike spot. 
 
 The chirp of the cricket is, in literature, usually associated with the 
 coming of autumn; but the careful hstener may hear it in early summer, 
 although the song is not then so insistent as later in the season. He 
 usually commences singing in the afternoon and keeps it up periodically 
 all night. I have always been an admirer of the manly, dignified methods 
 of this little "minnesinger," who does not wander abroad to seek his lady 
 love but stands sturdily at his own gate, playing his mandolin the best he 
 is able; he has faith that his sable sweetheart is not far away, and that if 
 she likes his song she will come to him of her own free will. The cricket is 
 ever a lover of warmth and his mandolin gets out of tune soon after the 
 evenings become frosty. He is a jealous musician. When he hears the 
 note of a rival, he at once "bristles up," lifting his wings at a higher angle 
 and giving off a sharp militant note. If the two rivals come in sight of 
 each other, there is a tierce duel. They rush at each other with wide open 
 jaws, and fight until one is conquered and retreats, often minus an 
 antenna, cerca, or even a leg. The cricket's note has a wide range of 
 expression. When waiting for his lady love, he keeps up a constant 
 droning; if he hears his rival, the tone is sharp and defiant; but as the 
 object of his afi;ection approaches, the music changes to a seductive 
 whispering, even having in it an uncertain quiver, as if his feelings were 
 too strong for utterance. 
 
 References — Manual for Study of Insects, p. 115; Insect Musicians;" 
 Ways of the Six Footed, Comstock. 
 
 A cricket cage. 
 
 LESSON LXXXII 
 The Black Cricket 
 
 Leading thought — The crickets are among the 
 most famous of the insect musicians. They live in 
 the fields under stones and in burrows, and feed 
 upon grass and clover. As with the song birds, 
 the male only makes nmsic; he has his wing- 
 covers developed into a mandolin or violin, which 
 he plays to attract his mate and also for his own 
 pleasure. 
 
 Method — Make some cricket cages as follows: 
 Take a small flower-pot and plant in it a root of 
 fresh grass or clover. Place over this and press 
 well into the soil a lantern or lamp chimney. 
 Cover the top with mosquito netting. Place the 
 pot in its saucer, so that it may be watered by 
 keeping the saucer filled. Ask the pupils to 
 collect some crickets. In each cage, place a male 
 and one or more females, the latter being readily 
 distinguished by the long ovipositors. Place the 
 cages in a sunny window, where the pupils may 
 
376 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 observe them at recess, and ask for the following observations. In 
 studying the cricket closely, it may be well to put one in a vial and pass 
 it around. In observing the crickets eat, it is well to give them a 
 piece of sweet apple or melon rind, as they are very fond of pulpy fruits. 
 Observations — i. Is the covering of the cricket shining, like black 
 patent leather, or is it dull? What portions are dull? Of what use 
 do you think it is to the cricket to be so smoothly polished ? 
 
 2. Where did you find the crickets? When you tried to catch 
 them, how did they act? Did they fly like grasshoppers or did they 
 run and leap? 
 
 3. Look carefully at the cricket's legs. Which is the largest of the 
 three pairs? Of what use are these strong legs? Look carefully at 
 the tibia of the hind leg. Can you see the strong spines at the end, 
 just behind the foot or tarsus? Watch the cricket jump and see if 
 you can discover the use of these spines. How many joints in the 
 tarsus? Has the cricket a pad like the grasshopper's between its claws? 
 When the cricket walks or jumps does it walk on all the tarsus of each 
 pair of legs? 
 
 4. Study the cricket's head. Can you see the eyes? Describe the 
 antenna — their color, length, and the way they are used. Watch the 
 cricket clean its antenme and describe the process. Can you see the little 
 feelers, or palpi, connected with the mouth? How many are there? 
 How does it use these feelers in tasting food before it eats? Watch the 
 cricket eat, and see whether you can tell whether its mouth is made for 
 biting or sucking. 
 
 5. Study the wings. Are the wings of the mother cricket the same 
 size and shape as those of her mate? How do they differ? Does the 
 cricket have any wings under these front wings, as the grasshopper does? 
 Note the cricket when he is playing his wing mandolin to attract his 
 mate. How does he make the noise? Can you see the wings vibrate? 
 Ask your teacher to show you a picture of the musical wings of the 
 cricket, or to show you the wings themselves under the microscope, so 
 that you may see how the music is made. 
 
 6. Why does the mother cricket need such a long ovipositor? Where 
 does she put her eggs in the fall to keep them safe until spring? 
 
 7. Look in the tibia, or elbow, of the front leg for a little white spot. 
 What do you suppose this is? Are there any white spots like it on the 
 other legs? Ask your teacher to tell you what this is. 
 
 8. Can you find the homes of the crickets in the fields? Do the black 
 crickets chirp in the day-time or after dark? Do they chirp in cold or 
 windy weather, or only when the sun shines? 
 
 Supplementary Reading — Grasshopper Land, Morley, Chapter XTX. 
 
 CRICKET SONG. 
 
 Welcome with thy clicking, cricket! No annoy, good-humored cricket, 
 
 Clicking songs of sober mirth; With thy trills is ever blent ; 
 
 Autumn, stripping field and thicket. Spleen of mine, how dost thou trick it 
 
 Brings thee to my hearth. To a calm content ? 
 
 Where thy clicking shrills and quickens, So, by thicket, hearth, or wicket, 
 
 While the mist of twilight thickens. Click thy little lifetime, cricket ! 
 
 *********** Bayard Taylor. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 377 
 
 THE SNOWY TREE-CRICKET 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 ^^HIS is a slim, ghost-like cricket. It is pale green, 
 almost white in color, and about three-fourths of an 
 inch long. Its long, slender hind legs show that it is 
 a good jumper. Its long antennae, living threads, 
 pale gray in color, join the head with amber globe-like 
 segments. The pale eyes have a darker center and 
 the palpi are very long. The male has the wing- 
 covers shaped and veined like those of the black 
 cricket, but they are not so broad and are whitish and 
 verv delicate. The wings beneath are wide, for these 
 crickets can fly. The female has a long, sword-like ovipositor. 
 
 The snowy tree-cricket, like its relatives, spends much time at its 
 toilet. It whips the front foot over an antenna and brings the base of the 
 latter to the mandibles with the palpi and then cleans it carefully to the 
 very tip. It washes its face with the front foot, always with a downward 
 movement. If the hind foot becomes entangled in anything it first tries 
 to kick it clean, and then drawing it beneath the body, bends the head so 
 as to reach it with the mandibles and nibbles it clean. The middle foot 
 it also thrusts beneath the body, bringing it forward 
 between the front legs for cleaning. But when 
 cleaning its front feet, the snowy tree-cricket puts on 
 airs; it lifts the elbow high and draws the foot 
 through the mouth with a gesture very like that of a 
 young lady with a seal ring on her little finger, hold- 
 ing the ornate member out from its companions as if 
 it were stiff with a consciousness of its own import- 
 ance. 
 
 There are two common species of the snowy tree- 
 crickets which can hardly be separated except by 
 specialists or by watching their habits. One is 
 called "the whistler" and lives on low shrubs or 
 grass; it gives a clear, soft, prolonged, unbroken 
 note. The other is called "the fiddler" and lives on 
 shrubs and in trees and vines. Its note is a pianis- 
 simo performance of the katydid's song; it is delight- 
 ful, rhythmic and sleep-inspiring; it begins in the late 
 afternoon and continues all night until the early, 
 cold hours of the approaching dawn. The vivacity 
 of the music depends upon the temperature, as the 
 notes are given much more rapidly during the hot 
 nights. 
 
 "So far as we know, this snowy tree-cricket is the ^ 
 only one of the insect musicians that seems conscious 
 
 of the fact that he belongs to an orchestra. 
 
 Eggs of snowy tree- 
 
 ot tne lact tnat ne oeiongs to an orcnestra. If you 7^'^^'^^^/ /,,jy in rasp- 
 listen on a September evening, you will hear the first berrv cane. 
 player begin; soon another will join, but not in After c. v. Riiey. 
 harmony at first. For some time there may be a 
 see-saw of accented and unaccented notes; but after a wdiile the two will 
 be in unison ; perhaps not, however, until many more players have joined 
 
378 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 the concert. When the rhythmical beat is once established it is in as 
 
 perfect time as if governed by the baton of a Damrosch or a Thomas. 
 
 The throbbing of the cricket heart of September, it has 
 
 been fitly named. Sometimes an injudicious player 
 
 joins the chorus at the wrong beat, but he soon discovers 
 
 his error and rectifies it. Sometimes, also, late at night, 
 
 one part of the orchestra in an orchard gets out of time 
 
 with the majority, and discord may continue for some 
 
 moments, as if the players were too cold and too sleepy 
 
 to pay good attention. This delectable concert begins 
 
 usually in the late afternoons and continues without 
 
 ceasing until just before dawn the next morning. Many 
 
 times I have heard the close of the concert; with the 
 
 "wee sma" hours the rhythmic beat becomes slower; 
 
 toward dawn there is a falling off in the numVjer of players; 
 
 the beat is still slower, and the notes are hoarse, as if the 
 
 fiddlers were tired and cold; finally, when only two or 
 
 three are left the music stops abruptly." (Ways of the Six-Footed, 
 
 Comstock.) 
 
 The lesson on this cricket may be adapted from that on the black 
 cricket. 
 
 Snowy tree 
 cricket. 
 
 THE COCKROACH 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 [OCKROACHES in our kitchens are undoubtedly an 
 unmitigated nuisance, and yet, as in many other in- 
 stances, when we come to consider the individual 
 cockroach, we find him an interesting fellow and 
 exceedingly well adapted for living in our kitchens 
 despite us. 
 
 In shape, the cockroach is flat, and is thus well 
 adapted to slide beneath utensils and into crevices 
 and corners. Its covering is smooth and pohshed. 
 like patent leather, and this makes it slippery and 
 ^^ enables it to get into food without becoming clogged 
 
 '^^ by the adherence of any sticky substance. The 
 
 antennai are very long and flexible and can be bent in any direction. 
 They may be placed far forward to touch things which the 
 insect is approaching, or may be placed over the back in order 
 to be out of the way. They are like graceful, living threads, 
 and the cockroach tests its whole environment with their aid. 
 The mouth has two pairs of palpi or feelers, one of which is 
 very long and noticeable; these are kept in consta. c motion 
 asif to test the appetizing qualities of food. Them uth-parts 
 are provided with jaws for biting and, like all insect jt ,vs, these 
 work sidewise instead of up and down. The eyes are black 
 but not prominent or large, and seem to be merely a part of 
 ths sleek, polished head-covering. 
 
 Some species of cockroaches have wings, and some do not. 
 Those which have wings, have the upper pair thickened and used for wing- 
 
Insect Study 
 
 379 
 
 covers. The under pair are thinner and are laid in plaits like a fan. The 
 wing-covers are as polished as the body and quite as successful in shedding 
 dirt. 
 
 The legs are armed with long spines which are very noticeable and 
 might prove to be a disadvantage in accumulating filth; but they are 
 polished also; and too, this insect spends much time at its toilet. 
 
 Cockroaches run "like a streak", children say; so speedily, indeed, do 
 they go that they escape our notice, although w^e may be looking directly 
 at them. This celerity in vanishing, saves many a cockroach from being 
 crushed by an avenging foot. 
 
 When making its toilet, the cockroach 
 draws its long antenna through its jaws as 
 if it were a whiplash, beginning at the base 
 and finishing at the tip. It cleans each leg 
 by beginning near the body and so stroking 
 downward the long spines which seem to shut 
 against the leg. It nibbles its feet clean to 
 
 the very claws, and 
 
 scrubs its head 
 ously with the 
 femur. 
 
 The cockroach's 
 eggs are laid in a mass 
 shaped covering, which 
 polished and protects its contents from damp 
 ness. When the cockroaches, or the croton 
 bugs, as the small introduced species of cock- 
 roach is called, once become established in a 
 house, the only \Yi\y to get rid of them is to 
 fumigate the kitchen w^ith carbon bisulphide 
 
 vigor- 
 front 
 
 .vtililK'*'*!; 
 
 Egg-case of cockroach. 
 
 enclosed in a pod- 
 is waterproof and 
 
 Cockroach laying her case 
 of eggs. 
 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 which is a dangerous performance and should be done only by an expert. 
 
 LESSON LXXXIII 
 The Cockroach 
 
 Leading thought — The cockroach is adapted for living in crevices, and 
 although its haunts may be anything but clean, the cockroach keeps itself 
 quite clean. The American species live in fields and woods and under 
 stones and sticks and only occasionally venture into dwellings. The 
 species that infest our kitchens and water-pipes are European. 
 
 Method — Place a cockroach in a vial with bread, potato or some other 
 food, cork the vial, and pass it around so that the children may observe 
 the prisoner at their leisure. 
 
 Observations — i. What is the general shape of the cockroach? Why 
 is this an advantage? What is the texture of its covering? Why is this 
 an advantage? 
 
 2. Describe the antennas and the way they are used. Note the two 
 little pairs of feelers at the mouth. If possible, see how they are used 
 when the cockroach is inspecting something to eat. Can you see whether 
 its mouth is fitted for biting, lapping or sucking its food? 
 
3 So 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 3. Note the eyes. Are they as large and prominent as those of the 
 bees or butterflies? 
 
 4. Has this cockroach wings? If so, how many and what are they 
 Hke? Note two Httle organs at the end of the body? These are the 
 cerci. like those of the crickets. 
 
 5. Describe the general appearance of the cockroach's legs, and tell 
 what you think about its ability as a runner. 
 
 6. ' Note how the cockroach cleans itself and how completely and care- 
 fully this act is performed. Have you ever seen cockroach's eggs? If so, 
 describe them. 
 
 7. How can you get rid of cockroaches if they invade your kitchen? 
 
 LESSON LXXXIV 
 
 How TO Make an Aquarium 
 
 HE schoolroom aquarium may be a very simple 
 affair and still be effective. Almost any glass 
 receptacle will do, glass being chosen because of 
 its transparency, so that the life within may be 
 observed. Tumblers, jelly tumblers, fruit jars, 
 butter jars, candy jars and battery jars are all 
 available for aquaria. The tumblers are especially 
 recommended for observing the habits of aquatic 
 insects. 
 
 To make an aquarium: i. Place in the jar a layer of sand an inch 
 or more in depth. 
 
 2. In this sand plant the water plants which 3^ou find growing under 
 water in a pond or stream; the plants most available are Water-weed, 
 Bladderwort, Water Starwort, Watercress, Stoneworts, Frog-spittle or 
 Water-silk. 
 
 3. Place on top a layer of small stones or gravel; this is to hold the 
 plants in place. 
 
 4. Tip the jar a little and pour in very gently at one side water taken 
 from a pond or stream. Fill the jar to within two or three inches of 
 the top; if it be a jelly tumbler, fill to within an inch of the top. 
 
 5. Let it settle. 
 
 6. Place it in a window which does not get too direct sunlight. A 
 north window is the best place ; if there is no north window to the school 
 room, place it far enough at one side of some other window so that it will 
 not receive too much sunlight. 
 
 7. To get living creatures for the aquarium use a dip-net, which is 
 made like a shallow, insect net. 
 
 8. Dip deep into the edges of the pond and be sure to bring up some 
 of the leaves and mud, for it is in these that the little Abater animals live. 
 
 9. As fast as dipped up, these should be placed in a pail of water, so 
 that they may be carried to the schoolroom. 
 
 ID. In introducing the water animals into the aquarium -t is well to 
 put but a few in each jar. 
 
 The care of the aquarium — Care should be taken to preserve the plant 
 life in the aquarium, as the plants are necessary to the life of the animals. 
 They not only supply the food, but they give off oxygen which the animals 
 
Insect Study 
 
 381 
 
 need for breathing, and they also take up from the water the poisonous 
 carbonic acid gas given oft" from the bodies of the animals. 
 
 1. The aquarium should be kept where there is a free circulation of 
 air. 
 
 2. If necessary to cover the aquarium to prevent the insects, like the 
 water boatmen and water beetles, from escaping, tie over it a bit of mos- 
 quito netting, or lay upon the top a little square of wire netting used for 
 window screens. 
 
 3. The temperature should be kept rather cool; it is better that the 
 water of the aquarium should not be warmer than 50 deg. Fahrenheit, but 
 this is not always possible in the schoolroom. 
 
 4. If any insects or animals die in the aquarium they should be 
 removed at once, as the decomposing bodies render the water foul. 
 
 5. To feed the animals that live upon other animals take a bit of raw 
 beef, tie a string to it and drop it in, leaving the free end of the string 
 outside of the jar. After it has been in one day, pull it out; for if it 
 remains longer it will make the water foul. 
 
 6. As the water evaporates it should be replaced with water from the 
 pond. 
 
 References — The Fresh Water Aquarium, Eggeling and Ehrenberg; 
 Insect Life, Comstock; The Brook Book, Miller; Nature Study and 
 Life, Hodge- The Home Aquarium, How to Care for It, Eugecie S-mith. 
 
 A humble, but useful, 
 aquarium. 
 
 All inexpensive and durable aquarium. 
 
382 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE DRAGON-FLIES AND DAMSEL-FLIES 
 
 Teacher s Story 
 
 POND without dragon-flies darting above it, or without the ex- 
 quisitely iridescent damsel-flies clinging to the leaves 
 of its border would be a lonely place indeed. As one 
 watches these beautiful insects, one wonders at the 
 absurd errors which have crept into popular credence 
 about them. Who could be so silly as to believe 
 that they could sew up ears or that they could bring 
 dead snakes to life! The queer names of these in- 
 sects illustrate the prejudices of the ignorant— devil's 
 darning needles, snake doctors, snake feeders, etc. 
 Despite all this slander, the dragon-flies remain not 
 only entirely harmless to man, but in reality are his 
 friends and allies in waging war against flies and 
 mosquitoes; they are especially valuable in battling mosquitoes since 
 the nymphs, or young, of the dragon-fly, take the wrigglers in the 
 water, and the adults, on swiftest wings, take the mosquitoes while 
 hovering over ponds laying their eggs. 
 
 The ten-spot. 
 
 From Outdoor Studies, Needham. 
 
 The poets have been lavish in their attention to these interesting 
 insects and have paid them delightful tributes. Riley says: 
 
 "Till the dragon fly, in light gauzy armor burnished bright. 
 Came tilting down the waters in a wild, bewildered flight." 
 
 While Tennyson drew inspiration for one of his most beautiful poems 
 from the two stages of dragon-fly life. But perhaps Lowell in that 
 exquisite poem, "The Fountain of Youth," gives us the perfect descrip- 
 tion of these insects: 
 
 In summer-noon flushes 
 When all the wood hushes, 
 Blue dragon-flies knitting 
 To and fro in the sun. 
 With sidelong jerk flitting. 
 Sink down on the rushes, 
 
 And, motionless sitting, 
 Hear it bubble and run. 
 Hear its low inivard singing. 
 With level ivings swinging 
 On green tasselled rushes. 
 To dream in the sun. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 383 
 
 A common dragon-fly. 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
 It is while we, ourseives, are dreaming m the sun by the margin of 
 
 some pond, that these swift children of the air seem but a natural part 
 
 of the dream. Yet if we 
 
 waken to note them more 
 
 closely, we find many things 
 
 very real to interest us. 
 
 First, they are truly children 
 
 of the sun, and if some cloud 
 
 throws its shadow on the 
 
 waters for some moments, 
 
 the dragon-flies disappear as 
 
 if they wore the invisible 
 
 cloak of the fairy tale. 
 
 Only a few of the common 
 
 species fly alike in shade and 
 
 sunshine, and early and late. 
 
 The best known of these is 
 
 the big, green skimmer, which does not care so much for ponds, but 
 
 darts over fields and even dashes into our houses, now and then. 
 
 Probably it is this species which has started all of the dragon-fly 
 
 slander, for it is full of curiosity, and will hold itself on wings whirring too 
 
 rapidly to even make a blur, while it examines our faces or inspects the 
 
 pictures or furniture or other objects which attract it. 
 
 Another thing we may note when dreaming by 
 the pond is that the larger species of dragon-flies 
 keep to the higher regions above the water, while 
 the smaller species and the damsel-flies flit near its 
 surface. Well may the smaller species keep below 
 their fierce kindred, otherwise they would surely 
 be utilized to sate their hunger, for these insects are 
 well named dragons, and dragons do not stop to 
 inquire whether their victims are relatives or not. 
 It is when they are resting, that the dragon and 
 damsel-flies reveal their most noticeable dift'erences. 
 The dragon-fly extends both wings as if in flight 
 while it basks in the sun or rests in the shadow. 
 There is a big, white-bodied species called the 
 whitetail which slants its wings forward and down 
 when it rests; but the damsel-flies fold their wings 
 together over the back when resting. The damsel- 
 flies have more brilliantly colored bodies than do 
 the dragon-flies, many of them being iridescent 
 green or coppery; they are more slender and 
 delicate in form. The damsel-fly has eyes which 
 are so placed on the sides of the head as to make 
 it look like a cross on the front of the body fastened 
 to the slender neck, and with an eye at the tip of 
 each arm. There are very many species of dragon 
 and damsel-flies, but they all have the same general habits. 
 
 The dragon-fly nymphs are the ogres of the pond or stream. To anv- 
 one unused to them and their ways in the aquarium, there is a surprise 
 in store, so ferocious are they in their attacks upon creatures twice 
 
 A damsel-fly. 
 
 Outdoor Studies 
 Needham. 
 
384 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 their size. The dragon-fly's eggs are laid in the water; in some 
 
 instances they are simply dropped and sink 
 to the bottom; but in the case of damsel-flies, the 
 mother punctures the stems of aquatic plants and 
 places the eggs within them. The nymph in no 
 wise resembles the parent dragon-fly. It is a 
 dingy little creature, with six queer, spider-like 
 legs and no wings; although there are four little 
 wing-pads extending down its back, which encase 
 the growing wings. It may remain hidden in the 
 rubbish at the bottom of the pond or may cling 
 to water weeds at the sides, for different species 
 have different habits. But in them all we find a 
 most amazing lower lip. This is so large that it 
 covers the lower part of the face like a mask, and 
 when folded back reaches down between the front 
 legs. It is in reality a grappling organ with hooks 
 and spines for holding prey; it is hinged in such a 
 manner that it can be thrust out far beyond the 
 head to seize some insect, unsuspecting of danger. 
 These nymphs move so slowly and look so much 
 like their background, that they are always 
 practically in ambush awaiting their victims. 
 
 The breathing of the dragon-fly nymphs is peculiar; there is an 
 enlargement of the rear end of the alimentary canal, in the walls of which 
 tracheae or breathing tubes extend in all directions. The nymph draws 
 water into this cavity and then expels it, thus bathing the tracheae with 
 the air mixed with water and purifying the air within them. Expelling 
 the water so forcibly, propels the nymph ahead, so this act serves as a 
 method of swimming as well as of breath- 
 ing. Damsel-fly nymphs, on the other 
 hand, have at the rear end of the body, 
 three long, plate-like gills, each ramified 
 with tracheae. 
 
 Nymphs grow by shedding the skin 
 as fast as it becomes too small; and when 
 finally ready to emerge, they crawl up on 
 some object out of the water, and molt for 
 the last time, and are thereafter swift 
 creatures of the air. 
 
 References — American Insects, Kellogg. 
 Comstock's Manual 
 
 Nymph of a damsel-fly. 
 Outdoor Studies, Needham. 
 
 Nymph of a dragon-fly. 
 
 Seen from the side, showing the position 
 
 of the great lower Hp when folded 
 
 beneath the head. 
 
 From Outdoor Studies, Needha m. 
 
 LESSON LXXXV 
 
 The Dragon-flies and Damsel-flies 
 
 Leading thought — ^The dragon-flies are among the swiftest of all winged 
 creatures and their rapid, darting flight enables them to hawk their prey, 
 which consists of other flying insects. Their first stages are passed in the 
 bottoms of ponds where they feed voraciously on aquatic creatures. The 
 dragon-flies are beneficial to us because, when very young and when full 
 grown, they feed largely upon mosquitoes. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 385 
 
 Front view of the same nymph. 
 Outdoor Studies, Needham. 
 
 Method — ^The work of observing the habits of adult dragon-flies should 
 be largely done in the field during late summer and early autumn. The 
 points for observation should be given the pupils for summer vacation 
 use, and the results placed in the field note-book. 
 
 The nymphs may be studied in the spring, when getting material for 
 the aquarium. April and May are the best months for securing them. 
 They are collected by using a dip-net, and are found in the bottoms of 
 reedy ponds or along the edges of slow-flowing streams. These nymphs 
 are so voracious that they cannot be trusted in the aquarium with other 
 insects; each must be kept by itself. They may be fed by placing other 
 water insects in the aquarium with them 
 or by giving them pieces of fresh meat. 
 In the latter case, tie the meat to a 
 thread so that it may be removed after 
 a few hours, if not eaten, since it soon 
 renders the water foul. 
 
 The dragon-fly aquarium should have 
 sand at the bottom and some water 
 weeds planted in it, and there should be 
 some object in it which extends above 
 the surface of the water which the 
 nymphs, when ready to change to adults, 
 can climb upon while they are shedding the 
 last nymphal skin, and spreading their 
 new wings. 
 
 Observations on the young of dragon- 
 flies — I. Where did you find these in- 
 sects? "Were they at the bottom of the 
 pond or along the edges among the water 
 weeds? 
 
 2 . Are there any plume-like gills at the 
 end of the body? If so, how many? Are 
 these plate-like gills used for swimming? 
 If there are three of these, which is the 
 longer? Do you know whether the 
 nymphs with these long gills develop into 
 dragon or into damsel-flies? 
 
 3. If there are no plume-like gills at 
 the end of the body, how do the insects move? Can they swim? What 
 is the general color of the body? Explain how this color protects them 
 from observation? What enemies does it protect them from? 
 
 4. _ Are the eyes large? Can you see the little wing-pads on the back 
 in which the wings are developing? Are the antennae long? 
 
 5. Observe how the nymphs of both dragon and damsel-flies seize 
 their prey. Describe the great lower lip when extended for prey. How 
 does it look when folded up? 
 
 6. Can you see how a nymph without the plume-like gills breathes? 
 Notice if the water is drawn into the rear end of the body and then 
 expelled. Does this process help the insect in swimming? 
 
 7. When the dragon or damsel-fly nymph has reached its full growth, 
 where does it go to change to the winged form? How does this change 
 take place? Look on the rushes and reeds along the pond margin, and see 
 
 The same iiympli seen from above. 
 Outdoor Studies, Needham. 
 
2 86 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 if you can find the empty nymph skins from which the adults emerged. 
 Where is the opening in them? 
 
 Observations on the adult dragon-flies— I. Catch a dragon-fly, place 
 it under a tumbler and see how it is fitted for life in the air. Which is the 
 widest part of its body? Note the size of the eyes compared with the 
 remainder of the head. Do they almost meet at the top of the head? 
 How far do they extend down the sides of the head? Why does the 
 dragon-fly need such large eyes? Why does a creature with such eyes 
 not^need long antennae? Can you see the dragon-fly's antennae? Look 
 with a lens at the little, swollen triangle between the place where the two 
 eyes join and the forehead; can you see the little, simple eyes? Can you 
 see the mouth-parts? 
 
 2. Next to the head, which is the widest and strongest part of the 
 body? Why does the thorax need to be so big and strong? Study the 
 wings. How do the hind wings differ in shape from the front wings? 
 How is the thin membrane of the wings made strong? Are the wings 
 spotted or colored? If so, how? Can you see if the wings are folded 
 along the front edges? Does this give strength to the part of the wing 
 which cuts the air? Take a piece of writing paper and see how easily it 
 bends ; fold it two or three times like a fan and note how much stiff er it 
 is. Is it this principle which strengthens the dragon-fly's wings? Why 
 do these wings need to be strong? 
 
 3 . Is the dragon-fly's abdomen as wide as the front part of the body ? 
 What help is it to the insect when flying to have such a long abdomen? 
 
 Outline for field notes— Go to a pond or sluggish stream when the sun 
 is shining, preferably at midday, and note as far as possible the following 
 things : 
 
 1. Do you see dragon-flies darting over the pond? Describe their 
 flight. They are hunting flies and mosquitoes and other insects on the 
 wing; note how they do it. If the sky becomes cloudy, can you see the 
 dragon-flies hunting? In looking over a pond where there are many 
 dragon-flies darting about, do the larger species fly higher than the 
 smaller ones? 
 
 2. Note the way the dragon-flies hold their wings when they are 
 resting. Do they rest with their wings folded together over the abdomen 
 or are they extended out at an angle to the abdomen? Do you know how 
 this difference in attitude of resting determines one difference between the 
 damsel-flies and the dragon-flies? 
 
 3. The damsel-flies are those which hold their wings folded above the 
 back when resting. Are these as large and strong-bodied as the dragon- 
 flies ? Are their bodies more brilliantly colored ? How does the shape of 
 the head and eyes differ from those of the dragon-flies? How many 
 different colored damsel-flies can you find? 
 
 4. Do you see some dragon-flies dipping down in the water as they 
 fly? If so, they are laying their eggs. Note if you find others clinging to 
 reeds or other plants with the abdomen thrust below the surface of the 
 water. If so, these are inserting their eggs into the stem of the plant. 
 
 Supplementary reading — Outdoor Studies, Needham, p. 54; "The 
 Dragon of Lagunita" in Insect Stories, Kellogg. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 387 
 
 THE CADDIS-WORMS AND THE CADDIS-FLIES 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 EOPLE are to be pitied who have never tried to fathom 
 the mysteries of the bottom of brook or pond. Just to 
 he flat, face downward, and watch for a time all that 
 happens down there in that water world, is far more 
 interesting than witnessing any play ever given at 
 matinee. At first one sees nothing, since all the swift- 
 moving creatures have whisked out of sight, because 
 they have learned to be shy of moving shadows; but 
 soon the crayfish thrusts out his boxing gloves from 
 some crevice, then a school of tiny minnows "stay 
 their wavy bodies 'gainst the stream;" and then 
 something strange happens ! A bit of rubbish on the bottom of the brook 
 walks off. Perhaps it is a dream, or we are under the enchantment of the 
 water witches! But no, there goes another, and now a little bundle of 
 sand and pebbles takes unto itself legs. These mysteries can only be 
 solved with a dip-net and a pail half filled with water, in which we 
 may carry home the treasure trove. 
 
 When we finally lodge our catch in the aquarium jar, our mysterious 
 moving sticks and stones resolve themselves into little houses built in 
 various fashions, and each containing one inmate. Some of the houses 
 are made of sticks fastened together lengthwise; some are built like 
 log cabins, crosswise; some consist simply of a hollow stem cut a con- 
 venient length ; and some are 
 made of sand and pebbles, 
 and one, the liveliest of all, is 
 a little tube made of bits of 
 rubbish and silk spun in a spir- 
 al, making a little cornucopia. 
 On the whole, the species 
 which live in the log cabins 
 are the most convenient to 
 study. Whatever the shape 
 of the case or house, it has a 
 very tough lining of silk, which 
 is smooth within, and forms 
 the framework to which the 
 sticks and stones are fastened. 
 These little dwellings always 
 have a front door and a back 
 door. Out of the front door 
 may protrude the dark-col- 
 ored head followed by two 
 dark segments and six per- 
 fectly active legs, the front 
 pair being so much shorter 
 than the other two pairs that 
 they look almost like mouth 
 palpi. In time of utter peace, 
 more of the little hermit 
 
 Log cabin caddis-worms in their cases feeding 
 upon a UAiter plant. 
 
 Photo by J. T. Lloyd. 
 
3S8 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 r" 
 
 .4 caddis-fly. 
 
 Photo by J. T. Lloyd, 
 
 is thrust out and we see the hind segment of the thorax which is 
 whitish, and behind this the abdomen of nine segments. At the sides 
 
 of the abdomen, and apparently be- 
 tween the segments, are little tassels 
 of short, white thread-like gills. 
 These are filled with air, impure from 
 contact with the blood, and which ex- 
 changes its impurities speedily for the 
 oxygen from the air which is mixed 
 with the water. Water is kept flowing in at the front door of the 
 cabin, over the gills and out at the back door, by the rhythmic movement 
 of the body of the little hermit, and thus a supply of oxygen is steadily 
 maintained. 
 
 The caddis-worm is not grown fast to its case as is the snail 
 to its shell. If we hold down with forceps a case in which the 
 occupant is wrong side up, after a few struggles to turn itself over, case 
 and all, it will turn over within the case. It keeps its hold upon the case 
 by two forward-curving hooks, one on each side of the tip of the rear 
 segment. These hooks are inserted in the tough 
 silk and hold fast. It also has on top of the first ^f^-r'r^^ 
 segment of the abdomen a tubercle, which may be 
 extended at will; this helps to brace the larva in its 
 
 stronghold, and also permits the water to flow freely A caddis-u-'orm removed 
 around the insect. So the little hermit is en- 
 
 from its case. 
 
 trenched in its cell at both ends. When the log- ^^^Tlhl fal\%Tgmem "fof ' 
 
 hoL 
 
 iing fast to the 
 case. 
 
 cabin species wishes to swim, it pushes almost its 
 
 entire body out of the case, thrusts back the head, 
 
 spreads the legs wide apart, and then doubles up, thus moving through 
 
 the water spasmodically, in a manner that reminds us of the crayfish's 
 
 swimming except that the caddis-worm goes head first. This log cabin 
 
 species can turn its case over dexterously by movements of its legs. 
 
 The front legs of the caddis-worm are so much shorter than the other 
 two pairs that they look like palpi, and their use is to hold close to the 
 jaws bits of food, which are being eaten. The other legs are used for this 
 too if the little legs cannot manage it ; perhaps also these short front legs 
 help hold the bits of building material in place while the web is woven to 
 hold it there. The caddis-worm, like the true caterpillars, has the open- 
 ing of the silk gland near the lower lip. The food of most caddis-worms 
 
 is vegetable, usually the various 
 species of water plants ; but there are 
 some species which are carnivorous, 
 like the net-builder, which is a fisher- 
 man. 
 
 The caddis-worm case protects its 
 inmate in two ways: First, from the 
 sight of the enemy, and second, from 
 its jaws. A fish comes along and sees 
 a nice white worm and darts after it, 
 only to find a bundle of unappetizing 
 sticks where the worm was. All of 
 the hungry predatory creatures of the 
 pond and stream would be glad to 
 
 Pupa of caddis-fly removed froin its 
 
 case. Xote the thread-like gills. 
 
 Photo by J. T. Lloyd. 
 
Insect btudy 
 
 3^9 
 
 Caddis-worni case fastened to leaf 
 for pupation period. 
 Photo by J. T. Lloyd. 
 
 get the caddis-worm, if they knew 
 where it went. Sometimes caddis- 
 worm cases have been found in the 
 stomachs of fishes; perhaps they 
 serve as fish breakfast-food. 
 
 While it is difiicult to see the 
 exact operation of building the 
 caddis-worm house, the general 
 proceeding may be readily observed. 
 Take a vigorous half-grown larva, 
 tear off part of the sticks and bits of 
 leaves that make the log cabin, and 
 then place the little builder in a tumbler with half an inch of water at the 
 bottom, in which are many bright flower petals cut into strips, fit for 
 caddis lumber. In a few hours the little house will look like a blossom 
 with several rows of bright petals set around its doorway. 
 
 When the caddis- worm gets ready to pupate, it fastens its case to some 
 
 object in the water and then closes 
 its front and back doors. Dift'erent 
 species accomplish this in different 
 ways; some spin and fasten a 
 silken covering over the doors; 
 often this is in the form of a pretty 
 grating; others simply fasten the 
 material of which the case is made 
 across the door. But though the 
 door be shut, it is so arranged as to 
 allow the water to flow through and 
 to bring oxygen to the thread-like 
 gills, which are on the pupae as well 
 as on the larvae. When ready to 
 emerge, the pupa crawls out of its 
 case and chmbs to some object 
 
 Grating of silk over the door of a caddis- 
 worm case to protect the pupa. 
 Photomicrograph by J. T. Lloyd. 
 
 above the water, sheds its pupa skin, and the adult insect flies off. 
 In some species, living in swift water, the adult issues directly from the 
 water, its wings expanding as soon as touched by the air. 
 
 Caddis-flies are familiar to us all even if we do not know them by name. 
 They are night fliers and flame worshippers. Their parchment-like or 
 leathery wings are folded like a roof over the back, and from the side 
 the caddis-fly appears as an elongated triangle with unequal sides. The 
 front wings are long and the hind ones shorter and wider; the antennae 
 are long and threadlike and always waving about for impressions; the 
 eyes are round and beadlike ; the tarsi, or feet, are long and these insects 
 have an awkward way of walking on the entire tarsus which gives them 
 an appearance of kneeling. Most of the species are dull-colored, brown- 
 ish or gray, the entire insect often being of one color. Caddis-flies would 
 not be so fond of burn- 
 ing themselves in lamps 
 if they had the human 
 sense of smell, for the 
 
 stench they make when Caddis-fty. 
 
 scorching is nauseat- p^°*° ^^ J- '^- ^i°>"^- 
 
,go Handbook of Nature-SUidy 
 
 ing. The mother caddis-flies lay their eggs in the water. Perhaps 
 some species drop the eggs in when hovering above, but in some cases 
 the insect must make a diving bell of her wings and go down into the 
 water to place her eggs securely. The wings are covered with hairs 
 and not with scales, and therefore they are better fitted for diving than 
 would be those of the moth. I have seen caddis-flies swim vigorously. 
 References— Kqvi2it\c Insects, Miall; Manual for the Study of Insects, 
 Comstock. 
 
 A spiral ribbon caddis-worm case. TJic Case and caddis-worm, 
 
 inmate of this case is a rapid swimmer. Comstock's Manual. 
 
 Photo by J. T. Lloyd. 
 
 LESSON LXXXVI 
 The Caddis-worms and Caddis-flies 
 
 Leading thought — ^The caddis-worms build around themselves little 
 houses out of bits of sticks, leaves or stones. They crawl about on the 
 bottom of the pond or stream, protected from sight, and able to withdraw 
 into their houses when attacked. The adult of the caddis-worm is a 
 winged moth-like creature which comes in numbers to the light at night. 
 
 Method — ^\Yith a dip-net the caddis-worms may be captured and then 
 may be placed in the school aquarium. Duckweed and other water 
 plants should be kept growing in the aquarium. The log cabin species is 
 best for this study, because it lives in stagnant water and will therefore 
 thrive in an aquarium. 
 
 Observations — i . Where do you find the caddis-worms? Can you see 
 them easily on the bottom of the stream or pond? Why? 
 
 2. Of what are the caddis-worm houses made? How many kinds 
 have you ever found? How many kinds of materials can you find on one 
 case? Describe one as exactly as possible. Find an empty case and 
 describe it inside. Why is it so smooth inside? How is it made so 
 smooth? Are all the cases the same size? 
 
 3. What does the caddis-worm do when it wi::nes to walk around? 
 What is the color of the head and the two segments back of it? What is 
 the color of the body? Why is this difference of color between the head 
 and body protective? Is the caddis-worm grown fast to its case, as the 
 turtle is to its shell? 
 
 4. Note the legs. Which is the shorter pair? How many pairs? 
 What is the use of the legs so much shorter than the others? If the 
 caddis-worm case happens to be wrong side up, how does it turn over? 
 
 5. When it wishes to come to the surface or swim, what does the 
 caddis-worm do? When reaching far out of its case does it ever lose its 
 hold? How does it hold on? Pull the caddis-worm out of its case and 
 see the hooks at the end of the body with which it holds fast. 
 
 6. How does the caddis-worm breathe? When it reaches far out of 
 its case, note the breathing gills. Describe them. Can you see how many 
 
Insect Study 391 
 
 there are on the segments? How is the blood purified through these 
 gills? 
 
 7. What are the caddis-worm's enemies? How does it escape them? 
 Touch one when it is walking, what does it do? 
 
 8. On top of the first segment of the abdomen is a tubercle. Do you 
 suppose that this helps to hold the caddis-worm in its case? 
 
 9. What does the caddis-worm eat? Describe how it acts when 
 eating. 
 
 10. How does the caddis-worm build its case? Watch one when it 
 makes an addition to its case, and describe all that you can see. 
 
 1 1 . Can you find any of the cases with the front and back doors closed ? 
 How are they closed? Open one and see if there is a pupa within it. 
 Can you see the growing wings, antennse and legs? Has it breathing 
 filaments like the larva? Cover the aquarium with mosquito netting so 
 as to get all the moths which emerge. See if you can discover how the 
 pupa changes into a caddis-fly. 
 
 12. How does the caddis-fly fold its wings? What is the general 
 shape of the insect when seen from the side with wings closed? What is 
 the texture of the wings? How many wings are there? Which pair is 
 the longer? 
 
 13. Describe the eyes. The antennas. Does the caddis-fly walk 
 on its toes, or on its complete foot? 
 
 14. Examine the moths which come around the lights at night in the 
 spring and summer. Can you tell the caddis-flies from other insects? 
 Do they dash into the light? Do they seem anxious to burn themselves? 
 
 Supplementary reading — "A Little Fisherman," Ways of the Six- 
 Footed, Comstock. 
 
 Spiral case of caddis-ii'orm made of small pebbles and sand. 
 
 Comstock' s Manual. 
 
 Little brook, so simple so unassuming — -and yet how m.any things love thee ! 
 
 Lo ! Sun and Moon look down and glass tJietnselves in thy waters. 
 
 And the trout balances itself hour-long against the stream, watching for its prey; 
 or retires under a stone to rest. 
 
 And the water-rats nibble off the willow leaves and carry them below the wave to 
 their nests — or sit on a dry stone to trim their whiskers. 
 
 And the j\lay-fly practices for the millionth time the miracle of the resurrection, 
 floating up an ungainly grub from the mud below, and in an instant, in the twink- 
 ling of an eye {even from, the jaws of the baffled trout) emerging, an aerial fairy with 
 pearl-green wings. 
 
 And tJie caddis-fly from its quaint disguise likewise emerges. 
 
 And the prick-eared earth-people, the rabbits, in the stillness of early morning 
 play beside thee undisturbed, while the level sunbeams yet grope through the dewy 
 grass. 
 
 And the squirrel on a tree-root — its tail stretched far behind — leans forward to 
 kiss thee. 
 
 Little brook, for so many things love thee. 
 
 Edward Carpenter. 
 
39: 
 
 Haiidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE APHIDS, OR PLANT-LICE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 KNOW of no more diverting occupation than 
 watching a colony of aphids through a lens; 
 these insects are the most helpless and amiable 
 little ninnies in the whole insect world; and 
 they look the part, probably because their 
 eyes, so large and wide apart, seem so innocent 
 and wondering. The usual color of aphids is 
 green. As they feed upon leaves, this color 
 protects them from sight ; but there are many 
 species which are otherwise colored, and some 
 have most bizarre and striking ornamentations. 
 In looking along an infested leaf stalk, we see 
 them in all stages and positions. One may 
 
 have thrust its beak to the hilt in a plant stem, and 
 is so satisfied and absorbed in sucking the juice that 
 its hind feet are lifted high in the air and its 
 antennae curved backward, making altogether a 
 gesture which seems an adequate expression of bliss ; 
 another may conclude to seek a new well, and pulls 
 up its sucking tube, folding it back underneath the 
 body so it will be out of the way, and walks off 
 slowly on its six rather stiff legs; when thus moving, 
 it thrusts the antennas forward, patting its pathway 
 to insure safety. Perhaps this pathway may lead 
 over other aphids which are feeding, but this does 
 not deter the traveler nor turn it aside; over the 
 backs of the obstructionists it 
 crawls, at which the disturbed 
 ones kick the intruder with both 
 hind legs; it is not a vicious 
 kick but a push rather, which 
 says, "This seat reserved, please!" 
 Perfect bliss! \i {^ comical to see a row of them 
 sucking a plant stem for "dear life," the heads all 
 in the same direction, and they packed in and 
 around each other as if there were no other plants 
 in the world to give them room, the little ones 
 wedged in between the big ones, until sometimes 
 some of them are obliged to rest their hind legs on 
 the antennae of the neighbors next behind. 
 
 Aphids are born for food for other creatures — 
 they are simply little machines for making sap 
 into honey-dew, which they produce from the 
 alimentary canal for the delectation of ants; they 
 are, in fact, merely little animated drops of sap on 
 legs. How helpless they are when attacked by any 
 one of their many enemies ! All they do, when they 
 are seized, is to claw the air with their six impotent 
 legs and two antennae, keeping up this performance 
 
 Aphids on plant. 
 
 Photo by Slingerland. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 393 
 
 parasitized aphid enlarged, 
 
 slioiuing the door cut by 
 the parasite. 
 
 as long as there is left a leg, and apparently to the very last, never realiz- 
 ing "what is doing." But they are not without means of defence; those 
 two little tubes at the end of the body are not for ornament nor for 
 producing honey-dew for the ants, but for secreting at their tips a globule 
 of waxy substance meant to smear the eyes of the attacking insect. I 
 once saw an aphid perform this act, when confronted by a baby spider; a 
 drop of yellow liquid oozed out of one tube, and the aphid almost stood on 
 its head in order to thrust this offensive globule directly into the face of 
 the spider — the whole performance reminding me of a boy who shakes 
 his clenched fist in his opponent's face and says, "Smell of that!" The 
 spider beat a hasty retreat. 
 
 A German scientist, Mr. Busgen, discovered that a plant-louse smeared 
 the eyes and jaws of its enemy, the aphis- 
 lion, with this wax which dried as soon as 
 applied. In action it was something like 
 throwing a basin of paste at the head of the 
 attacking party; the aphis-lion thus treated, 
 was obliged to stop and clean itself before it 
 could go on with its hunt, and the aphid 
 walked off in safety. The aphids surely 
 need this protection because they have two 
 fierce enemies, the larvae of the aphis-lions 
 and of the ladybirds. They are also the victims of parasitic insects; a 
 tiny four-winged "fly" lays an egg within an aphid ; the larva hatching 
 from it feeds upon the inner portions of the aphid, causing it to swell 
 as if afflicted with dropsy. Later the aphid dies, and the interloper 
 with malicious impertinence cuts a neat circular door in the poor aphid's 
 skeleton skin and issues from it a full fledged insect. 
 
 The aphids are not without their resources to meet the exigencies of 
 their lives in colonies. There are several distinct forms in each species, 
 and they seem to be needed for the general good. During the summer, 
 we find most of the aphids on plants are without wings; these are females 
 which give birth to hving young and do not lay eggs. They do this until 
 the plant is overstocked and the food supply seems to be giving out, then 
 another form is produced which has four wings. These fly away to some 
 other plant and start a colony there ; but at the approach of cold' weather, 
 or if the food plants give out, there are male and female individuals 
 developed, the females being always wingless, and it is their office to lay 
 the eggs which shall last during the long winter months, when the living 
 aphids must die for lack of food plants. The next spring each winter-egg 
 hatches into a female which we call the "stem mother" since she with her 
 descendants will populate the entire plant. 
 
 Plant-lice vary in their habits. Some live in 
 the groimd on the roots of plants and are very 
 destructive; but the greater number of species 
 live on the foliage of plants and are very fond of 
 the young, tender leaves and thus do great 
 damage. Some aphids have their bodies covered 
 with white powder or with tiny fringes, which 
 Winged and ivingless give them the appearance of being covered with 
 forms of plant-lice. cotton. 
 
-g^ Hartdbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The aphids injuring our flowers and plants may be killed by spraying 
 them with soapsuds made in the proportion of one-quarter pound of 
 ivory soap to one gallon of water. The spraying must be done very 
 thoroughly so as to reach all the aphids hidden on the stems and beneath 
 the leaves. It should be repeated every three days until the aphids are 
 destroyed. 
 
 LESSON LXXXVII 
 The Aphids, or Plant-lice 
 
 Leading thought— Aphids have the mouth in the form of a sucking tube 
 which is thrust into the stems and leaves of plants ; through it the plant 
 juices are drawn for nourishment. Aphids are the source of honey-dew of 
 which ants are fond. 
 
 Method — Bring into the schoolroom a plant infested with aphids, place 
 the stem in water and let the pupils examine the insects through the lens. 
 
 Observations — i. How are the aphids settled on the leaf? Are their 
 heads in the same direction? What are they doing? 
 
 2. Touch one and make it move along. What does it do in order to 
 leave its place? What does it do with its sucking tube as it walks off? 
 On what part of the plant was it feeding? Why does not Paris green 
 when applied to the leaves of plants kill aphids? 
 
 3 . Describe an aphid, including its eyes, antennae, legs and tubes upon 
 the back. Does its color protect it from observation? 
 
 4. Can you see cast skins of aphids on the plant? Why does an 
 aphid have to shed its skin? 
 
 5. Are all the aphids on a plant wingless? When a plant becomes 
 dry are there, after several days, more winged aphids? Why do the 
 aphids need wings? 
 
 6 . Do you know what honey-dew is ? Have you ever seen it upon the 
 leaf? How is honey-dew made by the aphids? Does it come from the 
 tubes on their back? What insects feed upon this honey-dew? 
 
 7. What enemies have the aphids? 
 
 8. What damage do aphids do to plants? How can you clean plants 
 of plant-lice? 
 
 / saw it {an ant), at first, pass, without stopping, some aphids which it did not 
 however disturb. It shortly after stationed itself near one of the smallest, and 
 appeared to caress it, by touching the extremity of its body, alternately with its anten- 
 nce, with an extremely rapid movement. I saw, with much surprise, the fluid proceed 
 from the body of the aphid, and the ant take it in its tnouth. Its antenncB were after- 
 wards directed to a much larger aphid than the first, which, on being caressed after 
 the same manner, discharged the flourishing fluid in greater quantity, which the ant 
 immediately swallowed: it then passed to a third which it caressed, like the preced- 
 ing, by giving it several gentle blows, ivith the antennce, on the posterior extremity of 
 the body; and the liquid was ejected at the same moment, and the ant lapped it up. 
 
 Pierre Huber, i8io. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 395 
 
 THE ANT-LION 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 CHILD is thrilled with fairy stories of ogres in their dens, 
 with the bones of their victims strewn around. 
 The ants have real ogres, but luckily, they do 
 not know about it and so cannot suffer from 
 agonizing fears. The ant ogres seem to have 
 depended upon the fact that the ant is so ab- 
 ^^^sorbed in her work that she carries her booty up 
 hill and down dale with small regard for the 
 topography of the country. Thus they build 
 their pits, with instinctive faith that they will 
 some day be entered by these creatures, 
 obsessed by industry and careless of what lies in the path. The pits 
 vary with the size of the ogre at the bottom ; there are as many sized 
 pits as are beds in the story of Golden Locks and the bears; often the 
 pits are not more than an inch across, or even less, while others are two 
 inches in diameter. They are always made in sandy or crumbly soil and 
 in a place protected from wind and rain ; they vary in depth in propor- 
 tion to their width, for the slope is always as steep as the soil will stand 
 without slipping. 
 
 All that can be seen of the ogre at the bottom, is a pair of long, curved 
 jaws, looking innocent enough at the very center of the pit. If we dig the 
 creature out, we find it a comical looking insect. It is humpbacked, with 
 a big, spindle-shaped abdomen; from its great awkward body projects a 
 flat, sneaking looking head, armed in front with the sickle jaws which are 
 spiny and bristly near the base, and smooth, sharp and curved at the tip. 
 The strange thing about these jaws is that they lead directly to the throat, 
 since the ant-lion has no mouth. Each jaw is made up of two pieces 
 which are grooved where they join and thus form a tube with a hole in 
 the tip through which the industrious blood of the ants can be sucked; 
 not only do the sharp sickle points hold the victim, but there are three 
 teeth along the side of each jaw to help with this. The two front pairs of 
 legs are small and spiny ; the hind legs are strong and peculiarly twisted, 
 and have a sharp spikelike claw at the end, which is so arranged as to push 
 the insect backward vigorously if occasion requires; in fact, the ant-lion 
 in walking about, moves more naturally backward than forward because 
 of the peculiar structure of his legs. 
 
 Having studied the ogre, 
 we can see better how he 
 manages to trap his victim. 
 As the ant goes scurrying 
 along, she rushes over the 
 edge of the pit and at once 
 begins to slide downward; 
 she is frightened and 
 struggles to get back; just 
 then a jet of sand, aimed 
 well from the bottom of the 
 pit, hits her and knocks her 
 back. 
 
 She still struggles. 
 
 Ant-Uon with tts cocoon and larva. 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
2g6 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 and there follows a fusillade of sand jets, each hitting her from above and 
 knocking her down to the fatal center where the sickle jaws await her 
 and are promptly thrust into her; if she is large and still struggles, the 
 bi«^, unwieldy body of the ogre, buried in the sand, anchors him fast 
 and his peculiar, crooked hind legs push his body backward in this 
 strange tug of war; thus, the ant-ogre is not dragged out of his den 
 by the struggles of the ant, and soon the loss of blood weakens her and 
 she shrivels up. 
 
 The secret of the jets of sand, hes in the flat head of the ogre; if 
 we look at it regarding it as a shovel, we can see that it is well fitted 
 for its purpose; for it is a shovel with a strong mechanism working it. 
 In fact, the whole pit is dug with this shovel head. Wonderful storie^. 
 are told about the way that ant-lions dig their pits, marking out the outer 
 ma gin in a circle, and working inward. However, our common ant-lion 
 of the East simply digs down into the sand and flips the sand out until it 
 makes a pit. If an ant-lion can be caught and put in a jar of sand it 
 will soon make its pit, and the process may be noted carefully. 
 
 There is one quality in the ogre which merits praise, and that is his 
 patience. There he lies in his hole for days or perhaps weeks, with noth- 
 ing to eat and no ant coming that way ; so when we see an absent-minded 
 ant scrambhng over into the pit, let us think of the empty stomach of this 
 patient litt'e engineer which has constructed his pit with such accuracy 
 and so much labor. So precarious is the living picked up by the ant-lions, 
 that it may require one, two or three 3^ears to bring one to maturity. 
 At that time it makes a perfectly globular cocoon of silk and sand, the 
 size of a large pea, and within it, changes to a pupa; and when finally 
 ready to emerge, the pupa pushes itself part way out of the cocoon and the 
 skin is shed and left at the cocoon door. The adult resembles a small 
 dragon-fly; it has large net-veined wings and is a most graceful insect, as 
 different as can be from the humpbacked ogre which it once was — a 
 transformation quite as marvelous as that which occurred in Beauty and 
 the Beast. Throughout the Middle West, the ant-lion in its pit is called 
 the "doodle-bug." 
 
 Reference — Manual for Study of Insects, Comstock. 
 
 LESSON LXXXVIII 
 
 The Ant-Lion 
 
 Leading tJwnght — ^The ant-lion, or "doodle-bug" makes a little pit in 
 the sand with very steep sides, and hidden at the bottom of it, waits for 
 ants to tumble in to be seized by its waiting jaws. Later the ant-lion 
 changes to a beautiful insect with gauzy wings, resembling a small dragon- 
 
 fly- 
 
 MetJiod — ^The pupils should see the ant-lion pits in their natural situa- 
 tions, but the insects may be studied in the schoolroom. Some of the 
 ant-lions may be dug out of their pits and placed in a dish of sand. They 
 will soon make their pits, and may be watched during this interesting 
 process. It is hardly advisable to try to rear these insects, as they may 
 require two or three years for development. 
 
 Observations — i. Where were the ant-lion pits out of doors? Were 
 they in a windy place? Were they in a place protected from storms? 
 In what kind of soil were they made? 
 
Insect Study 
 
 397 
 
 2. Measure one of the pits. How broad across, and how deep? Are 
 all the pits of the same size ? Why ? 
 
 3. What can you see as you look down into the ant-lion's pit? Roll 
 a tiny pebble in and see what happens? Watch until an ant comes hurry- 
 ing along and slips into the pit. What happens then? As she struggles 
 to get out how is she knocked back in? What happens to her if she falls 
 to the bottom? 
 
 4. Take a trowel and dig out the doodle-bug. What is the shape of 
 its body? What part of the insect did you see at the bottom of the pit? 
 Do you know that these great sickle-shaped jaws are hollow tubes for 
 sucking blood? Does the ant-lion eat anything except the blood of its 
 victim ? 
 
 5. Can you see that the ant-lion moves backward more easily than 
 forward? How are its hind legs formed to help push it backward? How 
 does this help the ant-lion in holding its prey? How does the big awk- 
 ward body of the ant-lion help to hold it in place at the bottom of the pit 
 when it seizes an ant in its jaws? 
 
 6. What shape is the ant-lion's head? How does it use this head in 
 taking its prey? In digging its pit? 
 
 7. Take a doodle-bug to the schoolroom, place it in a dish of sand, 
 covered with glass, and watch it build its pit. 
 
 8. Read in the entomological books about the cocoon of the ant-lion 
 and what the adult looks like, and then write an ant-lion autobiography. 
 
 Supplementary reading — Insect Stories, Kellogg, "The True Story of 
 Morrowbie Jukes." 
 
 THE MOTHER LACE-WING AND THE APHIS-LION 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 ^ LITTING leisurely through the air on her green gauze 
 ^,, ^ wings, the lace-wing seems like a filmy leaf, broken 
 loose and drifting on the breeze. But there is pur- 
 pose in her flight, and through some instinct she is 
 enabled to seek out an aphis-ridden plant or tree, 
 to which she comes as a friend in need. As she 
 alights upon a leaf, she is scarcely discernible because 
 of the pale green of her delicate body and wings; 
 however, her great globular eyes that shine like gold 
 attract the attention of the careful observer. But 
 though she is so fairy-like in appearance, if 3'ou pick 
 her up, you will be sorry if your sense of smell is keen, for she exhales a 
 most disagreeable odor when disturbed — a habit which probably protects 
 her from birds or other creatures which might otherwise eat her. 
 
 However, if we watch her we shall see that she is a canny creature 
 despite her frivolous appearance ; her actions are surely peculiar. A drop 
 of sticky fluid issues from the tip of her body, and she presses it down on 
 the surface of the leaf; then lifting up her slender abdomen like a distaff, 
 she spins the drop into a thread a half inch long or more, which the air 
 soon dries ; and this silken thread is stiff enough to sustain an oblong egg, 
 as large as the point of a pin, which she lays at the very tip of it. This 
 done she lays another egg in a like manner, and when she is through, the 
 
398 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 leaf looks as if it were covered with spore cases of a glittering white mold. 
 This done she flies off and disports herself in the sunshine, care free, know- 
 ing that she has done all she can for her family. 
 
 After a few days the eggs begin to look dark, and then if we examine 
 them with a lens, we may detect that they contain little doubled-up 
 creatures. The first we see of the egg inmate as it hatches, is a pair of 
 jaws thrust through the shell, opening it for a peep-hole; a httle later the 
 owner of the jaws, after resting a while with an eye on the world which he 
 is so soon to enter, pushes out his head and legs and drags out a tiny, long 
 body, very callow-looking and clothed in long, soft hairs. At first the 
 
 little creature crawls about 
 his egg-shell, clinging tightly 
 with all his six claws, as if 
 fearful of such a dizzy height 
 above his green floor; then 
 he squirms around a little and 
 thrusts out a head inquiringly 
 while still hanging on "for 
 dear life." Finally he gains 
 courage and prospects around 
 until he discovers his egg 
 stalk, and then begins a rope 
 climbing performance, rather 
 difficult for a little chap not 
 more than ten minutes old. 
 He takes a careful hold with 
 his front claws, the two other 
 pairs of legs carefully balanc- 
 ing for a second, and then 
 desperately seizing the stalk 
 with all his clasping claws, 
 and with many new grips and panics, he finally achieves the bottom 
 in safety. As if dazed by his good luck, he stands still for a time, 
 trying to make up his mind what has happened and what to do next; he 
 settles the matter by trotting ofi: to make his first breakfast of aphids; 
 and now we can see that it is a lucky thing for his brothers and sisters, 
 still unhatched, that they are high above his head and out of reach, for he 
 might not be discriminating in the matter of his breakfast food, never 
 having met any of his family before. He is a queer looking little insect, 
 spindle-shaped and with peculiarly long, sickle-shaped jaws projecting 
 from his head. Each of these jaws is made up of two pieces joined length- 
 wise so as to make a hollow tube, which has an opening at the tip of the 
 jaw, and another one at the base which leads directly to the little lion's 
 throat. Watch him as he catches an aphid ; seizing the stupid little bag 
 of sap in his great pincers, he lifts it high in the air, as if drinking a 
 bumper, and sucks its green blood until it shrivels up, kicking a remon- 
 strating leg to the last. It is my conviction that aphids never realize 
 when they are being eaten ; they simply dimly wonder what is happening. 
 It takes a great many aphids to keep an aphis-lion nourished until he 
 gets his growth; he grows like any other insect by shedding his skeleton 
 skin when it becomes too tight. Finally he doubles up and spins around 
 himself a cocoon of glistening white silk, leaving it fastened to the leaf; 
 
 Aphis-lion, eggs, larva, cocoon and the 
 adult, lace wing. 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
Insect Study 399 
 
 when it is finished, it looks Hke a seed pearl, round and polished. I 
 wish some child would watch an aphis-lion weave its cocoon and tell us 
 how it is done ! After a time, a week or two perhaps, a round little hole is 
 cut in the cocoon, and there issues from it a lively little green pupa, with 
 wing pads on its back ; but he very soon sheds his pupa skin and issues 
 as a beautiful lace-wing fly with golden eyes and large, filmy, iridescent, 
 pale green wings 
 
 LESSON LXXXIX 
 The Mother Lace-wing and the Aphis-lion 
 
 Leading thought — ^The lace-wing fly or golden-eyes, as she is called, is 
 the mother of the aphis-lion. She lays her eggs on the top of stiff, silken 
 stalks. The young aphis-lions when hatched, clamber down upon the leaf 
 and feed upon plant-lice, sucking their blood through their tubular jaws. 
 
 Method — ^Through July and until frost, the aphis-lions may be found 
 on almost any plant infested with plant-lice ; and the lace-wing's eggs or 
 egg-shells on the long stalks are also readily found. All these may be 
 brought to the schoolroom. Place the stem of a plant infested with 
 aphids in a jar of water, and the acts of the aphis-lions as well as the 
 habits of the aphids may be observed during recess or at other convenient 
 times, by all the pupils. 
 
 Observations — i. When you see a leaf with some white mold upon it, 
 examine it with a lens ; the mold is likely to be the eggs of the lace-wing. 
 Is the egg as large as a pin head? What is its shape? What is its color? 
 How long is the stalk on which it is placed? Of what material do you 
 think the stalk is made? Why do you suppose the lace-wing mother lays 
 her eggs on the tips of stalks? Are there any of these eggs near each 
 other on the leaf? 
 
 2. If the egg is not empty, observe through a lens how the young 
 aphis-lion breaks its egg-shell and climbs down. 
 
 3. Watch an aphis-lion among the plant-lice. How does it act? 
 Do the aphids seem afraid? Does the aphis-lion move rapidly? How 
 does it act when eating an aphid ? 
 
 4. What is the general shape of the aphis-lion? Describe the jaws. 
 Do you think these jaws are used for chewing, or merely as tubes through 
 which the green blood of the aphids is sucked? Do the aphis-lions ever 
 attack each other or other insects? How does the aphis-lion dift'er in 
 appearance from the ladybird larva? 
 
 5. W^hat happens to the aphis-lion after it gets its growth? Describe 
 its cocoon if you can find one. 
 
 6. Describe the little lace-wing fly that comes from the cocoon. 
 Why is she called, golden-eyes? Why lace-wing? Does she fly rapidly? 
 Do you suppose that if she should lay her eggs flat on a leaf, that the first 
 aphis-lion that hatched would run about and eat all its little brothers and 
 sisters which were still in their egg-shells? How do the aphis-lions benefit 
 our rose bushes and other cultivated plants? 
 
 Supplementary Reading — "A Tactful Mother" in Ways of the Six- 
 Footed. 
 
400 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 ^1 
 
 ; 
 
 A, 
 
 
 <-> 
 
 ,T-^-' 
 
 ^•J<S;"'J?K-.7s., 
 
 
 S^li 
 
 7"/zf egg-raft of a mosquito enlarged. 
 
 THE MOSQUITO 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 N DEFIANCE of the adage, the mother of our most 
 common mosquitoes does not hesitate to put her 
 eggs all in one basket, but perhaps she knows it is 
 about the safest little basket for eggs in this world 
 of uncertainties. If it were possible to begin this 
 lesson with the little boat-shaped egg baskets, I 
 should advise it. They may be found in almost 
 any rain barrel, and the eggs look like a lot of tiny 
 cartridges set side by side, points up, and lashed 
 / or glued together, so there shall be no spilling. 
 
 Like a certain famous soap, they "float," coming up 
 as dry as varnished corks when water is poured upon them. 
 
 The young mosquito, or wrig- 
 gler, breaks through the shell of 
 the lower end of the egg and 
 passes down into the water, and 
 from the first, it is a most in- 
 teresting creature to view 
 through a hand lens. The head 
 and the thorax are rather large 
 while the body is tapering and 
 
 armed with bunches of hairs. At the rear of the body are two tubes very 
 different in shape; one is long, straight and unadorned; this is the 
 breathing tube through which air passes to the trachea? of the body. 
 This tube has a star-shaped valve at the tip, which can be opened and 
 shut; when it is opened at the surface of the water, it keeps the 
 little creature afloat and meanwhile allows air to pass into the body. 
 When the wriggler is thus hanging at an angle of 45 degrees to the 
 surface of the water, it feeds upon small particles of decaying vegeta- 
 tion; it has a remarkable pair of jaws which 
 are armed with brushes, which in our 
 common species, by moving rapidly, set up 
 currents and bring the food to the mouth. This 
 process can be seen plainly with a lens. 
 When disturbed, the wriggler shuts the valve to 
 its breathing tube, and sinks. However, it is 
 not much heavier than the water; I have often 
 seen one rise for some distance without apparent 
 effort. The other tube at the end of the body, 
 supports the swimming organs, which consist of 
 four finger-hke processes and various bunches of 
 hairs. W^hen swimming, the wriggler goes tail 
 first, the swimming organs seeming to take 
 hold of the water and to pull the creature back- 
 ward, in a series of spasmodic jerks; in fact, 
 the insect seems simply to "throw somer- 
 saults," like an acrobat. I have often observed 
 wrigglers standing on their heads in the 
 bottom of the aquarium, with their jaws bent 
 
 A mosquito aquarium. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 401 
 
 under, revolving their brushes 
 briskly; but they never remain 
 very long below the surface, as it is 
 necessary for them to take in fresh 
 air often. 
 
 The pupa has the head and 
 thoracic segments much enlarged, 
 making it all "head and shoulders" 
 with a quite insignificant 
 body attached. Upon the 
 thorax are two breathing 
 tubes, which look like two 
 ears, and therefore when 
 the pupa rests at the sur- 
 face of the water, it remains 
 head up so that these tubes — - — " 
 may take in the air; at the 
 end of the body are two 
 swimming organs which are little, 
 leaf-Hke projections. At this stage 
 the insect is getting ready to live 
 its Hfe in the air, and for this reason 
 probably, the pupa rests for long 
 periods at the surface of the 
 water and does not swim about 
 much, unless disturbed. How- 
 ever, it is a very strange habit 
 for a pupa to move about at all. 
 In the case of other flies, butterflies, 
 and moths, the pupa stage is quiet. 
 
 When fully mature, the pupa 
 rises to the surface of the water, 
 the skeleton skin breaks open 
 down its back and the mosquito 
 carefully works itself out, until 
 its wings are free and dry, mean- 
 while resting upon the floating 
 pupa skin. This is indeed a frail 
 bark, and if the slightest breeze 
 ruffles the water, the insect is 
 likely to drown before its wings 
 are hard enough for flight. 
 
 The reason that kerosene oil, 
 put upon the surface of the water 
 where mosquitoes breed, kills the 
 insects is because both the larvge 
 and pupae of mosquitoes are 
 obhged to rise to the surface, and push their l:)reathing tubes through 
 the surface film so that they will open to the air; a coating of oil on the 
 water prevents this, and they are suflocated. Also when the mosquito 
 emerges from the pupa skin, if it is even touched by the oil, it is unable 
 to fly and soon dies. 
 
 A wriggler or larva of 
 mosquito (culex) greatly 
 
 enlarged. 
 Drawn by Evelyn Mitchell. 
 
402 
 
 Haitdbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Antenna of male mosquito 
 enlarged. 
 
 The male mosquitoes have bushy, or feathery, antennae These 
 antenna; are hearing organs of very remarkable construction ; (see Ways 
 of the Six-Footed, p. 8.) The Anopheles may be distinguished from the 
 Culex by the following characteristics: Its wings are spotted instead of 
 
 plain. When at rest it is perfectly straight, 
 and is likely to have the hind legs in the air. 
 It may also rest at an angle to the surface 
 to which it clings. The Culex is not 
 spotted on the wings and is likely to be 
 humped up when at rest. In our climate 
 the Anopheles is more dangerous than the 
 Culex because it carries the germs of 
 malaria. A mosquito's wing under a 
 microscope is a most beautiful object, as it 
 is "trimmed" with ornamental scales about 
 the edges and along the veins. The male 
 mosquitoes neither sing nor bite; the song of the female mosquito is 
 supposed to be made by the rapid vibration of the wings, and her 
 musical performances are for the purpose of attracting her m.ate, as 
 it has been shown that he can hear through his antennae a range of notes 
 covering the middle and next higher octaves of the piano. 
 
 Of late we are learning that the mosquitoes are in a very strange way a 
 menace to health. Through a heroism, as great as ever shown on field of 
 battle, men have imperiled their lives to prove that the germs of the terri- 
 ble yellow fever were transmitted by the biting mosquito, and with 
 almost equal bravery other men have demonstrated that the germs of 
 malaria are also thus carried. 
 
 In the North, our greatest danger is from the mosquitoes which carry 
 the malarial geri^s, and these are the mosquitoes with spotted wings and 
 belong to the genus Anopheles. This mosquito, m order to be of danger 
 to us must first feed upon the blood of some person suffering from malaria 
 (ague) and thus take the 
 germ of the disease into its 
 stomach. Here the germ 
 develops and multiplies into 
 many minute germs, which 
 pass through another stage 
 and finally get into the 
 blood of the mosquito and 
 accumulate in the salivary 
 glands. The reason any 
 mosquito bite or insect bite 
 swells and itches is because, 
 as the insect's beak is inser- 
 ted into the flesh, it carries 
 with it some of the saliva 
 from the insect's mouth. In 
 the case of Anopheles these 
 malarial germs are carried 
 
 with the sahva into the blood j-j^^ p^p^ ^j ^^ mosquito, greatly magnified. 
 of the victim. It has been b the breathing tubes near the Jtead. 
 
 proven that in the most Drawn by Evel>Ti Mitchell. 
 
 Note 
 
Insect Study 
 
 403 
 
 nalarial countries, like Italy and India, people are entirely free from 
 malaria if they are not bitten by mosquitoes. 
 
 After this explanation has been made, it would be well for the teacher 
 to take the pupils on a tour of inspection through the neighborhood to see 
 if there are any mosquito larvae in rain barrels, ponds or pools of stagnant 
 water. If such places are found, let the pupils themselves apply the 
 following remedies : 
 
 1. Rain barrels should be securely covered. 
 
 2. All stagnant pools should be drained and filled up if possible. 
 
 3. Wherever there are ponds or pools where mosquitoes breed that 
 cannot be filled or drained, the surface of the water should be covered 
 with a spray of kerosene oil. This may be applied with a spray pump or 
 from a watering can. 
 
 4. If it is impracticable to cover such places with oil, introduce into 
 such pools the following fish : Minnows, sticklebacks, sunfish and gold- 
 fish. 
 
 The efl'ect of this lesson upon the children should be to impress them 
 with the danger to life and health from mosquitoes and to implant in them 
 a determination to rid the premises about their homes of these pests. 
 
 References — Farmers' Bulletin No. 15=;, U. S. Department of Agricul- 
 ture, by L. 0. Howard; leaflet in Reading Course for Farmers' Wives, 
 series 2, No. 10, by M. V. Slingerland; American Insects, Kellogg; The 
 Insect Book, Howard; Insect Life, The Manual for the Study of Insects, 
 Comstock; Ways of the Six-Footed, Comstock. 
 
 4+J 
 
 •'■•■f-^^iyiWtWWIjiflWilli 11* I i' '•!'''' VII, 
 
 IX 
 
 VII. 
 
 Wing of mosquito enlarged. 
 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
 LESSON XC 
 The Mosquito 
 
 Leading thought — ^The wrigglers, or wigglers, which we find in rain- 
 barrels and stagnant water are the larvae of mosquitoes. We should 
 study their life history carefully if we would know how to get rid of 
 mosquitoes. 
 
 Method — ^There is no better way to interest the pupils in mosquitoes 
 than to place in an aquarium jar in the schoolroom a family of wrigglers 
 from some pond or rain barrel. For the pupils' personal observation, take 
 some of the wrigglers from the aquarium with a pipette and place them in 
 a homeopathic vial; fill the vial three-fourths full of water and cork it. 
 Pass it around with a hand lens and give each pupil the opportunity to 
 observe it for five or ten minutes. It would be well if this vial could be 
 left on each desk for an hour or so during study periods, so that the 
 
404 
 
 Handbook of Nature-St'udy 
 
 observations may be made casually and leisurely. While the pupils are 
 studying the wrigglers, the following questions should be placed upon the 
 blackboard, and each pupil should make notes which may finally be given 
 at a lesson period. This is particularly available work for September. 
 
 In studying the adult mosquito, a lens or microscope is necessary. But 
 it is of great importance that the pupils be taught to discriminate between 
 the comparatively harmless species of Culex and the dangerous Anopheles 
 and therefore they should be taught to be observant of the way mosqui- 
 toes rest upon the walls, and whether they have mottled or clear wings. 
 
 The Larva 
 
 Observations: i. Note if all the wrigglers are of the same gen 
 eral shape, or if some of them have a very large head ; these latter are 
 the pupae and the former are the larvae. We will study the larvae first. 
 Where do they rest when undisturbed? Do they rest head up or down? 
 Is there any part of their body that comes to the surface of the water? 
 
 2. When disturbed what do they do? When they swim, do they go 
 head or tail first? When they float do they go upward or downward? 
 
 3. Observe one resting at the top. At what angle does it hold itself 
 to the surface of the water? Observe its head. Can you see the jaw 
 brushes revolving rapidly? What is the purpose of this? Describe its 
 eyes. Can you see its antennae? 
 
 4. Note the two peculiar tubes at the end of the body and see if you 
 can make out their use. 
 
 5. Note especially the tube that is thrust up to the surface of the 
 water when the creatures are resting. Can you see how the opening of 
 this tube helps to keep the wriggler afloat? What do you think is the 
 purpose of this tube ? Why does it not become filled with water when the 
 wriggler is swimming? Can you see the two air vessels, or trachae, extend- 
 ing from this tube along the back the whole length of the body? 
 
 6. Note the peculiarities of the other tube at the rear end of the body. 
 Do you think the little finger-like projections are an aid in swimming? 
 How many are there? 
 
 7. Can you see the long hairs along the side of the body? 
 
 8. Does the mosquito rest at the bottom of the bottle or aquarium? 
 
 The Pupa 
 
 9. What is the most noticeable difference in appearance between 
 the larva and pupa? 
 
 ID. When the pupa rests at the surface of the water, is it the same end 
 up as the wriggler ? 
 
 1 1 . Note on the "head" of the pupa two little tubes extending up like 
 ears. These are the breathing tubes. Note if these open to the air when 
 the pupa rests at the surface of the water. 
 
 12. Can you see the swimming organs at the rear of the body of the 
 pupa? Does the pupa spend a longer time resting at the surface than the 
 larva. How does it act differently from the pupae of other flies and 
 moths and butterflies? 
 
 13. How does the mosquito emerge from the pupa skin? Why does 
 kerosene oil poured on the surface of the water kill mosquitoes? 
 
Insect Study 405 
 
 The Adult Mosquito 
 
 1. Has the mosquito feathery antennae extending out in front? If 
 so, what kind of mosquitoes are such? 
 
 2. Do the mosquitoes with bushy antennas bite? Do they sing? 
 
 3. Are the wings of the mosquito spotted or plain? How many has it? 
 
 4. When at rest, is it shortened and humpbacked or does it stand 
 straight out with perhaps its hind legs in the air? 
 
 5. What are the characteristics by which you can tell the dangerous 
 Anopheles? 
 
 6. Why is the Anopheles more dangerous than the Culex? 
 
 7. Examine a mosquito's wing under a microscope and describe it. 
 
 8. Examine the antennae of a male and a female mosquito under a 
 microscope, and describe the difference. 
 
 9. Which sex of the mosquito does the biting and the singing? 
 10. How is the singing done? 
 
 THE HOUSE-FLY 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HE house-fly is surely an up-to-date member of that 
 select class which evolutionists call the "fit." It 
 flourishes in every land, plumping itself down in 
 front of us at table, whether we be eating rice in 
 Hong Kong, dhura in Egypt, macaroni in Italy, pie 
 in America, or tamales in Mexico. There it sits, 
 impertinent and imperturbable, taking its toll, 
 letting down its long elephant-trunk tongue, rasping 
 and sucking up such of our meal as fits its needs. 
 As long as we simply knew it as a thief we, during 
 untold ages, merely slapped it and shooed it, which 
 effort on our part apparently gave it exhilarating exercise. But during 
 recent years we have begun trapping and poisoning, trying to match our 
 brains against its agility; although we slay it by thousands, we seem only 
 to make more room for its well-fed progeny of the future, and in the end 
 we seem to have gained nothing. But the most recent discoveries of 
 science have revealed to us, that what the house-fly takes of our food, is 
 of little consequence to what it leaves behind. Because of this, we have 
 girded up our loins and gone into battle in earnest. 
 
 I have always held that nature-study should follow its own peaceful 
 path and not be the slave of economic science. But occasionally it seems 
 necessary, when it is a question of creating public sentiment, and of cul- 
 tivating public intelligence in combating a great peril, to make nature- 
 study a handmaiden, if not a slave, in this work. If our woods were filled 
 with wolves and bears, as they were in the days of my grandfather, I 
 should give nature-study lessons on these animals, which would lead to 
 their subjugation. Bears and wolves trouble us no more; but now we 
 have enemies far more subtle, in the ever-present microbes, which we may 
 never hope to conquer but which, with proper precautions, we may render 
 comparatively harmless. Thus, our nature-study with insects which 
 
4o6 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 carry disease, like the mosquitoes, flies and fleas, must be a reconnaissance 
 for a war of extermination; the flghting tactics may be given in lessons 
 on health and hygiene. 
 
 Perhaps if a fly were less wonderfully made, it would be a less con- 
 venient vehicle for microbes. Its eyes are two great, brown spheres on 
 either side of the head, and are composed of thousands of tiny six-sided 
 eyes that give information of what is coming in any 
 direction; in addition, it has on top of the head, looking 
 straight up, three tiny, shining, simple eyes, which cannot 
 be seen without a lens. Its antennae are peculiar in 
 shape, but are evidently sense organs ; it is attracted from 
 afar by certain odors, and so far as we can discover, its 
 antennae are all the nose it has. Its mouth-parts are all 
 combined to make a most amazing and efficient organ 
 for getting food ; at the tip are two flaps, which can rasp a 
 Headof-fly shoiv- substance so as to set free the juices, and above this is a 
 "'^a^TlZuX'"^ tube, through which the juices may be drawn to the 
 parts. stomach. This tube is extensible, being conveniently 
 
 jointed so that it can be folded under the "chin" when 
 not in use. This is usually called the fly's tongue, but it is really all 
 the mouth parts combined, as if a boy had his lips, teeth and tongue, 
 standing out from his face, at the end of a tube a foot long. 
 
 The thorax can be easily studied ; it is striped black and white above 
 and bears the two wings, and the two little flaps that are called balancers 
 and which are probably remnants of hind wings which the remote ances- 
 tors of flies flew with. The fly's wing is a transparent but strong mem- 
 brane strengthened by veins, and is prettily iridescent. The thorax 
 bears on its lov/er side the six pairs of legs. The abdomen consists of five 
 segments and is covered with stiff hairs. The parts of the leg, seen when 
 the fly is walking, consists of three segments, the last segment or tarsus 
 being more slender, and if looked at with a lens, is seen to be composed 
 of five segments, the last of which bears the claws; it is with these claws 
 that the fly walks, although all of the five segments really form the foot; 
 in other words, it walks on its tip-toes. But it clings to ceilings by means 
 of the two little pads below the claws, which are covered with hairs that 
 excrete at the tips, a sticky fluid. Because of the hairs on its feet, the fly 
 becomes a carrier of microbes and a menace to health. 
 
 The greatest grudge I have against this little, persistent companion of 
 our household is the way it has misled us by appearing to be so fastidious 
 in its personal habits. We have all of us seen, with curiosity and admira- 
 tion, its complex ablutions and brushings. It usually begins, logically, 
 with its front feet, the hands; these it cleans by rubbing them against 
 each other lengthwise. The hairs and spines on one leg act as a brush for 
 the other, and then lest they be not clean, it nibbles them with its rasping 
 disc, which is all the teeth it has. It then cleans its head with these clean 
 hands, rubbing them over its big eyes with a vigor 
 that makes us wink simply to contemplate: then bob- 
 bing its head down so as to reach what is literally its 
 back hair, it brushes valiantly. After this is done, it 
 reaches forward first one and then the other foot of the 
 middle pair of legs, and taking each in turn between p^^f ^f ' j,c,Mse-fly 
 the front feet, brushes it vigorously, and maybe enlarged. 
 
Insect Study 407 
 
 nibbles it. But as a pair of military brushes, its hind feet are 
 conspicuously efficient; they clean each other by being rubbed together 
 and then they work simultaneously on each side in cleaning the wings, 
 first the under side and then the upper side. Then over they come and 
 comb the top of the thorax; then they brush the sides, top and under 
 sides of the abdomen, cleaning each other between the acts. Who, after 
 witnessing all this, could believe that the fly could leave any tracks on our 
 food, which would lead to our undoing! But the house-fly, like many 
 housekeepers with the best intentions in the matter of keeping clean, has 
 not mastered the art of getting rid of the microbes. Although it has so 
 many little eyes, none of them can magnify a germ so as to make it visible; 
 and thus it is that, when feeding around where there have been cases of 
 typhoid and other enteric diseases, the house-fly's httle claws become 
 infested with disease germs ; and when it stops some day to clean up on our 
 table, it leaves the germs with us. Thus our only safety lies in the 
 final extermination of this little nuisance. 
 
 It is astonishing how few people know about the growth of flies. 
 People of the highest intelligence in other matters, think that a sm.all fly 
 can grow into a large one. A fly, when it comes from the 
 pupa stage, is as large as it will ever be, the young stages 
 of flies being maggots. The house-fly's eggs are little, 
 white, elongated bodies about as large as the point of a 
 pin. These are laid preferably in horse manure. After 
 a few hours, they hatch into slender, pointed, white 
 maggots which feed upon the excrement. After five or 
 six days, the larval skin thickens, turns brown, making p. 
 the insect look like a small grain of wheat. This is the ^f/ o/fiy!^ 
 pupal stage, which lasts about five days, and then the skin enlarged. ' 
 
 bursts open and the full-grown fly appears. Of course, 
 not all the flies multiply according to the example given to the children. 
 The house-fly has many enemies and, therefore, probably no one hiber- 
 nating mother fly is the ancestress of billions by September; however, 
 despite enemies, flies multiply with great rapidity. 
 
 I know of no more convincing experiment as an example of the dan- 
 gerous trail of the fly, than that of letting a house-fly walk over a saucer 
 of nutrient gelatin. After three or four days, each track is plainly visible 
 as a little white growth of bacteria. 
 
 Much is being done now to eradicate the house-fly, and undoubtedly 
 there will be new methods of fighting it devised every year. The teacher 
 should keep in touch with the bulletins on this subject published by the 
 United States Department of Agriculture, and should give the pupils 
 instructions according to the latest ideas. At present the following are 
 the methods of fighting this pest : Keep the stable clean and place the 
 manure under cover. All of the windows of the house should be well 
 screened. All the flies which get into the house should be killed by using 
 the commercial fly papers. 
 
4o8 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON XCI 
 The House-fly 
 
 Leading thought — The house-fly has conquered the world and is found 
 everywhere. It breeds in filth and especially in horse manure. It is very 
 prolific; the few flies that manage to pass the winter in this northern 
 climate, are ancestors of the millions which attack us and our food later 
 in the season. These are a menace to health because they carry germs of 
 disease from sputa and excrementitious matter to our tables, leaving them 
 upon our food. 
 
 Method — Give out the questions for observation and let the pupils 
 answer them either orally or in their note-books. If possible, every pupil 
 should look at a house-fly through a three-quarters objective. If this is 
 not possible, pictures should be shown to demonstrate its appearance. 
 
 Observations — i. Look at a fly, using a lens if you have one. Describe 
 its eyes. Do you see that they have a honeycomb arrangement of little 
 eyes? Can you see, on top of the head between the big eyes, a dot? A 
 microscope reveals this dot to be made of three tiny eyes, huddled to- 
 gether. After seeing a fly's eyes, do you wonder that you have so much 
 difficulty in hitting it or catching it? 
 
 2. Can you see the fly's antennae? Do you think that it has a keen 
 sense of smell ? Why ? 
 
 3. How many wings has the fly? How does it differ from the bee in 
 this respect? Can you see two little white objects, one just behind the 
 base of each wing? These are called poisers, or balancers, and all flies have 
 them in some form. What is the color of the wings? Are they trans- 
 parent? Can you see the veins in them? On what part of the body do 
 the wings grow? 
 
 4. Look at the fly from below. How many legs has it? From what 
 part of the body do the legs come ? What is that part of the insect's body 
 called, to which the legs and wings are attached? 
 
 5. How does the fly's abdomen look? What is its color and its 
 covering? 
 
 6. Look at the fly's legs. How many segments can you see in a leg? 
 Can you see that the segment on which the fly walks has several joints? 
 Does it walk on all of these segments or on the one at the tip? 
 
 7 . When the fly eats, can you see its tongue ? Can you feel its tongue 
 when it rasps your hand? Where does it keep its tongue usually? 
 
 8. Describe how a fly makes its toilet as follows: How does it clean 
 its front feet? Its head? Its middle feet? Its hind feet? Its wings? 
 
 9. Do you know how flies carry disease? Did you ever see them 
 making their toilet on your food at the table? Do you know what 
 diseases are carried by flies? What must you do to prevent flies from 
 bringing disease to your family? 
 
 10. Do you think that a small fly ever grows to be a large fly? How 
 do the young of all kinds of flies look? Do you know where the house-fly 
 lays its eggs? On what do the maggots feed? How long before they 
 change to pupae? How long does it take them to grow from eggs to flies? 
 How do the house-flies in our northern climate pass the winter? 
 
 11. Lesson in Arithmetic — It requires perhaps twenty days to span 
 the time from the eggs of one generation of the house-fly to the eggs of 
 the next, and thus there might easily be five generations in one summer. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 409 
 
 Supposing the fi}^ which wintered behind the window curtain in your home 
 last winter, flew out to the stables about May ist and laid 120 eggs in the 
 sweepings from the horse stable, all of which hatched and matured. 
 Supposing one-half of these were mother flies and each of them, in turn, 
 laid 120 eggs, and so on for five generations, all eggs laid developing into 
 flies, and one-half of the flies of each generation being mother flies. How 
 many flies would the fly that wintered behind your curtain have pro- 
 duced by September? 
 
 12. Pour some gelatin unsweetened, on a clean plate. Let a house- 
 fly walk around on the i;elatin as soon as it is cool : cover the plate to keep 
 out the dust and leave it for two or three days. Examine it then and see 
 if you can tell where the fly walked. What did it leave in its tracks? 
 
 13. "Write an essay on the house-fly, its dangers and how to combat it, 
 basing the essay on Bulletins of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
 
 THE COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HE potato-beetle is not a very attractive insect, 
 but it has many interesting peculiarities. No 
 other common insect so clearly illustrates the 
 advantage of warning colors. If we take a 
 beetle in the hand, it at first promptly falls 
 upon its back, folds its legs and antennae down 
 close to its body, and "plays possum" in a very 
 canny manner. But if we squeeze it a little, 
 immediately an orange-red liquid is ejected on 
 the hand, and a very ill-smelling liquid it is. 
 If we press lightly, only a little of the secretion 
 is thrown off ; but if we squeeze harder, it 
 flows copiously. Thus a bird trying to swallow one of these beetles, would 
 surely get a large dose. The liquid is very distasteful to birds, and it is 
 indeed a stupid bird that does not soon learn to let severely alone orange 
 and yellow beetles, st ipcd with black. The source of this offensive and 
 defensive juice is at first a my tery, but if we observe closely we can see it 
 issuing along the hind edge of the thorax and the front portion of the 
 wing-covers; the glands in these situations secrete the protective juice as 
 it is needed. The larvae are also equipped with similar glands and, there- 
 fore, have the brazen habit of eating the leaves of our precious potatoes 
 without attempting to hide. They seem to know that they are far safer 
 when seen by birds than when concealed from them. 
 
 The life history of the potato-beetle is briefly as follows: Some 
 of the adult beetles or pupae winter beneath the surface of the soil, 
 burrowing down a foot or more to escape freezing. As soon as the potato 
 plants appear above ground the mother beetle comes out and lays her eggs 
 upon the under sides of the leaves. These orange-yellow eggs are 
 usually laid in clusters. In about a week there hatches from the eggs 
 little yellow or orange humpbacked larvae, which begin at once to feed 
 upon the leaves. These larvae grow as do other insects, by shedding 
 
4IO 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 their skins. 
 
 Eggs of Colorado potato 
 beette. 
 
 They do this four times, and during the last stages, are 
 very conspicuous insects on the green leaves; 
 thev are orange or yellow with black dots 
 along the sides, and so humpbacked are they 
 that they seem to be "gathered with a pucker- 
 ing string" along the lower side. It requires 
 from sixteen days to three weeks for a larva 
 to complete its growth. It then descends into 
 the earth and forms a little cell in which it 
 changes to a pupa. It remains in this con- 
 dition for one or two weeks, according to the 
 temperature, and then the full-fledged beetle 
 appears. The entire life cycle from egg to 
 adult beetle may be passed in about a 
 month, although if the weather is cold, this 
 period will be longer. The beetles are very 
 prolific, a mother beetle having been known 
 to produce five hundred eggs, and there are 
 two generations each year. These beetles 
 not only damage the potato crop by stopping 
 
 Photo by Slingerland. 
 
 the growth through destroying the leaves, but th:y also cause the 
 potatoes to be of inferior quality. 
 
 The adult beetle is an excellent 
 object lesson in the study o; beetle 
 form. Attentin should be called 
 to the three regions of the body: A 
 head which is bright orange; the 
 compound eyes, which are black; 
 and three simple eyes on the top 
 of the head, which are difficult to 
 see without a lens. The antennae 
 are short, their joints easily noted, 
 and special attention should be paid 
 to their use, for they are constantly 
 moving to feel approaching objects. 
 The two pairs ot mouth palpi may 
 be seen, and the beetle will eagerly 
 eat raw potatoes, so that the pupils 
 may see that it has biting mouth- 
 parts. The thoracic shield is 
 orange, ornamented with black. 
 The three pairs of legs are short, 
 which is a proof that these beetles 
 do not migrate on foot. The claws 
 and the pads beneath can be seen 
 with the naked eye. Each wing- 
 cover bears five ye'low stripes, also five black ones, although the outside 
 black stripe is rather narrow. These beetles are very successful flyers. 
 During flight, the wing-covers are raised and held motionless while the 
 gauzy wings beneath are unfolded and do the work. Children are 
 always interested in seeing the way the beetles fold their wings 
 beneath the wing-covers. 
 
 Larvae of Colorado potato-beetle 
 
 Photo by Slingerland. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 411 
 
 One of the most remarkable things about the Colorado potato-beetle 
 is its history. It is one of the few insect pests which is native to America. 
 It formerly fed upon sandbur, a wild plant allied to the potato, which 
 grows in the region of Colorado, Arizona and 
 Mexico, and was a well behaved, harmless in- 
 sect. With the advance of civilization west- 
 ward, the potato came also, and proved to be 
 an acceptable plant to this insect; and here 
 we have an example of what an unlimited 
 food supply will do for an insect species. The 
 beetles multiplied so much faster than their 
 parasites, that it seemed at one time as if they 
 would conquer the earth by moving on from 
 potato field to potato field. They started on 
 their march to the Atlantic seaboard in 1859; 
 in 1874, they reached the coast and judging by 
 the numbers washed ashore, they sought to fly 
 or swim across the Atlantic. By 1879, they 
 had spread over an area consisting of more 
 than one-third of the United States. 
 
 Reference — ^The Colorado Potato-Beetle, 
 
 Pupa of potato-beetle, 
 
 enlarged. 
 
 Photo by Slingerland. 
 
 Chittenden, Bulletin of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
 
 LESSON XCII 
 The Colorado Potato-beetle 
 
 Leading thottght — ^The Colorado potato-beetle is a very important 
 insect, since it affects the price of potatoes each year. It is disagreeable 
 as a food for birds, because of an acrid juice which it secretes. We should 
 learn its Hfe-history and thus be able to deal with it intelligently in pre- 
 venting its ravages. 
 
 Method — The study of the potato-beetle naturally follows and belongs 
 to gardening. The larvae should be brought into the schoolroom and 
 placed in a breeding cage on leaves of the potato vine. Other plants may 
 be put into the cage to prove that these insects will only eat the potato. 
 The children should observe how the larvae eat and how many leaves a 
 full grown larva will destroy in a day. Earth should be put in the bottom 
 of the breeding cage so that the children may see the larvae descend and 
 burrow into it. The adult beetles should be studied carefully, and espe- 
 cially, the children should see the excretion of the acrid juice. 
 
 Observations — i. At what time do you see the potato-beetles? Why 
 are they more numerous in the fall than in the spring? Where do those 
 which we find in the spring come from? What will they do if they are 
 allowed to live? 
 
 2. What is the shape of the potato-beetle? Describe the markings 
 on its head. What color are its eyes? Describe its antennae. How are 
 they constantly used? Can you see the palpi of the mouth? Give the 
 beetle a bit of potato and note how it eats. 
 
 3. What is the color of the shield of the thorax' Describe the legs. 
 Do you think the beetle can run fast? Why not? How many segments 
 has the foot ' Describe the claws. Describe how it chngs to the sides of 
 a tumbler or bottle. 
 
41 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The Colorado potato-beetle. 
 
 Photo by Slingerland. 
 
 4. If the beetle cannot run rapidly, how does it travel? Describe the 
 wing-covers. Why is this insect called the ten-lined potato beetle? 
 
 5 . Describe the wings. How are they folded when at rest ? How are 
 the wing-covers carried when the beetle is flying? 
 
 6. Take a beetle in your hand. What does it do? Of what advan- 
 tage is it to ihe insect to pretend that it is dead? If you squeeze the 
 beetle what happens? How does the fluid which it ejects look and smell? 
 Try and discover where this fluid conies from '1 Of what use is it to the 
 beetle? Why will birds not eat the potato-beetle? 
 
 7. Where does the mother beetle lay her eggs? Are they laid singly 
 or in clusters? What color are the eggs? How long after they are laid 
 before they hatch? 
 
 8. Describe the young larva when it first hatches. What color is it at 
 first? Does it change color later? Describe the colors and markings of a 
 full grown larva. 
 
 9. How does this larva injure the potato vines? Does it remain in 
 sight while it is feeding? Does it act as if it were afraid of birds? Why 
 is it not eaten by bi-rds ? 
 
 10. Where does the larva go when it is full grown? How many times 
 does it shed its skin during its growth? Does it make a little cell in the 
 ground? How does the pupa look? Can you see in it the eyes, antennae, 
 legs and wings of the beetle? 
 
 11. Write an English theme giving the history of the Colorado 
 potato-beetle, and the reasons for its migration from its native place. 
 
Insect Study 413 
 
 THE LADYBIRD 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Ladybird, Ladybird, -fly away home! 
 
 Your house is on pre, your children are burning. 
 
 HIS incantation we, as children, repeated to this 
 unhearing Httle beetle, probably because she is 
 and ever has been, the incarnation of energetic 
 indecision. She runs as fast as her short legs can 
 carry her in one direction, as if her life depended on 
 getting there, then she turns about and goes with 
 quite as much vim in another direction. Thus, it 
 is no wonder the children think that when she 
 hears this news of her domestic disasters, she 
 wheels about and starts for home ; but she has not 
 any home now nor did she ever have a home, and she does not carry even a 
 trunk. Perhaps it would be truer to say that she has a home everywhere, 
 whether she is cuddled under a leaf for a night's lodging or industriously 
 climbing out on twigs, only to scramble back again, or perchance to take 
 flight from their tips. 
 
 There are many species of ladybirds, but in general they all resemble 
 a tiny pill cut in half, with legs attached to the flat side. Sometimes it 
 may be a round and sometimes an oval pill, but it is always shining and 
 the colors are always dull dark red, or yellow, or whit- 
 ish, and black. Sometimes she is black with red or 
 yellow spots, sometimes red or yellow with black spots 
 and the spots are usually on either side of the thorax 
 and one on each snug little wing-cover. But if we Ladybird larva. 
 look at the ladybird carefully we can see the head and the short, clublike 
 antennae. Behind the head is the thorax with its shield, broadening 
 toward the rear, spotted and ornamented in various ways; the head and 
 thorax together occupy scarcely a fourth of the length of the insect, and 
 the remainder consists of the hemispherical body, encased with polished 
 wing-covers. The little black legs, while quite efficient because they can 
 be moved so rapidly, are not the ladybird's only means of locomotion; 
 she is a good flier and has a long pair of dark wings which she folds cross- 
 wise under her wing-covers. It is comical to see her pull up her wings, as 
 a lady tucks up a long petticoat; and sometimes ladybird is rather 
 slovenly about it and runs around with the tips of her wings hanging out 
 behind, quite untidily. 
 
 But any untidiness must be inadvertent, because the ladybird takes 
 very good care of herself and spends much time in "washing up." She 
 begins with her front legs, cleaning them with her mandibles, industriously 
 nibbhng off every grain of dust ; she then cleans her middle and hind legs 
 by rubbing the two on the same side, back and forth against each other, 
 each acting as a whisk broom for the other; she cleans her wings by 
 brushing them between the edges of the wing-cover above and the tarsus 
 of her hind leg below. 
 
 The ladybird is a clever little creature, even if it does look like a pill, 
 and if you disturb it, it will fold up its legs and drop as if dead, playing 
 possum in a most deceptive manner. It will remain in this attitude of 
 
 _l^^^^ 
 ^"W^^^ 
 
414 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 rigid death for at least a minute or two and then will begin to claw the air 
 with all its six legs in an effort to turn right side up. 
 
 From our standpoint the ladybird is of great value, for during xhe 
 larval as well as adult stages, all species except one, feed upon those 
 insects which we are glad to be rid of. They are especially fond of aphids 
 and scale insects. One of the greatest achievements of economic entomol- 
 ogy was the introduction on the Pacific Coast of the ladybird from 
 Austraha, called the Vedalia, which preys upon the cottony cushion 
 scale insect, a species very dangerous to orange and lemon trees. Within 
 a few years the introduced ladybirds had completely exterminated this 
 pest. 
 
 The ladybird's history is as follows : The mother beetle, in the spring, 
 
 lays her eggs here and there on plants: as soon as the larva hatches, it 
 
 starts out to hunt for aphids and other insects. It is safe to say that no 
 
 ladybird would recognize her own children in time to save 
 
 them, even if the house were burning, for they do not in the 
 
 t least resemble her; they are neither roly-poly nor shiny, but 
 are long and segmented and velvety, with six queer, short legs 
 that look and act as if they were whittled out of wood ; they 
 seem only efficient for clinging around a stem The larvae are 
 Ladvbird usually black, spotted with orange or yellow; there are six 
 pupa. warts on each segment, which make the creature's back look 
 quite rough. The absorbing business of the larva is to crawl 
 around on plants and chew up the foolish aphids or the scale 
 insects. I have seen one use its front foot to push an aphid, which it was 
 eating, closer to its jaws; but when one green leg of its victim still clung 
 to its head, it did not try to rub it off as its mother would have done, but 
 twisted its head over this way and that, wiping off the fragment on a plant 
 stem and then gobbling it up. 
 
 After the larva has shed its skeleton skin several times, and destroyed 
 many times its own bulk of insects, it hunts for some quiet corner, hangs 
 itself up by the tail and condenses itself into a sub-globular form ; 
 it sheds its spiny skin pushing it up around the point of attach- ^ 
 ment, and there lets it stay like the lion's skin of Hercules. As a 
 pupa, it is more nearly rectangular than round, and if we look 
 closely, we can see the wing-cases, the spotted segments of the^^'^^y}!^'''^ 
 abdomen, and the eyes, all encased in the pupa skin; the latter ..^^^g, ' 
 bursts open after a few days and the shining, little half-globe nine- 
 emerges a full-grown ladybird, ready for hiding in some cozy spot spotted 
 to pass the winter, from which she will emerge in the spring, to f^'^-^'r, 
 stock our trees and vines, next year, with her busy little progeny. ^^' 
 
 References — ^American Insects, Kellogg; Manual for the Study of 
 Insects, Comstock, 
 
 LESSON XCIII 
 The Ladybird 
 
 Leading thought — ^The ladybird is a beetle. Its young are very differ- 
 ent from the adult in appearance, and feed upon plant-hce. 
 
 Method — ^These little beetles are very common in autumn and may be 
 brought to the schoolroom and passed around in vials for the children to 
 observe. Their larvae may be found on almost any plant infested with 
 
Insect Study 
 
 415 
 
 plant-lice. Plant and all may be brought into the schoolroom and the 
 actions of the larvae noted by the pupils during recess. 
 
 Observations— I. How large is the ladybird? What is its shape? 
 Would two of them make a little globe if they were put flat sides together? 
 
 2. What colors do you find on your ladybird? 
 
 3. Do you see the ladybird's head and antennse? What is'r'the broad 
 shield directly back of the head called ? How is it marked, and with what 
 colors? What color are the wing-covers? Are there any spots upon 
 them ? How many ? Does the ladybird use its wing-covers when it flies ? 
 Describe her true wings. Does she fold them beneath the wing-covers? 
 
 4. Note the legs and feet. Are the legs long? Are they fitted for 
 running? To which part of the body are they attached? 
 
 5. If you disturb the ladybird how does she "play possum?" Describe 
 how she makes her toilet. 
 
 The larva — i. Describe the ladybird larva. Does it look like its 
 mother? What is its form? Is it warty and velvety or shiny? 
 
 2. Describe its head and jaws as far as you can see. How does it act 
 when eating? Can you see its little stiff legs? Is there a claw at the end 
 of each ? 
 
 3 . Describe the actions of the ladybird larva in attacking and eating 
 the plant-lice. Does it shed its skin as it grows ? 
 
 4. Watch a larva until it changes to a pupa. How does the 
 look? Can you see the shed skin? Where is it? To what is the 
 attached ? When the pupa skin breaks open what comes out of it ? 
 
 5. Why is the ladybird of great use to us? Write an English theme 
 upon the ladybird, called Vedalia, which saved the orange orchards of 
 California. 
 
 pupa 
 pupa 
 
 I, Larva; 2, pupa and j, adult of a species of ladybird, enlarged. 
 The small beetle represents actual size. 
 
4i6 
 
 Haftdbook of Nature-Study 
 
 T 
 
 THE FIREFLY 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Atid lavishly to left and right. 
 The fireflies, like golden seeds. 
 Are sown upon the night. 
 
 — Riley. 
 
 HE time of this sowing is during warm, damp nights in 
 July and August, and even in September, although 
 they are sown less lavishly then. How little most of 
 /s, ■■^» / us know of the harvest, although we see the sowing 
 
 ^i, / which begins in the early twilight against the back- 
 
 ^^ " ground of tree shadows, and lasts until the cold 
 
 atmosphere of the later night dampens the firefly 
 
 ardor! There is a difference in species as to the 
 
 height from the ground of their flight ; some species 
 
 hover next to the grass, others fly above our heads, 
 
 but rarely as high as the tree tops in northern latitudes. Some species 
 
 give a short flash that might be called a refulgent blinking ; others give a 
 
 longer flash so that we get an idea of the direction of their flight; and 
 
 there is a common species in the Gulf States which gives such long flashes 
 
 that they mark the night with gleaming curlicues. 
 
 It is likely to be an exciting chase, before we are able to capture a few 
 of these insects for closer inspection; but when once captured, they do 
 not sulk but will keep on with their flashing and give us a most edifying 
 display. The portion of the firefly which gives the light is in the abdomen, 
 and it glows steadily like "phosphorescent wood"; then suddenly it 
 gleams with a green light that is strong enough to reveal all its sur- 
 roundings; and it is so evidently an act of will on the part of the beetle, 
 that it is startling to members of our race, who cannot even blush or 
 turn pale voluntarily. The fireflies may be truly said to be socially bril- 
 liant, for the flashing of their lights is for the attraction of their mates. 
 
 The fireflies are beetles, and there are many 
 species which are luminous. A common one is here 
 figured (Photinus pyralis). It is pale gray above 
 and the head is completely hidden by the big shield 
 of the thorax. The legs are short; thus this beetle 
 trusts mostly to its wings as a means of locomotion. 
 The antennae are rather long and are kept in 
 constant motion, evidently conveying intelligence 
 of surroundings to the insect. Beneath the gray 
 elytra, or wing-covers, is a pair of large, dark- 
 veined membranous wings which are folded in a 
 very neat manner crosswise and lengthwise, 
 
 when not in use. "When in use, the wing-covers are lifted stiffly 
 and the flying is done wholly with the membranous wings. Looked 
 at from beneath, we can at once see that some of the segments of the 
 abdomen are parth^ or entirely sulphur yellow, and we recognize them as 
 the lamp. If the specimen is a male, the yellow area covers all of the end 
 of the abdomen up to the fourth or fifth segment ; but if it is a female, 
 only the middle portion of the abdomen, especially the fifth segment, is 
 converted into a lamp. These yellow areas, when dissected under the 
 
 A common firefly — The 
 view of the lower 
 side shows the 
 "lamp." 
 
Insect Study 417 
 
 microscope, prove to be filled with fine tracheae, or air-tubes; and although 
 we know very little about the way the light is made, it is believed that by 
 flooding the tubes with air, the oxygen in some wav produces the 
 light. 
 
 In some species, the female is wingless and has very short wing- 
 covers, and a portion of her body emits a steady, greenish light which tells 
 her lord and master where to find her. These wingless females are called 
 glow-worms. 
 
 Fireflies during their larval stages are popularly called wire worms, 
 although there are many other beetle larvae thus called. In many of the 
 species, the firefly eggs, larvae and pupae are all luminescent, but not so 
 brilliant as when adults. The larva of the species here figured, was 
 studied by C. V. Riley, who gave us an interesting account of its habits. 
 
 It lives in the ground and feeds on soft-bodied 
 insects, probably earth-worms. Each segment of this 
 wire worm has a horny, brown plate above, with a 
 straight white line running through the middle and 
 a slightly curved white line on each side ; the sides 
 of the larva are soft and rose-colored; the white 
 spiracles show against little, oval, brown patches. 
 Beneath, the larva is cream color with two brown 
 comma-like dots at the center of each segment. 
 The head can be pulled back completely beneath the 
 first segment. The most interesting thing about this 
 larva is the prop-leg at the end of its body, which 
 
 T J 1""1"" J- naturally aids it in locomotion ; but this prop-les: also 
 
 Larva and pupa of a r ^. ■' , , .^ \^ ^ 11 
 
 common firefly. functions as a brush ; after the larva has become 
 
 After c. v. Riley. soiled with too eager delving into the tissues of some 
 earthworm, it curls its body over, and with this fan- 
 shaped hind foot scrubs its head and face very clean. This is a rare 
 instance of a larva paying any attention to its toilet. 
 
 When full-grown, the larva makes a little oval cell within the earth and 
 changes to a pupa; after about ten days, the pupa skin is shed and the 
 full-fledged beetle comes forth. The larva and pupa of this species give 
 off light, but are not so brilliant as the adult. The pupils should be en- 
 couraged to study the early stages of the fireflies, because very little is 
 known concerning them. 
 
 In Cuba a large beetle called the cucujo has two great oval spots on its 
 thorax, resembling eyes, which give oft' light. The Cuban ladies wear 
 cucujos at the opera, in nets, in the hair. I once had a pair which I 
 tethered with gold chains to the bodice of my ball gown. The eye-spots 
 glowed steadily, but with the movement of dancing, they grew more bril- 
 liant until no glittering diamonds could compete with their glow. 
 
 LESSON XCIV 
 The Firefly 
 
 Leading thought — When the firefly wishes to make a light, it can pro- 
 duce one that, if we knew how to make, would greatly reduce the price of 
 artificial light; for the light made by fireflies and other creatures, 
 requires less energy than any other light known. 
 
 Method — ^After the outdoor observations have been made, collect some 
 of these beetles in the evening with a sweep net ; place them under a 
 
4i8 
 
 Handbook of Na'ure-btiidy 
 
 glass jar or tumbler, so that their light can be studied at close range. 
 The next day give the observation lesson on the insects. 
 
 Observations— 1. At what time of year do you see fireflies? Do they 
 beein to lic^hten before it is dark ? Do you see them high m the air or near 
 the ground? Is the flash they give short, or long enough to make a 
 streak of H^^ht' Do you see them on cold and windy nights or on warm, 
 still, damp evenings ? Make a note of the hour when you see the first one 
 
 flash in an evening. , . . ^ ,, . i • n 
 
 2 Catch a few fireflies in the nignt ; put them under a glass jar. Can 
 vou see the light when they are not flashing? What color is it? When 
 they make the flash can you see the outline of the "firefly lamp .'"' Watch 
 closely and see if you think the flashing is a matter of will on the part of 
 the firefly. Do you think the firefly is signaling to his mate when he 
 
 flashes? 
 
 3. Study the firefly in daylight. Is it a fly or is it a beetle? What 
 
 color is it above? When you look squarely down upon it, can you see its 
 
 head and eyes? , ^ , 
 
 4. Are the firefly's legs long or short? U hen a beetle has short legs 
 is it a sign that it usually walks, runs or flies? 
 
 5. Describe the antennae. Are they in constant motion? What 
 service do you think the firefly's antennae perform for it? 
 
 6. Lift one of the wing-covers carefully. What do 3^ou find beneath 
 it? Does the beetle use its wing-covers to beat the air and help it during 
 flight? How does the beetle hold its wing-covers when flying? 
 
 7. Turn the beetle on its back. Can you see the part of the body 
 
 that flashes? What color is it? 
 
 8. Do you know the life history of the firefly .' What is it like m its 
 earlier stages? Where does it Hve? Does it have the power of making 
 light v/hen it is in the larval stage ? 
 
 "There, in warm Angus, gloaming, 
 ]]'ith quick silent brightenings, 
 From meadow-lands roaming, 
 The firefly twinkles 
 His fitful heat-lighlntngs." 
 
 — Lowell 
 
 A Maybectle flying, showing that the beetles hold the 
 wing-covers stifj and still in flight, the 
 hind wings doing the work. 
 Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 419 
 
 THE WAYS OF THE ANT 
 
 My child, behold the cheerful ant. 
 How hard she works, each day; 
 She works as hard as adarnant 
 Which is very hard, they say. 
 
 — Oliver Herford. 
 
 ERY many performances on the part of the ant seem 
 to us without reason; undoubtedly many of our 
 performances seem likewise to her. But the more 
 understandingly we study her and her ways, the 
 more we are forced to the conclusion that sbe 
 knows what she is about ; I am sure that none of us 
 can sit down by an ant-nest and watch its citizens 
 come and go, without discovering things to make 
 us marvel. 
 
 By far the greater number of species of ants 
 find exit from their underground burrows, beneath 
 stones in fields. They like the stone for more 
 reasons than one ; it becomes hot imder the noon sun and remains warm 
 during the night, thus giving them a cozy nursery in the evening for their 
 young. Some species make mounds, and often several neighboring 
 mounds belong to the same colony, and are connected by underground 
 galleries. There are usually several openings into these mounds. In 
 case of some of the western species which make galleries beneath the 
 ground, there is but one opening to the nest and Dr. McCook says that 
 this gate is closed at night; at every gate in any ants' nest, there are 
 likely to be sentinels stationed, to give warning of intruders. 
 
 As soon as a nest is disturbed, the scared little citizens run helter 
 skelter to get out of the way; but if there are any larvae or pupae about, 
 they are never too frightened to take them up and make off with them; 
 but when too hard pressed, they will in most cases drop the precious 
 burden, although I have several times seen an ant, when she dropped a 
 pupa, stand guard over it and refuse to budge without it. The ant's eggs 
 are very small objects, being oblong and about the size of a pin point. 
 The larvae are translucent creatures, like rice grains with one end pointed. 
 The pupae are yellowish, covered with a parchment-like sac, and resemble 
 grains of wheat. When we lift stones in a field, we usually find directly 
 beneath, the young of a certain size. 
 
 There are often, in the same species of ants, two sizes; the large ones 
 are called majors and the smaller minors; sometimes there is a smaller 
 size yet, called minims. The smaller sizes are probably the result of lack 
 of nutrition. But whatever their size, they all work together to bring 
 food for the young and in caring for the nest. We often see an ant carry- 
 ing a dead insect or Fome other object larger than herself. If she cannot 
 lift it or shove it, she turns around, and going backwards, pulls it along. 
 It is rarely that we see two carrying the same load, although we have 
 observed this several times. In one or two cases, the two seemed not to 
 be in perfect accord as to which path to take. If the ants find some large 
 supply of food, many of them will form a procession to bring it into the 
 nest bit by bit; such processions go back by making a little detour so as 
 not to meet and inte"fere with thore coming. During most of the year, 
 an ant colony consists only of workers and laying queens, but in early 
 
420 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 summer the nest may be found swarming with winged forms which are 
 the kings and queens. Some warm day these will issue from the nest 
 and take their marriage flighty the only time in their lives when they use 
 their wings; for ants, like seeds, seem to be provided with wings simply 
 for the sake of scattering wide the species. It is a strange fact, that often 
 on the same day swarms will issue from all the nests of one species in the 
 whole region; by what mysterious messenger, word is sent that brings 
 
 about this unanimous exodus, is still a 
 mystery to us. This seems to be a provi- 
 sion for cross-breeding; and as bearing upon 
 this. Miss Fielde discovered that an alien 
 king is not only made welcome in a nest, but 
 is sometimes seized by workers and pulled 
 into a nest; this is most significant, since 
 no worker of any other colony of the same 
 species, is permitted to live in any but its 
 own nest. 
 
 After the marriage flight, the ants fall 
 to the ground and undoubtedly a large 
 number perish; however, just here our 
 knowledge is lamentably lacking, and 
 observations on the part of pupils as to 
 what happens to these winged forms will be 
 valuable. In the case of most species, we 
 know that a queen finds refuge in some 
 shelter and there lays eggs. Mr. Comstock 
 once studied a queen of the big, black 
 carpenter ant which lives under the bark of 
 trees. This queen, without taking any food 
 .• herself, was able to lay her eggs and rear her 
 first brood to maturity; she regurgitated 
 food for this first brood, and then they went 
 out foraging for the colony. However, 
 Miss Fielde found that in the species she 
 studied, the queen could not do this; a 
 question most interesting to solve is 
 whether any of the young queens, after the 
 marriage flight, are adopted into other 
 colonies of the same species. As soon as a 
 queen begins laying eggs, she sheds her then useless wings, laying them 
 aside as a bride does her veil. 
 
 When we are looking for ants' nests beneath stones, we often stumble 
 ■upon a colony consisting of citizens differing in color. One has the head 
 and thorax rust-red with the abdomen and legs brown ; associated with 
 this brown ant, is a black or ash-colored species. These black ants are 
 the slaves of the brown species; but slavery in the ant world has its 
 ameliorations. When the slave makers attack the slave nest, they do not 
 fight the inmates unless they are obhged to. They simply loot the nest 
 of the larvae or pupae, which they carry off to their own nests ; and there 
 they are fed and reared, as carefully as are their own young. The slaves 
 seem to be perfectly contented, and conduct the household affairs of their 
 masters with apparent cheerfulness. They do all the taking care of the 
 
 Agricultural ants. Note that one 
 ant is carrying a sister. 
 
 Drawn by Evelyn Mitchell. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 421 
 
 nest and feeding the young, but they are never permitted to go out with 
 war parties; thus they never fight, unless their colony is attacked by 
 marauders. 
 
 If one chances upon an ant battle, one must needs compare it to a 
 battle of men before the invention of gunpowder; for in those days fight- 
 ing was more gory and dreadful than now, since man fought man u'ntil 
 one of the twain was slain. There is a great variation in military skill as 
 well as in courage shown by difl;"erent species of ants; the species most 
 skilled in warfare, march to battle in a solid column and when they meet 
 the enemy, the battle resolves itself into duels, although there is no code 
 of ant honor which declares that one must fight the enemy single-handed. 
 Although some ants are provided with venomous stings, our common 
 species use their jaws for weapons ; they also eject upon each other a very 
 acid liquid which we know as formic acid. Two enemies approach each 
 other, rear on their hind legs, throw this ant vitriol at each other, then 
 close in deadly combat, each trying to cut the other in two. Woe to the 
 one on which the jaws of her enemy are once set! For the ant has bull- 
 dog qualities, and if she once gets hold, she never lets go even though she 
 be rent in pieces herself. At night the ant armies retreat to their citadels, 
 but in the morning fare forth again to battle ; and thus the war may be 
 waged for days, and the battlefield be strewn with the remains of the dead 
 and dying. So far as we are able to observe, there are two chief causes 
 for ant wars; one is when two colonies desire the same ground, and the 
 other is for the purpose of making slaves. 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting as well as most easily observed of all ant 
 practices, are those that have to do with plant-lice, or aphids. If we find 
 an ant climbing a plant of any sort, it is very likely that we shall find she 
 is doing it for the purpose of tending her aphid herds. The aphid is a 
 stupid little creature which lives by thrusting its bill or sucking tube into 
 a stem or leaf of a plant, and thus settles down for life, nourished by the 
 
 sap which it sucks up; 
 it has a peculiar habit 
 of exuding from its 
 alimentary canal 
 drops of honey-dew, 
 when it feels the caress 
 of the ant's antennas 
 upon its back. I had 
 one year under obser- 
 vation, a nest of ele- 
 gant little ants with 
 shining triangular ab- 
 domens which they 
 waved in the air like 
 pennants when excit- 
 ed. These ants were 
 most devoted attend- 
 ants on the plant-lice 
 infesting an evening 
 primrose; if I jarred 
 
 An aphid stable, built bv ants to protect tlieir Jierds. ^^^ prmirose stem, 
 Photo by siingeriand. the ants had a panic. 
 
4 22 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 and often one would seize an aphid in her jaws and dash about madly, 
 as if to rescue it at all hazards. When the ant wishes honey-dew, she 
 approaches the aphid, stroking it or patting it gently with her antennae, 
 and if a drop of the sweet fluid is not at once forthcoming, it is probably 
 because other ants have previously exhausted its individual supply; if 
 the ant gets no response, she hurries on to some other aphid not yet 
 milked dry. 
 
 This devotion of ants to aphids has been known for a hundred years, 
 but only recently has it been discovered to be of economic importance. 
 Professor Forbes', in studying the corn root-louse, discovered that the ants 
 care for the eggs of this aphid in their own nests during the winter, and 
 take the young aphids out early in the spring, placing them on the roots of 
 sm.artweed; later, after the corn is planted, the ants m.ove their charges 
 to the roots of the corn- Ants have been seen to give battle to the ene- 
 mies of the aphid. The aphids of one species living on dogwood are pro- 
 tected while feeding by stables, which a certain species of ant builds around 
 them, from a mortar made of earth and vegetable matter. 
 
 Refereiicci, — Ants, W. M Wheeler, Ant Communities, McCook 
 
 LESSON XCV 
 
 Field Observatioxs ox Ants 
 
 Leading thought — However aimless to us may seem the course of the 
 ant as we see her running about, undoubtedly if we understood her well 
 enough, we should find that there is rational ant-sense in her perform- 
 ances. Therefore, whenever we are walkmg and have time, let us make 
 careful observations as to the actions of the ants which we may see. 
 
 Method — The following questions should be written on the blackboard 
 and copied by the pupils in their note-books. This should be done in 
 May or June, and the answers to the questions worked out by observations 
 made during the summer vacation. 
 
 Observations — i. W^here do you find ants' nests? Describe all the 
 different kinds you have found. In what sort of soil do they make their 
 nests? Describe the entrance to the nest. If the nest is a tnound, is 
 there more than one entrance ? Are there many mounds near each other? 
 If so, do you think they all belong to the same colony? 
 
 2. When the nest is disturbed, how do the ants act? Do they usually 
 try to save themselves alone? Do they seek to save their 3'oung at the 
 risk of their own lives? If an ant, carrying a young one is hard pressed, 
 will she drop it? 
 
 3. Make notes on the differt^nce in appearance of eggs, larva; and 
 pupae in any ants' nest. 
 
 4. In nests under stones, can you find iarvae and pupa5 assorted 
 according to sizes? 
 
 5. How many sizes of ants do you find living in the same nest ? 
 
 6. AVhat objects do you find ants carrying to their nests? Are these 
 for food? How does an ant manage to carry an object larger than herself? 
 Do you ever see two ants working together carrying the same load? 
 
 7. If you find a procession of ants carrying food to their nest, note if 
 they follow the same path coming and going. 
 
Insect Study 423 
 
 8. If you find winged ants in a nest, catch a few in a vial with a few 
 of the workers, and compare the two. The winged ants are kings and 
 queens, the kings being much smaller than the queens. 
 
 9. If you chance to encounter a swarm of winged ants taking flight, 
 make observations as to the size of swarm, the height above the ground] 
 and whether any are falling to the earth. 
 
 10. Look under the loose bark of trees for nests of the big, black 
 carpenter ant. You may find in such situations a queen ant starting a 
 colony, which will prove most desirable for stocking an artificial ant's nest. 
 
 11. If you find ants chmbing shrubs, trees or other plants, look upon 
 the leaves for aphids and note the following points: 
 
 a. How does an ant act as she approaches an aphid? 
 
 b. If the aphids are crowded on the leaf, does she step on them? 
 
 c. Watch carefully to see how the ant touches the aphid when she 
 wishes the honey-dew. 
 
 d. Watch how the aphid excretes the honey-dew, and note if the ant 
 eats it. 
 
 e. If you disturb aphids which have ants tending them, note whether 
 the ants attempt to defend or rescue their herds. 
 
 __ f. If there are aphis-lions or ladybird larvae eating the aphids, note 
 if the ants attack them. 
 
 12. If you find a colony of ants under stones where there are brown 
 and black ants living together, the black members are the slaves of the 
 brown. Observe as carefully as possible the actions of both the black 
 and the brown inhabitants of the nest. 
 
 13. If you chance to see ants fighting, note how they make the 
 attack. With what weapons do they fight? How do they try to get at 
 the adversary ? 
 
 14. Write an English theme covering the following points: How 
 ants take their slaves ; the attitude of masters and slaves toward each 
 other; the work which the slaves do, and the story of the ant battle. 
 How ants care for and use their herds. 
 
 References — ^American Insects, Kellogg, Manual for the Study of 
 Insects, Comstock; Ants, McCook; True Tales, Jordan, i)age 6. 
 
 LESSON XCVI 
 How TO Make the Lubbock Ant-nest 
 
 Material — Two pieces of window glass, 10 inches square ; a sheet of tin, 
 II inches square; a piece of plank, iX inch thick, 20 inches long and at 
 least 16 inches wide; a sheet of tin or a thm, flat board, 10 inches square. 
 
 To tnake tJie nest---Take the plank and on the upper side, a short dis- 
 tance from the edge, cut a deep furrow. This furrow is to be filled with 
 water, as a moat, to keep the ants imprisoned. It is necessary, therefore, 
 that the plank should have no knot holes, and that it be painted thor- 
 oughly to keep it from checking. Take the sheet ot tin 1 1 inches square, 
 and make i-i into a tray by turning up the edges three-eighths of an inch. 
 Place this tray in the middle of the plank. Place within the tray one 
 pane of glass. Lay arotmd the edges of this glass four strips of wood 
 about half an inch wide and a little thicker than the height of the ants 
 which are to live in the nest. Cover the glass with a thin layer of fine 
 earth. Take the remaining pane of glass and cut a triangular piece off 
 
424 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 of one corner, then place the pane on top of the other, resting upon the 
 pieces of wood around the sides. The cover of the nest may be a piece of 
 tin with a handle soldered to the center, or a board with a screw-eye in the 
 center with which to lift it. There should be a piece of blotter or of very 
 thin sponge, introduced into the nest between the two panes of glass, in a 
 position where it may be reached with a pipette, without removing the 
 upper glass, for it must be kept always damp. 
 
 To establish a colony in this nest proceed as follows: Take a two- 
 quart glass fruit jar and a garden trowel. Armed with these, visit some 
 pasture or meadow near by, and find under some stone, a small colony of 
 ants which have plenty of eggs and larvae. Scoop up carefully eggs, ants, 
 dirt and all and place in the jar, being as careful as possible not to injure 
 the specimens. While digging, search carefully for the queen, which is a 
 larger ant and is sometimes thus found. But if you have plenty of eggs, 
 larvffi and pups, the ants will become very contented in their new nest 
 while taking care of them. After you have taken all the ants desirable, 
 place the cover on the jar, carry them to the Lubbock nest and carefully 
 empty the contents of the fruit jar on top of the board which covers the 
 nest. Of course the furrow around the plank has been filled with water, 
 so the stragglers cannot escape. The ants will soon find the way into the 
 nest through the cut comer of the upper pane of glass, and will transfer 
 their larvje to it because it is dark. After they are in the nest, which 
 should be within two or three hours, remove the dirt on the cover, and the 
 nest is ready for observation. But, since light disturbs the little prison- 
 ers, the cover should be removed only for short periods. 
 
 The Fielde nest is better adapted for a serious study of ants, but it is 
 not so well adapted for the schoolroom as is the Lubbock nest. 
 
 Reference — Ants, W. M. Wheeler. 
 
 .4 Lubbock ant-nest. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 425 
 
 THE ANT-NEST, AND WHAT MAY BE SEEN WITHIN IT 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 NT anatomy becomes a very interestmg study when we 
 note the vigorous way the ant uses it— even to the 
 least part. The slender waist characterizes the ant as 
 well as the wasp; the three regions of the body are 
 easily seen, the head with its ever moving antenna the 
 slender thorax with its three pairs of most efficient legs 
 and the long abdomen. The ant's legs are fairly long 
 as compared with the size of the body and the ant can 
 run with a rapidity that, comparatively, would soon 
 outdistance any Marathon runner, however famed. I 
 timed an ant one day when she was taking a constitu- 
 tional on my foot rule. She was in no hurry, and yet she made time that 
 if translated into human terms would mean 1 6 yards per second In addi- 
 tion to running, many ants when frightened will make leaps with incred- 
 ible swiftness. 
 
 The ant does not show her cleverness in her physiognomv probably 
 because her eyes seem small and dull and she has a decidedly'" retreating 
 forehead;" but the brain behind this unpromising appearance is far more 
 
 active and efficient than that behind the 
 
 gorgeous 
 
 great 
 
 eyes of the 
 
 common 
 ant. 
 
 dragon-fly or behind the "high brow" of the grasshop^per. 
 
 The ant's jaws are very large compared with her head ; they 
 
 work side wise like a pair of shears and are armed with 
 
 triangular teeth along the biting edges; these are not teeth 
 
 in a vertebrate sense, but are like the teeth of a saw. These 
 
 jaws are the ant's chief utensils and weapons; with them 
 
 she seizes the burdens of food which she carries home ; with 
 
 them she gently lifts her infant charges; with them she 
 
 crushes and breaks up hard food ; with them she carries out soil from her 
 
 tunnel, and with them she fights her enemies. She also has a pair of long 
 
 palpi, or feelers. 
 
 Although her eyes are so small and furnished with coarse facets, as 
 compared with other insects, this fact need not count against her, for she 
 has little need of eyes. Her home life is passed in dark burrows where her 
 antennae give her information of her surroundings. Note how these 
 antennae are always moving, seeming to be atremble in eagerness to 
 receive sensations. But aside from their powers of telling things by the 
 touch, wherein they are more delicate than the fingers of the blind.'they 
 have other sense organs which are comparable to our sense of smell. 
 Miss Fielde has shown that the five end segments of the antenna have 
 each its own powers in detecting odor. The end segment detects the odor 
 of the ant's own nest and enables her to distinguish this from other nests. 
 The next, or eleventh segment, detects the odor of any descendant of the 
 same queen; by this, she recognizes her sisters wherever she finds them. 
 Through the next, or tenth segment, she recognizes the odor of her own 
 feet on the trail, and thus can retrace her own steps. The eighth and 
 ninth segments convey to her the intelligence and means of caring for 
 the young. If an ant is deprived of these five end-joints of the antenniE, 
 she loses all power as a social ant and becomes completely disenfranchised. 
 Miss Fielde gives her most interesting experiments in detail in the Pro- 
 
426 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 ceedino-s of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, July and 
 
 October, 1901. 
 
 It is natural enough that the ant, depending so much on her antennae 
 for impressions and stimuli, should be very particular to keep them clean 
 and in «^ood order. She is well equipped to do this, for she has a most 
 efficient antennae brush on her wrist; it is practically a circular comb, 
 which just fits over the antenna; and to see the ants using these brushes 
 is one of the most common sights in the ant-nest and one of the most 
 amusing. The ant usually commences by lifting her leg over one antenna 
 and deftly passing it through the brush, and then licks the brush clean by 
 
 passing it through her mouth, as a cat 
 washes her face; then she cleans the 
 other in a similar manner and possibly 
 finishes by doing both alternately, 
 winding up with a flourish, like a 
 European gentleman curling his mus- 
 taches. Her antennas cleaned, she 
 starts promptly to do something, for 
 she is a little six-footed Martha, al- 
 ways weighed down or buoyed up by 
 many duties and cares. Keeping her 
 antenna? on the qui vive, she assures 
 herself, by touch, of the nature of any 
 obstacle in her path. If she meets 
 another ant, their antennae cross and 
 pat each other, and thus they learn 
 if they are sisters, they may stand for 
 some time with their antenna fluttering. One who has watched ants care- 
 fully, is compelled to believe that they thus convey intelligence of some 
 sort, 'one to the other. The ant is a good sister "according to her lights;" 
 if her sister is hungry, she will give to her, even from her own partially 
 digested food; the two will often stand mouth to mouth for some mmutes 
 during this process; if she feels inclined, she will also help a sister at her 
 toilet, and lick her with her tongue as one cow licks another. The tongue 
 of the ant is very useful in several ways; with it she takes up liquids, and 
 also uses it with much vigor as a washcloth. Sometimes an ant will 
 spend a half hour or more at her own toilet, licking every part of her own 
 body that her tongue can reach, meanwhile going through all sorts of 
 contortions to accomplish it ; she uses her feet to scrub portions of her 
 body, not to be reached by her 
 tongue. 
 
 But it is as infant nurse that 
 the ant is a shining example. 
 No mother instinct is hers, for 
 she has yielded the power of 
 motherhood to the exigencies of 
 business life, since all workers 
 are females but are undeveloped 
 sexually. She shows far more 
 sense in the care of her infant 
 sisters, than the mother instinct 
 often supplies to human mothers. Ants making their toilets 
 
 The antenna-comb on the front leg 
 of an ant. 
 
 whether they are sisters or aliens ; 
 
Insect Study 427 
 
 The ant nurse takes the eggs as soon as laid, and whether or not 
 her care retards or hastens hatching we know not; but we do 
 know, that although the queen ant may not lay more than two 
 eggs per day, a goodly number of these seem to hatch at the same 
 time. The eggs are massed in bundles and arc sticky on the outside so as 
 to hold the bundle together. Miss Fielde says, as the eggs are hatching, 
 one ant will hold up the bundle, wdiile another feeds those which have 
 broken the shell. The larvae, when young, also hang together by means 
 of tiny hooks on their bodies. This habit of the eggs and young larva is a 
 convenient one, since an ant is thus able to carry many at a time. 
 
 The larvoe are odd looking little creatures, shaped like crookncck 
 squashes, the small end being the head and neck and the latter being very 
 extensible. The ant nurses, by feeding some more than others, are able 
 to keep a brood at the same stage of development; and in a well ordered 
 ant-nest, we find those of the same size in one nursery. I have often 
 thought of a graded school as I have noted in ant-nests the youngsters 
 assorted according to size. 
 
 The ants seem to realize the cost and care of rearing their young; and 
 w^hen a nest is attacked, the oldest, which are usually in the pupa stage, 
 are saved first. When the larvae are young, they are fed on regurgitated 
 food; but as they grow older, the food is brought to them, or they to the 
 food, and they do their own eating. In one of my nests, I placed part of 
 the yolk of an egg hard boiled, and the ant nurses dumped the larvae dt.wn 
 around the edges of it; there they munched industriously, until through 
 their transparent bodies I could see the yellow of the egg the whole length 
 of the alimentary canal. The ant nurses are very particular about tem- 
 peratures for their young, and Miss Fielde says they are even more careful 
 about draughts. Thus they are obliged to move them about in the ground 
 nests, carrying them down to the lower nurseries in the heat of the day, 
 and bringing them up, nearer to the warm stones, during the evenings. 
 This moving is always done carefully, and though the ant's jaws are such 
 formidable nippers, she carries her baby sisters with gentleness; and if 
 they be pupae, she holds them by the loose pupal skin, like carrying a baby 
 by its clothes. The pupae look like plump little grain bags, tied at one 
 end with a black string. They are the size of small grains of wheat, and 
 are often called ants' eggs, which is absurd, since they are almost as large 
 as the ant. Ants' eggs are not larger than pin points. 
 
 The ant nurses keep the larvae and pupae very clean by licking them ; 
 and when a youngster issues from the pupa skin, it is a matter of much 
 interest to the nurses. I have often seen two or three of them help 
 straighten out the cramped legs and antennae of the young one, and hapten 
 to feed her with regurgitated food. When ants first issue from the pupa 
 skin they are pale in color, their eyes being very black in contrast; they 
 are usually helpless and stupid, although they often try to clean their 
 antenna; and make a toilet; but they do not know enough to follow their 
 elders from one room to another, and they are a source of much care to the 
 nurses. In case of moving, a nurse will lock jaws wath a "callow, " as a freshly 
 hatched adult ant is called, and drag her along, the legs of the callow 
 sprawling helplessly meanwhile. If in haste, the nurse takes hold any- 
 where, by the neck or the leg, and hustles her charge along; if she takes 
 her by the waist the callow curls up like a kitten, and is thus more easily 
 moved. After moving them from one chamber to the next, I have noticed 
 
428 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 *-hat the callows are herded together, their attendants ranged in a circle 
 about them. Often we see one ant carrying another which is not a callow, 
 and this means that a certain number of the colony have made up their 
 minds to move, while the others are not awake to this necessity. In such 
 a case, one of these energetic sisters will seize another by the waist, and 
 carry her off with an air that says plainly, "Come along, you stupid!" 
 
 Ants are very cleanly in their nests, and we find the refuse piled in a 
 heap at one corner, or as far as possible from the brood. 
 
 If we are fortunate enough to find a queen for the nest, then we may 
 observe the attention she gets ; she is always kept in a special compart- 
 ment, and is surrounded by ladies in waiting, who feed her and lick her 
 clean and show solicitude for her welfare ; although I have never observed 
 in an ants' nest, that devotion to royalty which we see in a beehive. 
 
 Not the least interesting scene in an ants' nest is when all, or some, are 
 asleep and are as motionless as if dead. 
 
 LESSON XCVII 
 
 Observations of Ants in an Artificial Nest 
 
 Leading thought — The ants are very devoted to their young and per- 
 haps the care of them is the most interesting feature in the study of the 
 artificial nest. 
 
 Method — Have, in the schoolroom, a Lubbock's nest with a colony of 
 ants within it, with their larvae in all stages, and if possible, their queen. 
 For observing the form of the ant, pass one or two around in a vial. 
 
 Observations — i. What is there peculiar about the shape of the ant's 
 body ? Can you see which section bears the legs ? Are the ants' legs long 
 compared with her body ? Can she run rapidly ? 
 
 2. Look at the ant's head through a lens, and describe the antenna, 
 the jaws and the eyes. 
 
 3. Note how the ant keeps her antennae in motion. Note how she 
 gropes with them as a blind person with his hands. Note how she uses 
 them in conversing with her companions. 
 
 4. How does the ant clean her antennae? Does she clean them more 
 often than any other part of her body ? How does she make her toilet ? 
 
 5. See how an ant eats syrup. How do ants feed each other? 
 
 6. How does the ant carry an object ? How does she carry a larva or 
 a pupa? Have you ever seen one ant carry another? If so, describe it. 
 
 {. Note the way the ants feed their young. How do they keep them 
 clean ? Does an ant carry one egg or one small larva at a time or a bundle 
 of them ? How do you suppose the bundle is fastened together ? 
 
 8. Describe an egg, a larva and a pupa of the ant and tell how they 
 differ. Do you know which ant is the mother of the larvae in the nest? 
 
 9. Do you find larvae of different sizes all together in your nest ? Do 
 you find larvae and pupae in the same group ? Do the ants move the young 
 often from one nest to another? Why do you suppose they do this ? 
 
 10. Note how the ant nurses take care of the callow ant when it is 
 coming out from the pupa skin . How do they assist her and care for her? 
 How do they lead her around ? How do ants look when resting? 
 
 11. Note where the ants throw the refuse from the nest. Do they 
 ever change the position of this dump heap? 
 
Insect Study 
 
 429 
 
 -^CjT ^==^'^*^\-_ ^^^ 
 
 THE MUD-DAUBER 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 THIS little cement worker is a nervousand fidgety creature, 
 jerking her wings constantly as she walks around in the 
 sunshine; but perhaps this is not nervousness, but 
 rather to show off the rainbow iridescence of her black 
 wings; surely such a slim-waisted being as she, has a 
 right to be vain. No tight lacing ever brought about 
 such a long, slim waist as hers; it is a mere pedicel 
 and the abdomen is a m.ere knob at the end of it. The 
 latter seen from the outside, would seem of little use as 
 an abdomen ; but if we watch the insect flying, we can 
 see plainly that it is used to steer with. 
 
 In early summer, we find this black wasp at her trade as a mason. 
 She seeks the edges of pools or puddles where she works industriously, 
 leaving many little holes whence she takes mud to mix with the saliva, 
 which she secretes from her mouth to make firm her cement. This 
 cement she plasters on the under side of some roof or rafter or other pro- 
 tected place, going back and forth until she has built a suitable founda- 
 tion. She works methodically, making a tube 
 about an inch long, smooth inside but rough 
 outside, the walls about one-eighth of an inch 
 thick. She does all of the plastering with her 
 jaws, which she uses as a trowel. When the 
 tube is completed except that the end is left 
 open, she starts off in quest of spiders, and 
 very earnestly does she seek them. I have 
 seen her hunt every nook and corner of a 
 piazza for this prey. When she finds a spider, 
 she pounces upon it and stings it until it is 
 helpless, and carries it to her cement tube, 
 which is indeed a spider sarcophagus, and 
 thrusts it within. She brings more spiders 
 until her tube is nearly full; she then lays an 
 egg within it and then makes more cement and 
 neatly closes the door of the tube. She then 
 places another tube by the side of this, which 
 she provisions and closes in the same way; 
 and then she may make another and another 
 tube, often a half dozen, under one adobe roof. 
 The wasp in some mysterious way knows 
 how to thrust her stinp- into the spider's ner- 
 vous system in a peculiar way, which renders 
 her victim unable to move although it 3'et 
 lives. The wasp is no vegetarian like the bee, 
 and she must supply her young with wasp- 
 meat instead of bee-bread. Since it is during the summer and hot 
 weather when the young wasps are hatched and begin their growth, their 
 meat must be kept fresh for a period of two or three weeks. So these 
 paralyzed spiders do not die, although they are helpless. It is certainly 
 a pra'ctical joke with justice in it, that these ferocious creatures lie 
 
 Nests of a tiiini-Jiinhcr on 
 
 the back of a picture 
 
 frame. 
 
43° 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 helpless while being eaten by a fat little grub which they would gladly 
 devour, if they could move. 
 
 a. h, r. </. 
 
 A mud-dauber and her ^icsts, with celts cut open 
 
 showing a, larva full grown; b, cocoon; 
 
 c, youiig larva feeding on its 
 
 spider-meat and d, an 
 
 empty celt. 
 Drawn by Anna C. Stryke. 
 
 The wasp larva is a whitish, plump grub and it eats industriously until 
 the spider meat is exhausted. It then weaves a cocoon of silk about itself 
 which just covers the walls of its home tube, Uke a silken tapestry; within 
 this cocoon the grub changes to a pupa. When it finally emerges, it is a 
 full-grown wasp with jaws which are able to cut a door in the end of its 
 tube, through which it comes out into the world, a free and accepted 
 mason. The females or queens, which issue late in the season, hide in 
 warm or protected places during the winter; they particularly like the 
 folds of lace window curtains for hibernating quarters. There they 
 remain until spring comes, when they go off to build their plaster houses. 
 
 There are about seventy species of mud wasps in our country. Some 
 provision their nests with caterpillars instead of spiders. This is true of 
 the jug-builder, which makes her nest jug-shaped and places tv/o or three 
 of them side by side upon a twig. She uses hair in her mortar, w4iich 
 makes it stronger. This is necessary, since the jug is saddled upon twigs 
 and is more exposed to the rain than is the nest of the most common mud- 
 dauber. The jug-builder is brown in color and has yellow markings on 
 the abdomen; but she does not resemble the yellow- jackets, because she 
 has a threadlike waist. There are other species of mud wasps which use 
 any small cavity they can find for the nest, plastering up the opening after 
 the nest has been provisioned and the egg laid. We often find keyholes, 
 knot-holds and even the cavity in the telephone receiver, plastered up by 
 these small opportunists. 
 
 The mud -dauber which is the most common, and most likely to be 
 selected for this lesson, is a slender creature and looks as if she were made 
 of black tinsel; her body gives off glints of steel and blue; her abdomen 
 constantly vibrates with the movement of breathing. Her eyes are large 
 and like black beads; her black anteimae curve gracefully outward, and 
 her wings, corrugated with veins, shimmer with a smoky blue, green and 
 purple. She stands on her black tip-toes when she walks, and she has a 
 
Insect Study 
 
 431 
 
 way of turning around constantly as if she expected an attack from the 
 rear. Her wings, like those of other mud- wasps are not folded fan-wise 
 like those of the yellow-jacket, but are folded by each other over her back. 
 
 The J Hg-builder and her nests. 
 
 LESSON XCVIII 
 The Mud- dauber 
 
 Leading thought — There are certain wasps which gather mud and mix 
 it into mortar with which to build nests for their young. Within these 
 nests, the mother wasp places spiders or insects which are disabled by her 
 sting, for the food of the young wasps. 
 
 Method— }la.ve the pupils bring the homes of the mud wasps to school 
 for observation. The wasps themselves are very common in June and 
 also in September, and they also may be studied at school and may be 
 passed around in vials for closer observation; they do not sting severely 
 when handled, the sting being a mere prick. The purpose of the lesson 
 should be to stimulate the pupils to watch the mud-daubers while buildmg 
 their nests and capturing their prey. 
 
 Observations — i. Where did you find the mud-dauber's nest? How 
 was it protected from the rain?' Was it easily removed? Could you 
 remove it all, or did some of it remain stuck fast? 
 
 2 . What is the shape of the nest ? How does it look inside ? Of how 
 many tubes does it consist? How long is each tube? Were the tubes 
 laid side by side? 
 
 3. Of what material was the nest made? Is it not much harder 
 than mud? How did the wasp change the mud to cement? W here did 
 she get the mud? How did she carry it? With what tools did she plaster 
 
 it? r t. ^. 
 
 4. For what purpose was the nest made? Is the mside of the tubes 
 smooth as compared with the outside of the nest? 
 
 5. Write a little story about all that happens in one of these tubes, 
 including the following points: What did the mother wasp place in the 
 tube? How and whv^did she close it? What hatched from the egg she 
 placed within it ? How does the young wasp look ? On what does it feed P 
 What sort of a cocoon does it spin ? How does it get out of the nest when 
 full-grown ? 
 
432 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 6. Describe the mud-dauber wasp. How large is she? What is the 
 color of her body? Of her wings? How many wings has she? Hov/ are 
 her wings folded differently from those of the yellow-jacket? Describe 
 her eyes; her antennae; her legs; her waist; her abdomen. 
 
 7. Where did you find the wasp? How did she act? Do you think 
 that she can sting? How does she pass the winter? 
 
 8. Do you know the mud wasps which build the little, jug-shaped 
 nests for their young? Do you know the mud wasps which utilize 
 crevices and keyholes for their nests and plaster up the opening? 
 
 9. Do you know about the digger wasps which pack away grasshop- 
 pers or catprpillars in a hole in the ground, in which they lay their egg and 
 then cover it? 
 
 Supplementary reading — Insect Stories, Kellogg; Wasps, Social and 
 Solitary, Peckham ; Wasps and their Ways, Morley ; The Ways of the Six- 
 footed, Comstock; Home Studies in Nature, Treat. 
 
 THE YELLOW-JACKET 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 lY wasps are not so waspish after all when we under- 
 stand one important fact about them; i. e., 
 although they are very nervous themselves, they 
 detest that quality in others. F(jr years the 
 yellow-jackets have shared with us our meals at 
 our summer camp on the lake shore. They make 
 inquisitive tours of inspection over the viands on 
 the table, often seeming to include ourselves, and 
 coming so near that they fan our faces with their 
 wings. They usually end by selecting the 
 sweetened fruits, but they also carry off bits of 
 roast beef, pouncing down upon the meat platter 
 and seizing a tidbit as a hawk does a chicken. We always remain calm 
 during these visitations, for we know that unless we inadvertently pinch 
 one, we shall not be harmed; and it is great fun to watch one of these 
 graceful creatures poising daintily on the side of the dish lapping up the 
 fruit juice as a cat does milk, the slender, ycllovz-banded abdomen pal- 
 pitating as she breathes. Occasionally, two" desire the same place, and a 
 wrestling match ensues which is fierce while it lasts, but the participants 
 always come back to the dish unharmed. They are extra polite in their 
 manners, for after one has delved eagerlv into the fruit 
 S3^rup, she proceeds to clean her front feet by passing 
 them through her jaws, which is a wasp way of using a 
 finger bowl. 
 
 Both yellow-jackets and the white-faced black- 
 hornets build in trees and similarly, although the paper 
 made by the yellow-jackets is finer in texture. However, 
 some species of yellow-jackets build their nests in the 
 groimd, but of similar form. The nest is of paper made 
 of bits of wood which the wasps pull off Avith their jaws 
 from weather-worn fences or boards. This wood is reduced to a pulp by 
 sahva which is secreted from the wasp's mouth, and is laid on in Httle 
 
 .4 yeHow- 
 jacket 
 
Insect Study 4-^^ 
 
 layers which can be easily seen by examining the outside of the nest. 
 These layers may be of different colors. A wasp will come with her load 
 of paper pulp, and using her jaws and front feet for tools she will join a 
 strip to the edge of the paper and pat it into shape. The paper tears more 
 readily along the Hnes of the joining, than across. The cover of the nest 
 is made of many layers of shell-like pieces fastened together and the outer 
 layers are waterproof; the opening of a nest is at the bottom. Mr. Lub- 
 bock has shown that certain wasps are stationed at the door, as sentinels, 
 to give warning on the approach of the enemy. The number of stories of 
 combs in a nest depends upon the age and size of the colony. They are 
 fastened together firmly near the center, by a central core or a.Kis of very 
 strong, firm paper, which at the top is attached to a branch or whatever 
 supports the nest. The cells all open downward, in this respect differing 
 from those of the honey-bee, which are usually placed horizontal. The 
 wasp-comb differs from the honey-comb in that it is made of paper instead 
 of wax, and that the rows of cells are single instead of double. The cells 
 in the wasp-comb are not for storing honey, but are simply the cradles for 
 the young wasps. (See Fig. p, 457.) 
 
 Sometimes a wasp family disaster makes it possible for us to examine 
 one of these nests with its inmates. Here we find in some of the cells, the 
 long white eggs fastened to the very bottom of the cell, in an inner angle, 
 as if a larva when hatched needed to have a cozy corner. These wasp 
 larva; are the chubbiest little grubs imaginable and are very soft bodied. 
 It was once a mystery to me how they were able to hang in the cells, head 
 down, without getting "black in the face" or falling out; but this was 
 made plain by studying the little disk at the rear end of the larva's body, 
 which is decidedly sticky; after a larva is dead, its heavy body can be 
 lifted by pressing a match against this disk; thus it evidently suffices to 
 keep the baby v/asp stuck fast to its cradle. The larva's body is mostly 
 covered with a white, papery, soft skeleton skin ; the head is yellowish and 
 highly polished, looking like a drop of honey. At one side may be seen a 
 pair of toothed jaws, showing that it is able to take and chew any food 
 brought by the nurses. They seem to be well trained youngsters for they 
 all face toward the center of the nest, so that a nurse, when feeding them, 
 can m^ove from one to another v/ithout having to pass to the other side of 
 the cell. It is a funny sight to behold a combful of well grown larvae, each 
 fitting in its cell like meal in a bag and with head and several segments 
 projecting out as if the bag were overflowing. It behooves the wasp 
 larva to get its head as far out of the cell as possible, so that it will not be 
 overlooked by the nurses; the little ones do this by holding themselves at 
 the angle of the cell ; this they accomplish by wedging the back into the 
 corner. These young larvae do not face inwards like the older ones, but 
 they rest in an inner angle of the cell. 
 
 After a larva has reached the limit of its cell room, it spins a veil 
 around itself and fastens it at the sides, so that it forms a lining to^the 
 upper part of the cell and makes a bag over the "head and shoulders" of 
 the insect. This cocoon is very tough, and beneath its loose dome the 
 larva skin is shed; the pupa takes on a decidedly was]nsh form, except 
 that the color is all black; the legs and the wings arc folded piously down 
 the breast and the antenna? lie meekly each side of the face, with the 
 "hands" folded outside of them; the strong toothed jaws are ready, so 
 that when the pupa skin is molted, the insect can cut its silken curtain, 
 and come out into its little nest world, as a full-lledged yellow-jacket. 
 
434 
 
 Handbook of Nature -Study 
 
 ^IVII«M,I|I I, 
 
 Looking a wasp 
 in the face. 
 
 What a harlequin the wasp is, in her costume of yellow and black! 
 Often in the invertebrate world these colors mean "sit up and take 
 
 notice," and the wasp's costume is no exception. 
 Whoever has had any experience in meddling with 
 yellow-jackets, avoids acquaintance with all yellow 
 and black insects. Yet we must confess that the lady 
 wasp has good taste in dress. The yellow cross bands 
 on her black skirt are scalloped, and, in fact, all her 
 yellow is put on in a most chic manner; she, being 
 slender, can well afford to dress in roundwise stripes, 
 and she folds her wings prettily like a fan, and not over 
 her back like the mud wasp, which would cover her decorations. There 
 is a sensation coming to the one who, armed with a lens, looks a wasp in the 
 face ; she always does her hair pompadour, and the yellow is here put on 
 with' a most bizarre effect, in points and arabesques. Even her jaws are 
 yellow with black borders and black notches. Her antennae are velvety 
 black, her legs are yellow, and her antennae comb, on her wrist, is a real 
 comb and quite ornate. 
 
 In the nest which we studied in late August, the 
 queen cells were just being developed. They were placed 
 in a story all by themselves, and they were a third larger 
 than the cells of the workers. The queen of this nest was 
 a most majestic wasp, fully twice as large as any of her 
 subjects; her face was entirely black, and the yellow 
 bands on her long abdomen were of quite a different pat- 
 tern than those on the workers ; her sting was not so long 
 in proportion, but I must confess it looked efficient. In 
 fact, a yellow-jacket's sting is a formidable looking spear 
 when seen through a microscope, since it has on one side some backward 
 projecting barbs, meant to hold it firm when driving home the thrust. 
 
 While wasps are fond of honey and other sweets, they are also fond of 
 animal food and eat a great many insects, benefiting us greatly by 
 destroying mosquitoes and flies. As no food is stored for their winter use, 
 all wasps excepting the queens die of the cold. The queens crawl away 
 to protected places and seem to be able to withstand the rigors of winter; 
 each queen, in the spring, makes a little comb of a few cells, covering it 
 with a thin layer of paper. She then lays eggs in these cells and gathers 
 food for the young ; but when these first members of the family, which are 
 always workers, come to maturity, they take upon themselves the work 
 of enlarging the nest and caring for the young. After that, the queen 
 devotes her energies to laying eggs. 
 
 Wasps enlarge their houses by cutting away the paper from the inside 
 of the covering, to give more room for building the combs wider; to com- 
 pensate for this, they build additional layers on the outside of the nest. 
 Thus it is, that every wasp's nest, however large, began as a little comb of 
 a few cells and was enlarged to m.eet the needs of the rapidly gi owing 
 family. Ordinarily the nest made one year is not used again. 
 
 The antenna- 
 comb on the wrist 
 of my Lady Wasp 
 
Insect Study ^.^e 
 
 LESSON XCIX 
 
 The Yellow-jacket 
 
 Leading thought— The wasps were the original paoer makers, using 
 wood pulp for the purpose. Some species construct their houses of paper 
 in the trees or bushes while others build in the ground. 
 
 Method— ToXce a deserted wasp-nest, the larger the better, with sharp 
 scissors remove one side of the covering of the nest, leaving the combs 
 exposed and follow with the questions and suggestions indicated. From 
 this study of the nest encourage the children to observe more closely the 
 wasps and their habits, which they can do in safety if they learn to move 
 quietly while observing (See Fig. page 457.) 
 
 Observations — i. Which kind of wasp do you think made this nest? 
 Of what is the nest made ? Where did the wasp get the material '^ How 
 do the wasps make wood into paper? 
 
 2 . What is the general shape of the nest ? Is the nest well covered to 
 protect it from rain? Where is the door where the wasps went in and 
 out? Is the covering of the nest all of the same color? Do these differ- 
 ences in color give you any idea of how the wasps build the paper into the 
 nest? Does the paper tear more easily one way than another? Is the 
 covering of the nest solid or in layers? 
 
 3. How many combs or stories are there in the wasp house' How 
 are they fastened together and how suspended ? 
 
 4. Compare the combs of the wasp-nest with those of the honey-bee. 
 How do they resemble each other and how differ? Do the cells open up- 
 ward or downward? For what purpose are the combs in the wasp-nest 
 used? Are all the cells of the same size? Do you know the reason for 
 this difference in size? 
 
 5. How do the young wasp grubs manage to cling to the cells head 
 downward ? Are the cells lined with a different color and does this lining 
 extend out over the opening in some cases? Is this lining of the cells 
 made of paper also ? Do you know how a young wasp looks and how the 
 white lining of the cells is made? 
 
 6. Do you believe that some wasps of the colony are always posted as 
 sentinels at the door to give warning if the colony is attacked ? 
 
 7. Do wasps store food to sustain them during the winter? What 
 happens to them during winter? Is the same nest used year after year. 
 
 8. Can you describe the beginning of this w^asp-nest? When was it 
 made ? Tell the story of the wasp that made it. How large was the nest 
 at first? How was the nest enlarged? 
 
 9. What is the food of wasps? How do these insects benefit us? 
 
 10. Write a story giving the life history of a wasp. 
 
 11. In the summer watch a yellow-jacket eat from a dish of sweete ned 
 fruit which you may place out of doors to coax her to come where you can 
 carefully observe her. What are the colors of the yellow-jacket ? Where 
 is the yellow? How are the yellow bands made ornamental? How does 
 she fold her wings? How many wings has she? What is the color of her 
 legs? Describe her antennas and eyes. How docs she cat the fruit juice? 
 Can you see the motion of her body when she breathes? 
 
.^5 Handbook of Nature -Study 
 
 THE LEAF-CUTTER BEE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 NE beautiful day in late June when I was picking some 
 roses, I saw a bee, almost as large as a honey-bee but 
 different in shape and darker in color, alight on a leaf 
 and moving with nervous rapidity, cut a circle out of 
 a leaf with her jaws "quicker'n a wink;" then taking 
 the piece between her fore-feet and perhaps holding it 
 also with her jaws, she flew away, the green disk 
 looking as large in proportion to her size as a big base 
 drum hung to the neck of a small drummer. I waited 
 long for her to come back, but she came not; mean- 
 while I examined the leaves of the rose bush and 
 found many circlets, and also many oblong holes with the ends deeply 
 rounded, cut from the leaflets. 
 
 I knew the story of the little bee and was glad I had seen her cut a 
 leaflet with her jaw shears, which work sidewise like real shears. I knew 
 that somewhere she had found a cavity big enough for her needs ; perhaps 
 she had tunneled it herself in the dead wood of some post or stump, usmg 
 her jaws to cut away the chips; maybe she had found a crevice beneath 
 the shingles of a roof or beneath a stone in the field, or she may have rolled 
 a leaf; anyway, her little cave was several inches long, circular in outline 
 and large enough to admit her body. vShe first cut a long piece from the 
 rose leaf and folded it at the end of the tunnel; and then she brought 
 another and another long piece and bent and shaped them into a little 
 thimble-like cup, fastening them together with some saliva glue, from her 
 mouth. After the cup was made to her liking, she went in search of food, 
 which was found in the pollen of some flowers. This pollen was carried 
 not as the honey-bees do, because she has no pollen baskets on her legs; 
 but it was dusted into the fur on the lower side of her body; as she 
 scraped the pollen off, she mixed it with some nectar which she had 
 also found in the flowers, and made it into a pasty mass and heaped it at 
 the bottom of the cup; she probably made many visits to flowers before 
 she had a sufficient amount of this bee pastry, and then she laid an egg 
 upon it ; after this, she immediately flew back to the rose bush to cut a lid 
 for her cup. She is a nice mathematician and she cuts the Hd just a little 
 larger than the rim of the cup, so that it may be pushed down in, making 
 it fit very closely around the edges; she then cuts another and perhaps 
 another of the same size and puts them over and fastened to the first cover. 
 "When finished, it is surely the prettiest baby basket ever made by a 
 mother, all safely enclosed to keep out enemies. But her work is then 
 only begun. She has other baby baskets to make and she perhaps makes 
 ten or more, placing one cup just ahead of another in the little tunnel. 
 
 But what is happening meanwhile to the bee babies in the baskets? 
 The egg hatches into a little white bee grub which falls to and eats the 
 pollen and nectar paste with great eagerness. As it eats, it grows and 
 sheds its skeleton skin as often as it becomes too tight, and then eats and 
 grows some more. How many mothers would know just how much food 
 it would require to develop a child from infancy until it grows up ! This 
 bee mother knows well this amount and when the food is all gone, the little 
 bee grub is old enough to change to a pupa; it looks very different now. 
 
Insect Study 437 
 
 and although mummy-shaped we can see its folded wings and antennae. 
 After remaining a motionless pupa for a few days, it sheds its pupa skin 
 and now it is a bee just like its mother; but as the oldest bee is at the 
 bottom of the tunnel, even after it gets its wings and gnaws its way out of 
 its basket, it very likely cannot escape and find its way out into the sun- 
 shiny world, until its younger brothers and sisters have gone out before it. 
 
 There are many species of these leaf-cutter bees and each species makes 
 its own kind of a nest, always cutting the same size of circlets and usually 
 choosing its own special kind of leaf to make this cradle. Some are 
 daintier in their tastes and use rolled petals instead of leaves; and we 
 have found some tiny cups made of gorgeous peony petals, and some of 
 pansy petals, a most exquisite material. 
 
 At Chautauqua we found a species which rolled maple leaves into a 
 tube which held three or four cups, and we also found there a bee stowing 
 her cups in the open end of a tubular rod, used to hold up an awning. 
 There are other species which make short tunnels in the ground for their 
 nests, but perhaps the most common of all wedge their cups between or 
 beneath the shingles on the roofs of summer cottages. But, however or 
 wherever the leaf-cutter works, she is a master mechanic and does her 
 work with niceness and daintiness. 
 
 Pansy cut by Icaf-cntter bee. 
 Drawing by Anna C. Stryke. 
 
438 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON C 
 T^"'! Le^i-cutter Bee 
 
 Leading thought — When we ^ee the edges of rose leaves with holes of 
 regular pattern in them, some of the holes being ocloi-.g and some circular, 
 we know the leaf -cutter bee has cut them to make her cradle cups. 
 
 Method — ^It is very easy to find in June or autumn the leaves from 
 which the leaf-cutter bee has cut the bedding for her young. Encourage 
 the pupils to look for the nest during the summer and to bring some of the 
 cups to school when they return, where they may be studied in detail; 
 meanwhile the teacher may tell the story of the nest. This is rather 
 difficult for the pupils to work out. 
 
 Observations — i . Do you find rose leaves with round holes cut in their 
 edo-es? Do you find on the same bush some leaflets with oblong holes in 
 them ? Sketch or describe the rose leaf thus cut, noting exactly the shape 
 of the holes. Are the circular holes of the same size ? Are the long holes 
 about equal in size and shape? Do you find any other plants with holes 
 like these cut in them ? Do you find any petals of flowers thus cut ? 
 
 2. What do you think made these holes? If an insect was taking a 
 leaf for food would the holes be as regular? Watch the rose bush care- 
 fully and see if you can discover the insect which cuts the leaf. 
 
 %" 
 
 Leaf-ctittcr bee; the rose leaf cut by her ; her nest-cups removed 
 
 from the tube in which they were built, the cup made first 
 
 cut open to show bee larva. 
 
 Photo by Slingerland. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 439 
 
 3. Have you ever seen the little black bee carrying pieces of rose 
 leaves between her front feet ? With what instrument do you suppose she 
 cut the leaves? Where do you think she was going? 
 
 4. Have you ever found the nest of the leaf-cutter bee? Was it in a 
 tunnel made in dead v/ood or in some crack or cranny ? How many of the 
 little ro2£ leaf cups are there in it? How are the cups placed? Are the 
 little beet stii' In the cups or can you see the holes through which they 
 crawled out ? 
 
 5. Take one cup and study it carefully. How are the pieces of 
 jeavesfolded to make the cups? How is the lid put on? Soak the cup in 
 water until it comes apart easily. Describe how many of the long pieces 
 were used and how they were bent to make a cup. Of how many thick- 
 nesses is the cover made? Are the covers just the same size or a little 
 'arger than the top of the cup ? How does the cover fit so tightly ? 
 
 6. If you find the nest in July or early August, examine one of the 
 cups carefully and see what there is in it. Take off the cover without 
 injuring it. What is at the bottom of the nest? Is there an insect 
 within it? How does it look? What is it doing? Of what do you think 
 its food was made? How and by whom was the food placed in the cup? 
 Place the nest in a box or jar with mosquito netting over the top, and put 
 it out of doors in a safe and shaded place. Look at it often and see what 
 this insect changes into. 
 
 7. If the mother bee made each little nest cup and put in the bee- 
 bread and honey for her young, which cup contains the oldest of the 
 family? Which the youngest? How do you think the full-grown bees 
 get out of the cup? 
 
 8. Do you think that the same species of bee always cuts the same 
 sized holes in a leaf? Is it the same species which cuts the rose leaves and 
 the pansy petals? 
 
 THE LITTLE CARPENTER-BEE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 AKE a dozen dead twigs from almost any sumac or- 
 elder, split them lengthwise, and you will find in at 
 least one or two of them, a little tunnel down the cen- 
 ter where the pith once was. In the month of June 
 or July, this narrow tunnel is made into an insect 
 apartment house, one little creature in each apart- 
 ment, partitioned off from the one above and the one 
 below. The nature of this partition reveals to us 
 whether the occupants are bees or wasps; if it is 
 made of tiny chips, like fine sawdust glued together, a 
 bee made it and there are Httle bees in the cells; if it 
 is made of bits of sand or mud glued together, a wasp was the architect 
 and young wasps are the inhabitants. Also, if the food in the cells is 
 pollen paste, it was placed there by a bee; if of paralyzed insects or 
 spiders, a wasp made the nest. 
 
 The little carpenter-bee {Ceratina dupla) is a beautiful creature, 
 scarcely one-quarter of an inch in length, with metallic blue body and 
 
44° 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 rainbow tinted wings. In May, she selects some broken twig 
 of sumac, elder or raspberry, which gives her access to the 
 pith; this she at once begins to dig out, mouthful by mouth- 
 ful, until she has made a smooth tunnel several inches long; 
 she then gathers pollen and packs bee-bread in the bottom of 
 the cell to the depth of a quarter-inch, and then lays upon 
 it, a tiny white egg. She then brings back some of her chips 
 of pith and glues them together, making a partition about one- 
 tenth of an inch thick, which she fastens firmly to the sides of 
 the tunnel; this is the roof for the first cell and the floor of 
 the next one; she then gathers more pollen, lays another egg, 
 and builds another partition. 
 
 Thus she fills the tunnel, almost to the opening, with cells, 
 sometimes as many as fourteen ; but she always leaves a space 
 for a vestibule near the door, and in this she makes her home 
 while her family below her are growing up. 
 
 The egg in the lowest cell of course hatches first; a little 
 
 bee grub issues from it and eats the bee-bread industriously 
 
 and grows by shedding his skin when it becomes too tight; 
 
 then he changes to a pupa and later to a bee resembling his 
 
 mother. But, though fully grown, he cannot get out into the 
 
 sunshine, for all his younger brothers and sisters are blocking 
 
 the tunnel ahead of him ; so he simply tears down the partition 
 
 showing the above him and kicks the little pieces of it behind him, and bides 
 
 eldest larva at j^jg time until the next youngest brother tears down the par- 
 
 tjie bottom and ^-^j^j^ above his head and pushes its fragments behind him 
 
 nearest the en- into the very face of the elder which, in turn, performs a 
 
 trance. similar act; and thus, while he is waiting, he is kept more 
 
 or less busy pushing behind him the broken bits of all the 
 
 partitions above him. Finally, the youngest gets his growth, and there 
 
 they all are in the tunnel, the broken partitions behind the hindmost at 
 
 the bottom of the nest, and the young bees packed closely together in a 
 
 row with heads toward the door. When we find the nest at this period, 
 
 we know the mother because her head is toward her young ones and her 
 
 back to the door. A little later, on some bright morning, they all come 
 
 out into the sunshine and flit about on gauzy, rainbow wings, a very 
 
 happy family, out of prison. 
 
 But if the brood is a late one, the home must be cleaned out and used as 
 a winter nest, and still the loyal little mother bee stays true to her post; 
 she is the last one to enter the nest; and not until they are all housed 
 within, does she enter. It is easy to distinguish her for her poor wings are 
 torn and frayed with her long labor of building the nest, until they scarcely 
 serve to carry her afield ; but despite this she remains on guard over her 
 brood, for which she has worn out her own life. 
 
 The little car- 
 penter-bee; her 
 nest, cut open. 
 
 Nest of carpenter-ivasp. 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 441 
 
 The story of the little carpenter-wasps is similar to that of the bee, 
 except that we have reason to believe they often use her abandoned 
 tunnels instead of making new ones They make their little partitions 
 out of mud ; their pupae are always in long, slender, silken cocoons, and we 
 have no evidence that the mother remains in attendance. 
 
 bee rears 
 makes in the 
 
 LESSON CI 
 The Little Carpenter-bee 
 
 Leading thought — Not all bees live in colonies like 
 the honey-bees and bumblebees. One tiny 
 her brood within a tunnel which she 
 pith of sumac, elder or raspberry. 
 
 Method — ^This lesson may be given in June or in 
 October. In June, the whole family of bees in their 
 apartments may be observed ; in autumn, the empty 
 tenement with the fragments of the partitions still 
 clinging may be readily found and examined; and 
 sometimes a whole family may be found, stowed away 
 in the home tunnel, for the winter. 
 
 Observations — i. Collect dead twigs of sumac or 
 elder and cut them in half, lengthwise. Do you find 
 any with the pith tunneled out? 
 
 2 How long is the tunnel ? Are its sides smooth ? 
 Can you see the partitions which divide the long 
 narrow tunnel into cells? Look at the partitions with 
 a lens, if necessary, to determine whether they are made 
 of tiny bits of wood or of mud. If made of mud, what 
 insect made them? If of little chips how and by what 
 were they constructed? 
 
 3. Are there any insects in the cells? If so, 
 describe them. Is there bee-bread in the cells? 
 
 4. For what was the tunnel made? With what 
 tools was it made? How are the partitions fastened 
 together? How does a young bee look? 
 
 5. Write the story of the oldest of the bee family 
 which lived in this tunnel. Why did it hatch first? 
 On what did it feed? When it became a full fledged 
 bee, what did it do? How did it finally get out? 
 
 6 Take a glass tube, the hollow at the center 
 being about one-eighth of an inch across, a tube 
 which you can get in any drug-store. Break this 
 tube into sections, six or seven inches long, wrap 
 around each a black paper or cloth, made fast with 
 rubber bands and suspend them in a hedge or among 
 thick bushes in May. Examine these tubes each week 
 to see if the wasps or bees are using them. 
 
 Supplementary reading — "The Story We Love 
 Best," in Ways of the Six-footed, Comstock. 
 
 i|i; 
 
 Nest of larf^c car- 
 
 pcntcr-bce. 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
442 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE BUMBLEBEE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Thou, in sunny solitudes. 
 Rover of the underwoods, 
 The green silence dost replace 
 With thy mellow, breezy bass. 
 
 — Emerson. 
 
 
 ^^^^^~~^^-^^Si HERE seems to have been an hereditary war between 
 ' ~" "^ .T.'>.'ci?>r!.ul> I the farm boy and the bumblebee, the hostihties 
 
 usually initiated by the boy. Like many wars, it 
 is very foolish and wicked, and has resulted in great 
 harm to both parties. Luckily, the boys of to-day are 
 more enlightened ; and it is to be hoped that they 
 will learn to endure a bee sting or two for the sake of 
 protecting these diminishing hosts, upon which so 
 many flowers depend for carrying their pollen ; for 
 of all the insects of the field, the bumblebees are the best and most 
 needed friends of the flowers. 
 
 The bumblebees are not so thrifty and forehanded as are the honey- 
 bees, and do not provide enough honey to sustain the whole colony during 
 the winter. Only the mother bees, or queens as they are called, survive 
 the cold season. Just how they do it, we do not know, but probably they 
 are better nourished and therefore have more endurance than the workers. 
 In early May, one of the most delightful of spring visitants is one of these 
 great buzzing queens, flying low over the freshening meadows, trying to 
 find a suitable place for her nest; and the farmer or fruit grower who 
 knows his business, is as anxious as she that she find suitable quarters, 
 knowing well that she and her children will render him most efficient aid 
 in growing his fruit and seed. She finally selects some cosy place, very 
 likely a deserted nest of the field mouse, and there begins to build her 
 home. She toils early and late, gathering pollen and nectar from the 
 blossoms of the orchard and other flowers which she makes into a special 
 kind of bee-bread, by mixing it with nectar. This is packed in an irregu- 
 lar mass and on it she lays a few eggs; each little bee grub, as soon as it 
 hatches, burrows into the bee-bread, making a little cave for itself while 
 satisfying its appetite. After it is fully grown, it spins about itself a 
 cocoon and changes to a pupa, and later emerges a full-fledged worker 
 bumblebee, being scarcely more than half as large as her queen mother. 
 These workers or daughters of the family find full satisfaction in life in 
 attending to the wants of the growing family. They gather more pollen 
 and mix it with honey, making larger masses for the young to burrow in ; 
 meanwhile, the queen remains at home and devotes her energies to laying 
 eggs for the enlargement of the colony. The workers not only care for 
 the young, but later they strengthen the silken pupa cradles with wax, 
 and thus make them into cells for storing honey. When we understand 
 that the cells in the bumblebee's nest are simply made by the 3^oung bees 
 burrowing in any direction, we can understand why the bumblebee comb 
 is so disorderly in the arrangement of its cells. Perhaps the boy of the 
 farm would find the rank bumblebee honey less like the ambrosia of the 
 gods, if he knew that it was stored in the deserted cradles and swaddling 
 clothes of the bumblebee grubs. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 ■443 
 
 "^0^ 
 
 '^■r^Mh 
 
 
 
 A bumblebee' s nest after a frost. Note the mummy of the prst oioier of the nest. 
 
 Photo by SlingerlanJ. 
 
 All of the eggs in the bumblebee nest in the spring and early summer 
 develop into workers which do incidentally the vast labor of carrying 
 pollen for thousands of flowers; to these only is granted the privilege of 
 carrying the pollen for the red clover, since the tongues of the other bees 
 are not sufficiently long to reach the nectar. The red clover does not 
 produce seed in sufficient quantity to be a profitable crop, unless there are 
 bumblebees to pollinate its blossoms. Late in the summer, queens and 
 drones are developed in the bumblebee nest, the drones, as with the 
 honey-bees, being mates for the queens. But of all the numerous popula- 
 tion of the bumblebee nest, only the queens survive the rigors of winter, 
 and on them and their success depends the future ot the bumblebee 
 species. 
 
 There are many species of bumblebees, some much smaller than others, 
 but they all have the thorax covered with plush above and the abdomen 
 hairy, and their fur is usually marked in various patterns of pale yellow 
 and black. The bumblebee of whatever species, has short but very active 
 antennas and a mouth fitted for biting as well as for sucking. Between 
 the large compound eyes are three simple eyes. The wings are four in 
 number and strong; the front legs are very short; all the legs have hairs 
 over them and end in a three-jointed foot, tipped by a claw. On the hind 
 leg, the femur and the first tarsal joint are enlarged, making the pollen 
 baskets on which the pollen is heaped in golden masses. One of the most 
 interesting observations possible to make, is to note how the bumblebee 
 brushes the pollen from her fur and packs it into her pollen baskets. 
 
444 
 
 HaridOoo/c of Nature-Study 
 
 LESSON CII 
 The Bumblebee 
 
 Leading thought — ^The bumblebees are the chief pollen carriers for most 
 of our wild flowers as well as for the clovers and other farm plants. They 
 should, therefore, be kindly treated everywhere ; and we should be careful 
 not to hurt the big queen bumblebee Vv^hich we see often in May. 
 
 Method — Ask the questions and encourage the pupils to answer them 
 as they have opportunity to observe the bumblebees working in the 
 flowers. A bumblebee may be imprisoned in a tumbler for a short period 
 for observation, and then allowed to go unharmed. It is not advisable to 
 study the nest, which is not only a dangerous proceeding for the pupil, but 
 it also means the destruction of a colony of these very useful insects. 
 However, if the location of a nest is discovered, it may be dug up and 
 studied after the first heavy frost. Special stress should be laid upon the 
 observations of the actions of the bees when visiting flowers. 
 
 Observations — i. In how many flowers do you And the bumblebee? 
 Watch her closely and see how she gets the nectar. Notice how she 
 "bumbles around" in a flower and becomes dusted with pollen. Watch 
 her and note how she gets the pollen off her fur and packs it in her pollen 
 baskets. On which legs are her pollen baskets? How does the pollen 
 look when packed in them? AVhat does she do with pollen and nectar? 
 
 2. Catch a bumblebee in a jelly glass and look at her closely. Can 
 you see three little eyes between the big compound eyes? Describe her 
 antennae. Are they active? How many pairs of wings has she? Do 
 you think they are strong? AVhich pair of legs is the shortest? How 
 many segments are there in the leg? Do you see the claws on the foot? 
 
 3. What is the bumblebee's covering? What is the color of her 
 plush? Is she furry above and below? 
 
 4. Can you see that she can bite as well as suck with her mouth-parts ? 
 Will a bumblebee sting a person unless she is first attacked? 
 
 5. Have you seen the very large queen bumblebee in the spring, flying 
 near the ground hunting for a place to build a nest? Why must you be 
 very careful not to hurt her ? How does she pass the winter ? What does 
 she do first, in starting the nest? 
 
 6. In how many ways does the bumblebee benefit us? 
 
Insect Study 445 
 
 THE PIONEY-BEE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 URIXG many years naturalists have been study- 
 ing the habits and adaptations of the honey- 
 bees, and, as yet, the story of their wonderful 
 ways is not half told. Although we know fairly 
 well what the bees do, yet we have no inkling of 
 the processes which lead to a perfect govern- 
 ment and management of the bee community; 
 and even the beginner may discover things 
 never known before about these fascinating 
 little workers. In beginning this work it might 
 be well to ask the pupils if they have ever heard of a republic that has 
 many kings and only one queen; and where the citizens do all the 
 governing without voting, and where the kings are powerless and the 
 queen works as hard and longer than any of her subjects; and then tell 
 them that the pages of history contain no account of a republic so wonder- 
 ful as this; yet the nearest beehive is the home of just this sort of 
 government. 
 
 In addition to the interest of the bee colony from a nature-study stand- 
 point, it is well to get the children interested in bee-keeping as a commer- 
 cial enterprise. A small apiary well managed may bring in an acceptable 
 income ; and it should be the source of a regular revenue to the boys and 
 girls of the farm, for one hive should net the 3'oung bee-keeper from three 
 to five dollars per year and prove a business education to him in the mean- 
 time. 
 
 Bees are perfect socialists. They have non-competitive labor, united 
 capital, communal habitations and unity of interests. The bee commune 
 is composed of castes as immutable as those of the Brahmins, but these 
 castes exist for the benefit of the whole society instead of for the individ- 
 uals belonging to them. These castes we have named queens, drones and 
 workers, and perhaps, first of all, we should study the physical adaptations 
 of the members of these castes for their special work in the community. 
 
 TJie Worker (p. 446, Fig. 3.) 
 
 There are three divisions to the body of the bee, as in all insects — head, 
 thora.K and abdomen. The head bears the eyes, antenna and mouth- 
 parts, (p. 448, W.) There are two large compound eyes on either side 
 of the head and three simple eyes between them. The antennae arise from 
 the face, each consisting of two parts, one straight segment at the base, 
 and the end portion which is curved and made up of many segments. 
 There is also a short, bead-like segment where the antenna joins the face. 
 A lens is needed to see the jaws of the bee, folded across, much like a pair of 
 hooks, and below them the tongue, which is a sucking tube; the length of 
 the tongue is very important , for upon this depends the ability of the bee to 
 get nectar from the flowers. 
 
 The thorax bears three pairs of legs below and two pairs of wings 
 above. Each leg consists of six segments, and the foot or tarsus has four 
 segments and a pair of claws. The front leg has an antennae comb between 
 the tibia and tarsus, (p. 447, F, a.) the hind leg has a pollen basket, which 
 is a long cavity bordered by hairs wherein the jiollcn is packed and carried 
 (p. 447, A, pb.) On the other side of the large joint beyond the pollen 
 
446 
 
 Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 basket are rows of spines which are used to remove the pollen from the 
 baskets (p. 447 . B , pc,) and between these two large segments are the pin- 
 cers for removing the wax (p. 447, B, wp.) 
 
 The front pair of wings is larger than the hind pair. The wings of the 
 old bees that have done much work are always frayed at the edges. 
 
 There are six segments or rings to the abdomen, plainly visible from 
 above. If the five segments next the thorax are marked above with yel- 
 low bands on their front edges, the bee is an Italian. On the lower side of 
 the abdomen, each segment is made up of a central plate with an over- 
 lapping plate on each side ; just at the front edge on each side of the cen- 
 tral plate is a wax pocket which cannot be seen unless the bee is dissected 
 under a microscope. From these pockets are secreted little flecks of wax 
 (p. 448,X.) 
 
 The Queen 
 
 The queen bee is a truly royal insect. She is much larger than the 
 worker, her body being long, pointed, and extending far beyond the tips of 
 
 Fig.l 
 
 Fig. 2 
 
 Fig. 3 
 
 
 ■■S-:r^ 
 
 
 I. Queen bee. 2. Drone. j. Worker; all enlarged. 
 
 4. Queen cells. 
 
 From How to Keep Bees — Comstock. 
 Drawn by A. J. Hammar. 
 
Insect Shidy 
 
 447 
 
 her closed wings, giving her a graceful form. She has no pollen baskets or 
 pollen comb upon her legs, because it is not a part of her work to gather 
 pollen or honey. The queen bee starts life as an ordinary worker e<^g 
 
 Legs of worker honey-bee. 
 
 A, outer surface of hind leg showing the nine segments and claws; pb. the 
 pollen basket of tibia; B. inner surface of part of hind leg; wp. wax- 
 pincers; pc. pollen-combs; C. inner surf ace of part of hind leg of queen : 
 D. inner surface of part of hind leg of drone; E. part of middle leg of 
 worker; s, spur; F. part of fore leg showing the antenna cleaner a; 
 6r, part of antenna showing sense-hairs and sense-pits. 
 From How to Keep Bees — Comstock. 
 Drawn by A. J. Hammar. 
 
 which is selected for special development. The workers tear down the 
 partitions of the cells around the chosen egg and build a projection over 
 the top, making an apartment, (p. 446, Fig. 4.) The little white bee grub, 
 as soon as it hatches, is fed for five days on the same food as is given to 
 the worker grubs for three days; it is a special substance, secreted by the 
 worker bees, called royal jelly. This food is very nourishing, and after 
 being reared upon it, the princess larva weaves around herself a silken 
 cocoon and changes to a pupa. Meanwhile the workers have sealed her 
 cell with wax. 
 
448 
 
 Handbook of Nature-btudy 
 
 When the princess-pupa changes to the full-grown queen she cuts a 
 circular door in the cover of the cell and pushes through it into the world. 
 Her first real work is to hunt for other queen cells and if she finds one, she 
 will, if not hindered, make a hole in its side and sting to death the poor 
 princess within. If she finds another full-grown queen, the two fight 
 until one succumbs. The queen never uses her sting upon anything or 
 anyone except a rival queen. 
 
 After a few days she takes her marriage flight in the air, where she 
 mates with some drone, and then returns to her hive and begins her great 
 work as mother of the colony. She runs about on the comb, pokes her 
 head into a cell to see if it is ready, then turning about thrusts her abdomen 
 in and neatly glues an egg fast to the bottom. 
 
 When the honey season is at its height she works with great rapidity, 
 sometimes laying at the rate of six eggs per minute, often producing 3,000 
 eggs during a day, which would equal twice her own weight. If the 
 workers do not allow her to destroy the other queens, she then takes a 
 portion of her colony with her and swarms out, seeking a home elsewhere. 
 
 IfijfHfc' 
 
 Q 
 
 
 ,<^;-',v. ':,.'/ .'-^ 
 
 
 head of drone; 0, head of queen bee: W, head of worker; 
 
 A, worker bee seen frotn belotu, showing plates of wax 
 
 secreted from, wax pockets. 
 
 From How to Keep Bees — Comstock. 
 
 Drawn by h.. J. Hammar. 
 
Insect Study 44^ 
 
 The Drone 
 
 The drone differs much in shape from the queen and the worker. He 
 is broad and bhmt, being very different in shape from the queen, and 
 larger than the worker, (p. 446, Fig. 2.) He has no pollen baskets on his legs 
 and has no sting. His eyes are very much larger than those of the queen 
 or the worker and unite at the top of the head (p. 448, D.) His wings 
 are larger and stronger than those of the worker or queen. It is not his 
 business to go out and gather honey or to help in the work of the hive. 
 His tongue is not long enough to get honey from the flowers; he has no 
 pollen basket in which to carry pollen; he has no sting to fight enemies 
 and no pockets for secreting wax; he is fed by his sister wo'kers until the 
 latter part of the season when the honey supply runs low, and then he is 
 stung or bitten to death by these same sisters who have always given him 
 such good care. The drone should be called a prince or king, since his 
 particular office in the hive is to mate with the queen. 
 
 References — How to Keep Bees, Comstock; The Bee People, Morley. 
 
 LESSON cm 
 
 The Honey-bee 
 
 Leading thought — In a colony of honey-bees there are three different 
 forms of bees, the queens, the drones, and the workers. All of these 
 have their own special work to do for the community. 
 
 Method — In almost every country or village community there is an 
 apiary, or at least someone who keeps a few colonies of bees; to such the 
 teacher must turn for material for this lesson. If this is not practical the 
 teacher may purchase specimens from any bee dealer; she may, for in- 
 stance, get an untested queen with attendant workers in a queen cage sent 
 by mail for a small sum. These could be kept alive for some time by 
 feeding them with honey, during which time the pupils can study the 
 forms of the two castes. Any apiary during September will give enough 
 dead drones for a class to observe. Although ordinarily we do not advo- 
 cate the study of dead specimens, yet common sense surely has its place 
 in nature-study; and in the case of the honey-bee, a closer study of the 
 form of the insect is desirable than the living bee might see fit to permit. 
 There are no more wonderful instances of adaptation of form to life than 
 is found in the anatomy of the workers, queens and drones; moreover, it 
 is highly desirable if the pupils are ever to become bee-keepers, that they 
 shall know these adaptations. 
 
 A lens is almost necessary for these lessons and a compound microscope 
 used with a low power would be a very desirable adjunct. This lesson 
 should not be given below the fifth grade; and it is better adapted to 
 eighth grade work. 
 
 The Worker 
 
 Observations — i. How many divisions of the body are there? 
 
 2. What organs are borne on the head? 
 
 3. Are there small, simple eyes between the large compound ones' 
 
 4. What is the difference between the large eyes and the small? 
 
 5. Describe the antennae. 
 
 6. What can you see of the mouth? Describe it. 
 
450 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 7. Look at the tongue under the microscope and see how it is fitted 
 for getting nectar from flowers. 
 
 8. What organs are borne on the thorax? 
 
 g. Study the front or middle leg. How many joints has it? 
 
 10. With a lens find the antennae cleaner on the front leg. Describe 
 
 it. 
 
 1 1 . Describe the feet and claws. 
 
 12. Compare the third segment of the hind leg with that of the front 
 
 leg. 
 
 13. Note that this segment of the hind leg is much wider. Note its 
 form and describe how it forms the pollen basket. 
 
 14. Study the next segment of the hind leg, and note the wax pincers 
 and the pollen combs. 
 
 15. Compare the front and hind wing as to shape and size. 
 
 16. How many rings are there on the abdomen and how are the rings 
 colored above. 
 
 17. Study the lower side of the body; do you know where the wax 
 comes from? 
 
 18. Write an English theme on the development of the larva of the 
 worker bee ; the duties of a worker bee from the time it issues from its 
 cocoon until it dies working for the colony. 
 
 Tlie Queen Bee 
 
 1. How does the queen differ in size and shape from the worker? 
 
 2. Has she pollen baskets or pollen combs on her hind legs? 
 
 3. How does the shape of the abdomen dift'er from that of the worker? 
 
 4. Write an English theme on the life of a queen bee. This should 
 cover the following points: The kind of cell in which the queen is 
 developed ; the kind of food on which she is reared ; the fact that she never 
 stings people but reserves her sting for other queens; why she does not 
 go out to gather honey ; how and by whom and on what she is fed ; she 
 would not use pollen baskets if she had them; the work she does for the 
 colony; the length of her life compared with that of a worker; the time 
 of year when new queens are developed, and what becomes of the old 
 queen when a new one takes her place; why she is called a queen. 
 
 The Drone 
 
 1. How does the drone differ in size and form of body from the 
 worker? 
 
 2. How does he differ in these respects from the queen? 
 
 3. Has he pollen baskets on his legs? 
 
 4. Has he a sting? 
 
 5. Compare his eyes with those of the queen and worker. 
 
 6. Compare the size of his wings with those of the queen and worker. 
 
 7. Write an English theme on the drone. This should cover the fol- 
 lowing points: n what sort of cell is the drone developed; does he go 
 out to gather honey or help in the work of the hive; how he is fed ; how 
 he is unfitted for work for the colony in the following particulars : Tongue, 
 lack of pollen baskets, lack of sting, and of wax pockets; why the drone 
 should be called a prince or king; the death of the drones; when and by 
 what means it occurs. 
 
Insect Study 
 
 451 
 
 Honey-comb 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 structure of honey-comb has been for ages 
 admired by mathematicians, who have meas- 
 ured the angles of the cells and demonstrated 
 the accurate manner in which the rhomb- 
 shaped cell changes at its base to a three faced 
 pyramid; and proven that, considering the 
 material of construction, honey-comb exem- 
 plifies the strongest and most economic struc- 
 ture possible for the storing of liquid contents. 
 "While recent instruments of greater precision 
 in measuring angles, show less perfection in 
 honev-comb than the ancients believed, vet the fact still stands that 
 the general plan of it is mathematically excellent. 
 
 Some have tried to detract from bee skill, by stating that the six-sided 
 cell is simply the result of crowding cells together. Perhaps this was the 
 remote origin of the hexagonal cell ; but if we watch a bee build her comb, 
 we find that she begins with a base laid ovit in triangular pyramids, on 
 either side of which she builds out six-sided cells. A cell just begun, is as 
 distinctly six-sided as when completed. 
 
 The shape of the cell of a honey-comb is six-sided in cross section. 
 The bottom is a three-sided pyramid and its sides help form pyramids 
 at the bottom of the cells opposite, thus economizing every particle of 
 space. In the hive, the cells lie horizontal usually, although sometimes 
 the combs are twisted. 
 The honey is retained 
 in the cell by a cap of 
 wax which is made in a 
 very cunning fashion ; 
 it consists of a cir- 
 cular disc at the mid- 
 dle supported from 
 the six angles of the 
 cell by six tiny girders. 
 The comb is made fast 
 to the section of the 
 hive by being plas- 
 tered upon it. The 
 foundation comb sold 
 to apiarists is quite 
 thick, so that the 
 edges of the cell may 
 be drawn out and al- 
 most complete the 
 sides of the cell. 
 However, the founda- 
 tion comb is expensive and is ordinarily used by the bee-keeper simply as 
 a starter, which means a little strip a few inches or so in width fastened 
 to the top of a section just to give the bees a hint that this is the direction 
 in which the comb should be built, a hint which the bees invariably take. 
 
 A section of honey. Note the caps to the cells, each 
 supported by six girders. 
 
452 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The cells of honey-comb are used also for the storing of bee-bread and also 
 as cradles for the young bees. 
 
 References — ^The Bee People, Morley; How to Keep Bees, Comstock. 
 
 Starters of foundation comb in scctio)i boxes, partially built out by the bees. 
 
 The section at the left has a "starter" of foundation comb. The other 
 
 sections show the work of the bees in drawing out and 
 
 building on the ''starters. 
 
 LESSON CIV 
 The Honey-comb 
 
 Leading thought — ^The cells of honey-comb are six-sided and in doiible 
 rows and are very perfectly arranged for the storing of honey, so as to save 
 room. 
 
 Materials — A section filled with honey and also a bit of empty comb 
 and a bit of commercial foundation comb which may be obtained in 
 any apiary. 
 
 Observations — i. Look at a bit of empty honey-comb; what is the 
 shape of the cell as you look down into it? 
 
 2. AVhat is the shape of the bottom of the cell? 
 
 3. How does the bottom of the cell join the bottom of the cell oppo- 
 site? Explain how honey-comb economizes space as storage for honey, 
 and why an economy of space is of use to bees in the wild state. 
 
 4. In the hive is the honey-comb placed so that the length of the cells 
 are horizontal or up and down? 
 
 5. Observe honey-comb containing honey; how is the honey retained 
 in the cells? 
 
 6. Carefully take off a cap from the honey cell and see if you can 
 find the six girders that extend inward from the angles of the cell to 
 support the circular portion in the center. 
 
 7. By what means is the honey-comb made fast to the sides of the 
 section or the hive? 
 
 8. Study a bit of foundation comb and note where the bees will pull 
 out the wax to form the cell. 
 
 9. Why and how is foundation comb used by the bee-keeper? 
 
 10. For what purpose besides storing honey are the cells of honey- 
 comb used by the bees? 
 
Insect Study 4^^ 
 
 INDUSTRIES OF THE HIVE AND THE OBSERVATION HIVE 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 EE-hives are the houses whicli man furnishes for 
 the bee colonies, the wild bees ordinarily living 
 in hollow trees or in caves. The usual hive 
 consists of a box which is the lower story and 
 of one or more upper stories, called "supers." 
 In the lower story are placed frames for the 
 brood and for storing the honey for the winter 
 use of the bees. In the supers are placed the 
 sections, each of which is planned to hold a 
 pound of honey. It is the habit of the bees to 
 place their brood in the lower part of their 
 nests and store honey in the upper portions. 
 The bee-keepers have taken advantage of this habit of the bees and 
 remove the supers with their filled sections and replace them with others 
 to be filled, and thus get a large crop of honey. The number of bees in a 
 colony varies; there should be at least 40,000 in a healthy colony. Of 
 these a large proportion are workers; there may be a few hundred drones 
 the latter part of the season but only one queen. 
 
 Honey-comb is built of wax and is hung from the frame so that the 
 cells are horizontal ; its purpose is to cradle the young and for the storage 
 of pollen and honey. The wax used for building the comb is a secretion 
 of the bees; when comb is needed, a number of self-elected bee citizens 
 gorge themselves with honey and hang themselves up in a curtain, each 
 bee reaching up with her fore feet and taking hold of the hind feet of the 
 one above her. After remaining thus for some time the wax appears in 
 little plates, one on each 
 side of the second, 
 third, fourth and fifth 
 segments of the abdo- 
 men. This wax is 
 chewed by the bees 
 and made into comb. 
 
 Honey is made from 
 the nectar of flowers 
 which the bee takes 
 into her honey stom- 
 ach . This, by the way, 
 is not the true stomach 
 of the bee and has 
 nothing to do with 
 digestion. It is simply 
 a receptacle for storing 
 the nectar, which is 
 mixed with some secre- 
 tion from the glands of 
 the bee which brings 
 about chemical 
 changes, the chief of 
 which is changing the ,1 l,on,e.made ohserv.Uion hive. 
 
,c. Handbook of Nature-btvidy 
 
 cane su<?ar of the nectar into the more easily digested grape sugar of 
 the honey. After the honey is emptied from the honey stomach into 
 the cell, it remains exposed to the air for some time before the cell is 
 capped,' and thus ripens. It is an interesting fact that up to the seven- 
 teenth 'century honey was the only means people had for sweetening 
 their food, as sugar was unknown. 
 
 Bee-bread is made from the pollen of flowers which is perhaps 
 mixed with saliva so as to hold together; it is carried from the 
 field on the pollen baskets of the hind legs of the workers; it is 
 packed into the cell by the bees and is used for food. Propolis 
 is bee glue; it is used as a cement and varnish; it is gathered by 
 the bees from the leaf-buds of certain trees and plants, although 
 when they can get it, the bees will take fresh varnish. It is used as 
 a filler to make smooth the rough places of the hive ; it often helps hold 
 the combs in place; it calks every crack; it is applied as a varnish to the 
 cells of the honey-comb if they remain unused for a time, and if the door of 
 the observation hive be left open the bees will cover the inside of the glass 
 with this glue, and thus make the interior of the hive dark. 
 
 The young bees are footless, white grubs. Each one lives in its own 
 little cell and is fed by the nurse bees, which give it partly digested food 
 from their own stomachs. 
 
 The removal of honey from the supers does not do an}' harm to the bee 
 colony if there is enough honey left in the brood chambers to support the 
 bees during the winter. There should be twenty-five or thirty pounds of 
 honey left in the brood chamber for winter use. In winter, the hives 
 should be protected from the cold by being placed in special houses or by 
 being encased in larger boxes, leaving an opening so that the bees may 
 come out in good weather. The chaff hive is best for both winter and 
 summer, as it surrounds the hive with a space, which is filled with chaff, 
 and keeps the hive warm in winter and cool in summer. Many bee- 
 keepers put their bees in cellars during the winter, but this method is not 
 as safe as the chaff hive. Care should be taken in summer to place the 
 hives so that they are shaded at least part of the day. The grass should 
 be mown around the hives so that the bees will not become entangled in it 
 as they return from the fields laden with honey. 
 
 What may he seen in the observation //nr— First of all, it is very 
 interesting to watch the bees build their comb. "When more comb is 
 needed certain members of the colony gorge themselves with honey and 
 remain suspended while it oozes out of the wax pockets on the lower side 
 of the abdomen. This wax is collected and chewed to make it less brittle 
 and then is carried to the place where the comb is being built and is 
 molded into shape by the jaws of the workers. However, the bee that 
 puts the wax in place is not always the one that molds it into comb. 
 
 A bee comes into the hive with her honey stomach filled with nectar 
 and disgorges this into a cell. Whep a bee comes in loaded with pollen, she 
 first brushes it from the pollen baskets on her hind legs into the cell; 
 later another worker comes along and packs the pollen grains into the cell 
 with her head, which is a comical sight. 
 
 The bee nurses run about on the comb feeding the young bee grubs 
 partially digested honey and pollen regurgitated from their own stomachs 
 Whenever the queen moves about the comb she is followed by a retinue of 
 devoted attendants which feed her on the rich and perfectly digested royal 
 
Insect Study 
 
 455 
 
 The observation hive made and sold hv A. I. Root. 
 
 jelly and also take care 
 of her royal person and 
 give her every atten- 
 tion possible. The 
 queen, when laying, 
 thrusts her abdomen 
 into the cell and glues a 
 little white egg to the 
 bottom. The specially 
 interesting thing about 
 this is that the queen 
 always lays an egg 
 which will produce a 
 female, or worker in the 
 smaller cells and will 
 always lay an egg to produce a drone or male in the larger cells. 
 
 If there is any foreign substance in the observation hive it is interesting 
 to see the bees go to work at once to remove it. They dump all of the 
 debris out in front of the hive. They close all crevices in the hive; and 
 they will always curtain the glass, if the door is kept open too much, with 
 propolis or bee glue, which is a very sticky substance which they get from 
 leaf buds and other vegetable sources. When bees fan to set up a current 
 of air in the hive, they glide back and forth, moving the wings so rapidly 
 that we can only see a blur about their bodies. 
 
 If drones are developed in the hive, it is interesting to see how tenderly 
 they are fed by their sister workers, although they do not hesitate to help 
 themselves to the honey stored in the cells; and if the observation hive is 
 working during September, undoubtedly the pupils may be able to see the 
 murder of the drones by their sisters. But the children should understand 
 that this killing of the drones is necessary for the preservation of the 
 colony, as the workers cannot store enough honey to keep the colony alive 
 during the winter if the drones were allowed to go on feeding. 
 
 If you see the worker bees fighting, it means that robbers are attempt- 
 ing to get at the stores of the observation hive. The entrance to the hive 
 should at once be contracted by placing a block of wood in front, so that 
 there is room for only one bee at a time to pass in and out. 
 
 LESSON CV 
 
 The Industries of the Hive 
 
 Leading thought — In the hive are carried on the industries of wax- 
 making, building of honey-comb, storing of honey and bee-bread, caring 
 for the young, keeping the hive clean and ventilated and calking all 
 crevices with bee glue. 
 
 MetJwd — ^This lesson should be in the nature of a demonsi ration. If 
 there is an apiary in the neighborhood, it is quite possible that the teacher 
 may show the pupils a hive ready for occupancy by the bees; in any case 
 she will have no difficulty in borrowing a frame of brood comb, and this 
 with a section of honey which can be bought at the grocery store, is 
 sufficient if there is no observation hive. This lesson should be an in- 
 formal talk between teacher and pupils. 
 
.1-5 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 An observation hive in the schoolroom is an object of greatest interest 
 to the pupils, as through its glass sides they may be able to verify for 
 themselves the wonderfuVtales concerning the lives and doings of the bees 
 which have been told us by naturalists. Moreover, the study thus made 
 of the habits of the bees is an excellent preparation for the practical 
 apiarist, and we sincerely believe that bee-keeping is one of the ways by 
 which the boys and girls of the farm may obtain money for their own use. 
 
 The observation hive is very simply constructed and can be made by 
 anyone who knows how to use ordinary carpenter tools. It is simply 
 a small, ordinary hive with a pane of glass on each side which is covered 
 by a hinged door. A hive thus made is placed so that the front end 
 rests upon a window sill ; the sash is lifted an inch or so, a strip of wood, or 
 a piece of wire netting being inserted underneath the sash except in front 
 of the entrance of the hive, to hinder the bees from coming back into the 
 room. A covered passageway should extend from the entrance of the 
 hive to the outside of the window sill. This window should be one which 
 opens away from the playground so that the bees coming and going, will 
 not come into colhsion with the pupils. The observation window should 
 be kept carefully shut, except when the pupils are using it, since the bees 
 object to light in their homes. 
 
 The A. I. Root Co., of Medina, Ohio, sell a pretty observation hive 
 which we have used successfully by stocking it afresh each season, it being 
 too small for a self-sustaining colony. But it has the advantage of small- 
 ness which enables us to see all that is going on within it, which would be 
 impossible in a larger hive. This hive comes in several sizes, and will be 
 shipped from the makers stocked with bees at prices ranging from $i .25 to 
 $4.00. 
 
 Observations — Indtistries and care of the hive — i . What is the hive, and 
 what do wild bees use instead of the hive? Describe as follows: 
 
 2. Describe a brood chamber and a super and the uses of each. 
 
 3. How many and what bees live in a hive. 
 
 4. How the honey-comb is made and placed and the purpose of it. 
 
 5. How the wax is produced and built into the comb. 
 
 6. How honey is made. 
 
 7. What bee-bread is and its uses. 
 
 8. What propolis is and what it is used for. 
 
 9. How young bees look and how they are cradled and fed. 
 
 ID. Does the removal of the honey from the supers in the fall do any 
 harm to the bee colony? 
 
 11. How much honey should a good-sized colony have in the fall to 
 winter well ? 
 
 1 2 . How should the hives be protected in the winter and summer ? 
 What may be seen in the observation hive — 13. Describe how a bee 
 
 works when building honey-com^b. 
 
 14. How does the bee act when storing honey in a cell? 
 
 15. How does a bee place pollen in a cell and pack it into bee-bread? 
 
 16. Describe how the nurse bees feed the young, and how the young 
 look when eating. 
 
 17. Describe how the "ladies in waiting" feed and care for the queen. 
 
 18. Try to observe the queen when she is laying eggs and describe her 
 actions. 
 
 19. How do the bee workers keep their house clean? 
 
Insect ^Sfudv 
 
 4b/ 
 
 20. How do they stop all crevices in the hive? If you keep the hive 
 uncovered too long, how will they curtain the window? 
 
 21. Describe the actions of the bees when they are ventilating the 
 hive. 
 
 22. If there are any drones in the hive, describe how they are fed. 
 
 23. How can you tell queens, drones and workers apart? 
 
 .4 wasp's Jicst with side walls removed. 
 
458 Handbook of Xclnre-StuJy 
 
 VII. OTHER INVERTEBRATE-AXIMAL STUDY 
 
 THE GARDEN SNAIL 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 ERCHANCE if those who speak so gUbly of a "snail's pace" 
 should study it, they would not sneer at it, for carefully 
 observed, it seems the most wonderful method of locomotion 
 ever devised by animal. Naturally enough, the snail can- 
 not gallop since it has but one foot ; but it is safe to assert 
 that this foot, which is the entire lower side of the body, is a 
 remarkable organ of locomotion. Let a snail crawl up the side of a 
 tumbler and note how this foot stretches out and holds on. It has 
 flanges along the sides, which secrete an adhesive substance that enables 
 the snail to cling, and yet it also has the power of letting go at will. The 
 slow, even, pushing forward of the whole body, weighted by the un- 
 balanced shell, is as mysterious and seemingly as inevitable, as the march 
 of fate, so little is the motion connected with any apparent muscular 
 effort. But when his snailship wishes to let go and retire from the world, 
 this foot performs a feat which is certainly worthy of a juggler; it folds 
 itself lengthwise, and the end on which the head is retires lirst into the 
 shell, the tail end of the foot being the last to disappear. And now find 
 your snail ! 
 
 Never was an animal so capable of stretching out and then folding up 
 all its organs, as is this little tramp who carries his house with him. Turn 
 one on his back when he has withdrawn into his little hermitage, and 
 watch what happens. Soon he concludes he will find out where he is, and 
 why he is bottomside up ; as the first evidence of this, the hind end of the 
 foot, which was folded together, pushes forth; then the head and horns 
 come bubbling out. The horns are not horns at all, but each is a stalk 
 bearing an eye on the tip. This is arranged conveniently, like a marble 
 fastened to the tip of a glove finger. When a snail wishes to see, it 
 stretches forth the stalk as if it were made of rubber; but if danger is per- 
 ceived, the eye is pulled back exactly as if the marble were pulled back 
 through the middle of the glove finger; or as a boy would say, "it goes 
 into the hole and pulls the hole in after it." Just below the stalked eyes, 
 is another pair of shorter horns, which are feelers, and which may be 
 drawn back in the same manner; they are used constantly for testing the 
 nature of the surface on which the snail is crawling. It is an interesting 
 experiment to see how near to the eyes and the feelers we can place an 
 object, before driving them back in. With these two pairs of sense 
 organs pushed out in front of him, the snail is well equipped to observe 
 the topography of his immediate vicinity ; if he wishes to explore above, 
 he can stand on the tip of his tail and reach far up ; and if there is any- 
 thing to take hold of, he can glue his toe fast to it and pull himself up. 
 Moreover, I am convinced that snails have decided views about where 
 they wish to go, for I have tried by the hour to keep them marching length- 
 wise on the piazza railing, so as to study them; and every snail was 
 determined to go crosswise and crawl under the edge, where it was nice 
 and dark. 
 
OtJier Inverlebrate-Animal Study 
 
 459 
 
 It IS interesting to observe through a lens, the way a snail takes his 
 
 1?v2 P^ace bef^^,^^ 1-""^ a piece of sweet apple or other soft fruit, and he 
 
 will lift himself on his front toe and begin to work his way into the fruit. 
 
 He has an efficient set of 
 upper teeth, which look like 
 a saw and are colored as if he 
 chewed tobacco; with these 
 teeth and with his round 
 tongue, which we can see 
 popping out, he soon makes 
 an appreciable hole in the 
 pulp; but his table manners 
 are not nice, since he is a hope- 
 less slobberer. 
 
 There are right and left 
 spiraled snails. All those ob- 
 served for this lesson show the 
 spiral wound about the center 
 from left over to right, or in 
 the direction of the movement 
 of the hands of a clock, and 
 this is usually the case. "With 
 the spiral Hke this, the breath- 
 ing pore is on the right side of 
 the snail and may be seen as 
 an opening where the snail 
 joins the shell. This pore 
 may be seen to open and con- 
 tract slowly; by this motion, 
 the air is sucked into the shell 
 where it bathes the snail's 
 lung, and is then forced out — 
 a process very similar to our 
 own breathing. 
 
 The snail has good judg- 
 ment when attacked; at the 
 first scare, he simply draws in 
 his eyes and feelers and with- 
 draws his head, so that noth- 
 ing can be seen of him from 
 above, except a hard shell 
 which would not attract the 
 passing bird. But if the at- 
 tack continvtes, he lets go all 
 hold on the world, and noth- 
 ing can be seen of him but a 
 little mass which blocks the 
 door to his house; and if he is 
 obliged to experience a drought, he makes a pane of glass out of mucus 
 across his door, and thus stops evaporation. This is a very wise precau- 
 tion, because the snail is made up largely of moisture and much water is 
 needed to keep his mucilage factory running. 
 
 ^-'^\;^ 
 
 Snail sketches. 
 
 The thorny path to bliss; 
 breathing-pore; 3. 
 
 2. Snail showing the 
 Prospecting. 
 
460 Hmidbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The way the snail uses his e3'es is comical ; he goes to the edge of a leaf 
 and pokes one eye over to see what the new territory is like ; but if his eye 
 strikes an object, he pulls that one back, and prospects for a time with the 
 other. He can lengthen the eye-stalk amazingly if he has need. How 
 convenient for us if we could thus see around a corner. If a small boy were 
 as well off as a snail, he could see the entire ball game through a knot-hole 
 in the fence. In fact, the more we study the snail, the more we admire, 
 first his powers of ascertaining what there is in the world, and then his 
 power of getting around in the world by climbing recklessly and relent- 
 lessly over obstacles, not caring whether he is right side up on the floor or 
 hanging wrong side tip from the ceiling; and, finally, we admire his utter 
 reticence when things do not go to suit him. I think the reason I always 
 call a snail "he" is because he seems such a philosopher — a Diogenes in his 
 tub. However, since the snail combines both sexes in one individual the 
 pronoun is surely applicable. 
 
 When observed through a lens, the snail's skin looks like that of the 
 alligator, rough and divided into plates, with a surface like pebbled 
 leather ; and no insect intruder can crawl up his foot and get into the shell 
 "unbeknownst," for the shell is grown fast to the flange, that grows out of 
 the middle of the snail's back. The smoother the surface the snail is 
 crawling upon, the harder to make him let go. The reason for this lies in 
 the mucus, which he secretes as he goes, and which enables him to fasten 
 himself anywhere ; he can crawl up walls or beneath any horizontal sur- 
 face, shell downward, and he leaves a shining trail behind him wherever 
 he goes. 
 
 Snail eggs are as large as small peas, almost transparent, covered with 
 very soft shells, and fastened together by mucus. They are laid under 
 stones and decaying leaves. As soon as the baby snail hatches, it has a 
 shell with only one spiral turn in it; as it grows, it adds layer after layer 
 to the shell on the rim about the opening — which is called the lip; these 
 layers we can see as ridges on the shell. If we open an empty shell, we 
 can see the progress of growth in the size of the spirals. vSnails eat suc- 
 culent leaves and other so^t vegetable matter. During the winter, they 
 bury themselves beneath objects or retire into soft humus. In preparing 
 for the winter, the snail makes a door of mucus and lime, or sometimes 
 three doors, one behind another, across the entrance to his shell, leaving a 
 tiny hole to admit the air. There are varieties of snails which are eaten 
 as dainties in Europe, and are grown on snail farms for the markets. The 
 species most commonly used is the same as that which was regarded as a 
 table luxury by the ancient Romans. 
 
 References — Wild Life, Ingersoll; The Natural History of Some Com- 
 mon Animals, Latter. 
 
 LESSON CVI 
 The Garden Snail 
 Leading thought — The snail carries his dwelling with him, and retires 
 within it in time of danger. He can climb on any smooth surface. 
 
 Method — The pupils should make a snailery, which may consist of any 
 glass jar, with a little soil and some moss or leaves at the bottom, and a 
 shallow dish of water at one side. The moss and soil should be kept moist. 
 Place the snails in this and give them fresh leaves or pulpy fruit, and they 
 will live comfortably in confinement. A bit of cheese-cloth fastened with 
 
Other Invcrtchratc-Aiiinial Study ^6i 
 
 a rubber band should be placed over the top of the jar. A tumlilcr in- 
 verted over a dish, on which is a leaf or two, makes a good observa- 
 tion cage to pass around the room for closer examination. An empty shell 
 should be at hand, which may be opened and examined. 
 
 Observations — i. Where do you find snails? "Why do they like to 
 live in such places? 
 
 2. How does a snail walk? Describe its "foot." How can it move 
 with only one foot? Describe how it climbs the side of the glass jar. 
 How does it cling? 
 
 3 . What sort of a track does a snail leave behind it ? What is the use 
 of this mucus? 
 
 4. Where are the snail's eyes? Why is this arrangement convenient? 
 n we touch one of the eyes what happens? What advantage is this to 
 the snail? Can it pull in one eye and leave the other out? 
 
 5. Look below the eyes for a pair of feelers. What happens to these 
 if you touch them ? 
 
 6. What is the use of its shell to a snail? What does the snail do if 
 startled ? If attacked ? AVhen a snail is withdrawn into its shell can you 
 see any part of the body ? Is the shell attached to the middle of the foot ? 
 How did the shell grow on the snail's back? How many spiral turns are 
 there in the full-grown shell? Are there as many in the shell of a young 
 snail? Can you see the little ridges on the shell? Do you think that 
 these show the way the shell grew? 
 
 7. Can you find the opening through which the snail draws its breath ? 
 Where is this opening? Describe its action. 
 
 8. Put the snail in a dry place for two or three days, and see what 
 happens. Do you think this is for the purpose of keeping in moisture? 
 What does the snail do during the winter? 
 
 9. Place a snail on its back and see how it rights itself. Describe the 
 way it eats. Can you see the horny upper jaw? Can you see the rasping 
 tongue? What do snails live on? 
 
 10. Do you know how the snail eggs look and where they are laid? 
 How large is the shell of the smallest garden snail you ever saw? How 
 many spiral turns were there in it? Open an empty snail shell and see 
 how the spirals widened as the snail grew. Do you think the shell grew 
 by layers added to the lip? 
 
 11. Do all snails have shells? Describe all the kinds of snails you 
 know. AVhat people consider snails a table delicacy? 
 
 TO A SNAIL 
 
 Little Diogenes bearing your tub, whitJicr away so gay, 
 
 With your eyes on stalks, and a foot that walks, tell me this I pray! 
 
 Is It an honest snail you seek that makes you go so slow. 
 
 And over the edges of all things peek? Have you found him, I want to know; 
 
 Or do yon go slow because you knew, your house is near and tight f 
 
 Arid there is no hurry and surely no worry lest you stay out late at night. 
 
 A-, 
 
462 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE EARTHWORM 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 LTHOUGH not generally considered attractive, 
 for two reasons the earthworm has an impor- 
 tant place in nature-study: it furnishes an 
 interesting example of lowly organized crea- 
 tures, and it is of great economic importance 
 to the agriculturist. The lesson should have 
 special reference to the work done by earth- 
 worms and to the simplicity of the tools with 
 which the work is done. 
 
 The earthworm is, among lower animals, 
 essentially the farmer. Long before man con- 
 ceived the idea of tilling the soil, this seemingly 
 insignificant creature was busily at work 
 plowing, harrowing, and fertilizing the land. Nor did it overlook 
 the importance of drainage and the addition of amendments — 
 factors of comparatively recent development in the management of the 
 soil by man. 
 
 Down into the depths, sometimes as far as seven or eight feet, but 
 usually from twelve to eighteen inches, goes the little plowman, bringing 
 to the surface the subsoil, which is exactly what we do when we plow 
 deeply. To break up the soil as our harrows do, the earthworm grinds it 
 in a gizzard stocked with grains of sand or fine gravel, which act as mill- 
 stones. Thus it turns out soil of much finer texture than we, by harrow- 
 ing or raking, can produce. In its stomach it adds the lime amendment, 
 so much used by the modern farmer. The earthworm is apparently an 
 adept in the use of fertilizers ; it even shows discrimination in keeping the 
 organic matter near the surface, where it may be incorporated into the 
 soil of the root zone. It drags into its burrows dead leaves, flowers and 
 grasses, with which to line the upper part. Bones of dead animals, shells, 
 and twigs are buried by it, and, being more or less decayed, furnish food 
 for plants. These minute agriculturists have never studied any system 
 of drainage, but they bore holes to some depth which carry oiT the surplus 
 water. They plant seeds by covering those that lie on the ground with 
 soil from below the surface — good, enriched, well granulated soil it is, too. 
 They further care for the growing plants by cultivating, that is keeping 
 fine and granular, the soil about the roots. 
 
 It was estimated by Darwin that, in garden soil in England, there are 
 more than 50,000 earthworms in an acre, and that the whole superficial 
 layer of vegetable mold passes through their bodies in the course of every 
 few years, at the rate of eighteen tons per acre yearly. 
 
 This agricultural work of the earthworm has been going on for ages. 
 Wild land owes much of its beauty to this diminutive creature which 
 keeps the soil in good condition. The earthworm has undermined and 
 buried rocks, changing greatly the aspect of the landscape. It has 
 preserved ruins and ancient works of art. Several Roman villas in 
 England owe their preservation to the earthworm. All this work is 
 accomplished with the most primitive tools, a tiny proboscis, a distensible 
 pharynx, a rather indeterminate tail, a gizzard and the calcareous glands 
 peculiar to this lowly creature. 
 
Other Invertebrate- Animal btnJy 463 
 
 An earthworm has a pecuHar, crawHng movement. Unlike the enake, 
 which also moves without legs, it has no scales to function in part as legs; 
 but it has a very special provision for locomotion. On the undor side of a 
 worm are found numerous setae — tiny, bristlelike projections. These will 
 be seen to be in double rows on each segment, excepting the first three and 
 the last. The setae turn so that they point in the opposite direction from 
 which the worm is moving. It is this use of these clinging bristles, 
 together with strong muscles, which enables a worm to hold tightly to its 
 burrow when bird or man attempts its removal. A piece of round elastic 
 furnishes an excellent example of contraction and extension, such as the 
 earthworm exhibits. Under the skin of the worm are two sets of muscles ; 
 the outer passing in circular direction around the body, the inner running 
 lengthwise. The movement of these maybe easily seen in a good-sized, 
 living specimen. The body is lengthened by the contraction of circular 
 and the extension of longitudinal muscles, and shortened by the opposite 
 movement. 
 
 The number of segments may vary with the age of the worm. In the 
 immature, the ditelltim, a thick, whitish ring near the end, is absent. 
 The laying of the earthworm's egg is an interesting performance. A sac- 
 like ring is formed about the body in the region of the clitellum. This 
 girdle is gradually worked forward and, as it is cast over the head, the sac- 
 ends snap together enclosing the eggs. These capsules, yellowish-brown, 
 football-shaped, about the size of a grain of wheat, may be found in May 
 or June about manure piles or under stones. 
 
 Earthworms are completely deaf, although sensitive to vibration. 
 They have no eyes, but can distinguish between light and darkness. The 
 power of smell is feeble. The sense of taste is well developed ; the sense of 
 touch is very acute; and we are not so sure as is Dr. Jordan, that the 
 angleworm is at ease on the hook. 
 
 Any garden furnishes good examples of the home of the earthworm. 
 The burrows are made straight down at first, then wind about irregularly. 
 Usually they are about one or two feet deep, but may reach even eight 
 feet. The burrow terminates generally in an enlargement where one or 
 several worms pass the winter. Toward the surface, the burrow is lined 
 with a thin layer of fine, dark colored earth, voided by the worm. This 
 creature is an excavator and builder of no mean ability. The towerlike 
 "castings" so characteristic of the earthworm, are formed with excreted 
 earth. Using the tail as a trowel, it places earth, now on one side and 
 now on the other. In this work, of course, the tail protrudes; in the 
 search for food, the head is out. A worm, then, must make its home, 
 narrow as it is, with a view to being able to turn in it. 
 
 An earthworm will bury itself in loose earth in two or three minutes, 
 and in compact soil, in fifteen minutes. Pupils should be able to make 
 these observations easily either in the terrarium or in the garden. 
 
 In plugging the mouths of their burrows, earthworms show something 
 that seems like intelligence. Triangular leaves are invariably drawn in 
 by the apex, pine-needles by the common base, the manner varying with 
 the shape of the leaf. They do not drag in a leaf by the footstalk, unless 
 its basal part is as narrow as the apex. The mouth of the burrow may be 
 lined with leaves for several inches. 
 
 The burrows are not found in dry ground nor in loose sand. The 
 earthworm lives in the finer, moderately wet soils. It must have moisture 
 
464 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 since it breathes through the skin, and it has sufficient knowledge of soil 
 texture and plasticity to recognize the futility of attempts at burrow 
 building with unmanageable, large grains of sand. 
 
 These creatures are nocturnal, rarely appearing by day unless "drowned 
 out" of the burrows. During the day they lie near the surface extended 
 at full length, the head uppermost. Here they are discovered by keen- 
 eyed birds and sacrificed by thousands, notwithstanding the strong 
 muscular protest of which they are capable. 
 
 Seemingly conscious of its inability to find the way back to its home, 
 an earthworm anchors tight by its tail while stretching its elastic length 
 in a foraging expedition. It is an omnivorous creature, including in its 
 diet earth, leaves, flowers, raw meat, fat, and even showing cannibalistic 
 designs on fellow earthworms. In the schoolroom, earthworms may be 
 fed on pieces of lettuce or cabbage leaves. A feeding worm will show the 
 proboscis, an extension of the upper lip used to push food into the mouth. 
 The earthworm has no hard jaws or teeth, yet it eats through the hardest 
 soil. Inside the mouth opening is a very muscular pharynx, which can be 
 extended or withdrawn. Applied to the surface of any small object it 
 acts as a suction pump, drawing food into the food tube. The earth 
 taken in furnishes some organic matter for food; calcareous matter is 
 added to the remainder before being voided. This process is unique 
 among animals. The calcareous matter is supposed to be derived from 
 leaves which the worms eat. Generally the earth is swallowed at some 
 distance below the surface, and finally ejected in characteristic "castings." 
 Thus, the soil is slowly worked over and kept in good condition by earth- 
 worms, of which Darwin says: "It may be doubted whether there are 
 many other animals which have played so important a part in the history 
 of the world as have these lowly organized creatures." 
 
 References — The Earthworm, Darwin; The Natural History of Some 
 Common Animals, Latter. 
 
 "Flyfishing is an art, a fine art beyond a doubt, but it is an art and, like all art, it is 
 artificial. Fishing with an angleworm is natural. It fits into the need of the occasion. 
 It fits in with the spirit of the boy. It is not by chance that the angleworm, earthworm, 
 fishworm, is found in every damp bank, in every handy bit of sod, the green earth over, 
 where there are races whose boys are real boys with energy enough to catch a fish. It is 
 not by chance that the angleworm makes a perfect fit on a hook, with no anatomy with 
 which to feel pains, and no arms or legs to be broken off or to be waved helplessly in the 
 air. Its skin is tough enough so as not to tear, not so tough as to receive unseemly 
 bruises, when the boy is placing it on the hook. The angleworm is perfectly at hofne on 
 the hook. It is not quite comfortable anywhere else. It crawls about on sidewalks after 
 rain, bleached and emaciated. It is never quite at ease even in the ground, but on tlie 
 hook it rests peacefully, ivith the apparent feeling that its natural mission is performed.'' 
 — "Boys' Fish and Boys' Fishing," by D.a.vid Starr Jordan. 
 
 LESSON CVII 
 
 The Earthworm 
 Leading thought — The earthworm is a creature of the soil and is of much 
 economic importance. 
 
 Method — Any garden furnishes abundant material for the study of 
 earthworms. They are nocturnal workers and may be observed by Ian- 
 
OtJier Invertebrate -Animal Study 
 
 465 
 
 tern light. To form some estimate of the work done in a single night, 
 remove the "casts" from a square yard of earth one day, and examine 
 that piece of earth the next. It is well to have a terrarium in the school- 
 room for frequent observation. Scatter grass or dead leaves on top of 
 the soil, and note what happens. For the study of the individual worm 
 and its movements, each pupil should have a worm with some earth upon 
 his desk. 
 
 Observations — i . How does the earthworm crawl? How does it turn 
 over? Has it legs? Compare its movement with that of a snake, 
 another legless animal. "What special provision for locomotion has the 
 earthworm? 
 
 2. Compare the lengths of the contracted and extended body. How 
 accounted for? 
 
 3. Describe the body — its shape and color, above and below. 
 Examine the segments. Do all the worms have the same number? 
 Compare the head end with the tail end of the body. Has every worm a 
 "saddle," orclitellum? 
 
 4. Does the earthworm hear easily? Has it eyes? Is it sensible to 
 smell or to touch? What sense is most strongly developed? 
 
 5. Describe the home of the earthworm. Is it occuj)ied by more 
 than one worm ? How long does it take a worm to make a burrow ? How 
 does it protect its home? How does it make a burrow? In what kind of 
 soil do you find earthworms at work? • 
 
 6. Is the earthworm seen most often at night or by day? Where is 
 it the rest of the time? How does it hold to its burrow? When is the 
 tail end at the top? When the head end? 
 
 7. What is the food of the earthworm? How does it get its food ? 
 
 8. Look for the eggs of the earthworm about manure piles or under 
 stones. 
 
 9. What are the enemies of the earthworm? Is it a friend or an 
 enemy to us ? Why ? 
 
 10. The earthworm is a good agriculturist. Why? 
 
 Where the crayfish lurks. 
 
466 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 THE CRAYFISH 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 HEN I look at a crayfish I envy it, so rich is it in 
 organs with which to do all that it has to do. 
 From the head to the tail, it is crowded with a 
 large assortment of executive appendages. In 
 this day of multiplicity of duties, if we poor 
 human creatures only had the crayfish's capa- 
 bilities, then might we hope to achieve what lies 
 before us. 
 
 The most striking thing in the appearance of 
 the crayfish is the great pair of nippers on each of 
 the front legs. Wonderfully are its "thumb and 
 finger" put together; the "thumb" is jointed so 
 that it can move back and forth freely ; and both 
 are armed, along the inside edge, with saw.teeth and with a sharp claw at 
 the tip so that they can get a firm grip upon an object. Five segments in 
 these great legs can be easily seen; that joining the body is small, but 
 each successive one is wider and larger, to the great forceps at the end. 
 The two stout segments behind the nippers give strength, and also a 
 suppleness that enables the claws to be bent in any direction. 
 
 The legs of the pair behind the big nippers have five segments readily 
 visible; but these legs are slender and the nippers at the end are small; 
 the third pair of legs is armed like the second pair; but the fourth and 
 fifth pairs lack the pincers, and end in a single claw. 
 
 But the tale of the crayfish's legs is by no means told ; for between and 
 above the great pincers is a pair of short, small legs tipped with single 
 claws, and fringed on their inner edges. These are the ma.xillapeds, or 
 jaw-feet; and behind them, but too close to be seen easily, are two more 
 pairs of jaw-feet. As all of these jaw-feet assist at meals, the crayfish 
 apparently always has a "three fork" dinner; and as if to provide accom- 
 modations for so many eating utensils, it has three pairs of jaws all work- 
 ing sidewise, one behind the other. Two of these pairs are maxillae and 
 one, mandibles. The mandibles are the only ones we see as we look in 
 between the jaw-feet; they are notched along the biting edge. Con- 
 nected with the maxillae, on each side, are two pairs of threadlike flappers, 
 that wave back and forth vigorously and have to do with setting up cur- 
 rents of water over the gills. 
 
 Thus we see that, in all, the crayfish has three pairs of jaw-feet, one 
 pair of great nippers and four pairs of walking feet, two of which also have 
 nippers and are used for digging and carrying. 
 
 When we look upon the crayfish from above, we see that the head and 
 thorax are fastened solidly together, making what is called a cephalo- 
 thorax. The cephalothorax is covered with a shell called the carapace, 
 which is the name given also to the upper part of the turtle's shell. The 
 suture where the head joins the thorax is quite evident. In looking at 
 the head, the eyes first attract our attention; each is black and oval and 
 placed on the tip of a stalk, so it can be extended or retracted or pushed in 
 any direction, to look for danger. These eyes are like the compound eyes 
 of insects, in that they are made up of many small eyes, set together in a 
 honeycomb pattern. 
 
 V. .s ., 
 
other Invertebrate- Animal Study 467 
 
 The long antennae are as flexible as braided whiplashes, large at the 
 base and ending in a threadlike tip. They are composed of many seg- 
 ments, the basal ones being quite large. Above the antennae on each side, 
 is a pair of shorter ones called antennules, which come from the same 
 basal segment; the lower one is the more slender and is usually directed 
 forward; the upper one is stouter, curves upward, and is kept always 
 moving, as if it were constantly on the alert for impressions. The anten- 
 nae are used for exploring far ahead or behind the creature, and arc often 
 thrust down into the mud and gravel at the bottom of the aquarium, as if 
 probing for treasure. The antennules seem to give warning of things 
 closer at hand. Between the antennae and antennules is a y^air of finger- 
 like organs, that are hinged at the outer ends and can be lifted back, if we 
 do it carefully. 
 
 In looking down upon a crayfish, we can see six abdominal segments 
 and the flaring tail at the end, which is really another segment greatly 
 modified. The first segment, or that next to the cephalothorax, is narrow; 
 the others are about equal in size, each graceful in shape, with a widened 
 part at each side which extends down along the sides of the creature. 
 These segments are w^ell hinged together so that the abdomen may be 
 completely curled beneath the cephalothorax. The plates along the sides 
 are edged with fringe. The tail consists of five parts, one semicircular in 
 the center, and two fan-shaped pieces at each side, and all are margined 
 with fringe. This tail is a remarkable organ. It can be closed or extended 
 sidewise like a fan ; it can be lifted up or curled beneath. 
 
 Looking at the crayfish from below, we see on the abdomen some very 
 beautiful featherlike organs called swimmerets. Each swimmeret con- 
 sists of a basal segment with twin paddles joined to its tip, each paddle 
 being narrow and long and fringed with hairs. The mother crayfish has 
 four pairs of these, one pair on each of the second, third, fourth and fifth 
 segments; her mate has an additional larger pair on the first segment. 
 These swimmerets, when at rest, lie close to the abdomen and are directed 
 forward and slightly inward. When in motion, they paddle with a back- 
 ward, rhythmic motion, the first pair setting the stroke and the other pairs 
 following in succession. This motion sends the body forward, and the 
 swimmerets are chiefly used to aid the legs in forward locomotion. A 
 crayfish, on the bottom of a pond, seems to glide about with great ease; 
 but place it on land, and it is an awkward walker. The reason for this 
 difference lies, I believe, in the aid given by the swimmerets when the 
 creature is in water. Latter says: "In walking, the first three pairs of 
 legs pull and the fourth pair pushes. Their order of movement is as fol- 
 lows: The first on the right and the third on the left side move together, 
 next the third right and the first left, then the second right and fourth 
 left, and lastly the fourth right and second left." 
 
 When the crayfish really wishes to swim, the tail is suddenly brought 
 into use; it is thrust out backward, lays hold of the water by sjireading 
 out widely, and then doubles under with a spasmodic jerk which pulls the 
 creature swiftly backward. 
 
 The crayfish's appearance is magically transformed when it begins to 
 swim; it is no longer a creature of sprawling awkward legs and great 
 clumsy nippers; now, its many legs lie side by sitlc supinely and the great 
 claws are limp and flow along in graceful lines after the body, all obedient 
 to the force which sends the creature flying through the water. I cannot 
 discover that the swimmerets help in this movement. 
 
468 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 A crayjish. 
 Drawn by Anna C. Stryke. 
 
 The mother crayfish has another use for her swimmerets ; in the spring, 
 when she is ready to lay eggs, she cleans off her paddles with her hind legs, 
 covers them with waterproof glue, and then plasters her eggs on them in 
 grapelike clusters of little dark globules. "What a nice way to look after 
 her family! The little ones hatch, but remain clinging to the maternal 
 swimmerets, until they are large enough to scuttle around on the brook 
 bottom and look out for themselves. 
 
 The breathing apparatus of the crayfish cannot be seen without dissec- 
 tion. All the walking legs, except the last pair, have gills attached to 
 that portion of them which joins the body, and which lies hidden under- 
 neath the sides of the carapace or shell. The blood is forced into these 
 gills, sends off its impurities through their thin walls and takes in the 
 oxygen from the water, currents of which are kept steadily flowing for- 
 ward. 
 
 Crayfishes haunt still pools along brooksides and river margins and 
 the shallow ponds of our fresh waters. There they hide beneath sticks 
 and stones, or in caves of their own making, the doors of which they guard 
 with the big and threatening nippers, which stand ready to grapple with 
 anybody that comes to inquire if the folks are at home. The upper sur- 
 face of the crayfish's body is always so nearly the color of the brook bot- 
 tom, that the eye seldom detects the creature until it moves; and if some 
 enemy surprises one, it swims off with terrific jerks which roil all the 
 water around and thus covers its retreat. In the winter, our brook forms 
 hibernate in the muddy bottoms of their summer haunts. There are 
 rnany species; some in our Southern vStates, when the dry season comes on, 
 live in little wells which they dig deep enough to reach water. They heap 
 
OlJier Invertebratc-Aiiiiual Study 469 
 
 up the soil which they excavate around the mouth of the well, making 
 well-curbs of mud; these are ordinarily called "crawHsh chimnies." The 
 crayfishes find their food in the flotsam and jetsam of the pool. They 
 seem fond of the flesh of dead fishes and are often trapped by its use as 
 bait. 
 
 The growth of the crayfish is like that of insects; as its outer covering 
 is a hard skeleton that v/ill not stretch, it is shed as often as necessary; it 
 breaks open down the middle of the back of the carapace, and the soft, 
 bodied creature pulls itself out, even to the last one of its claws. While its 
 new skin is yet elastic, it stretches to its utmost; but this skin also 
 hardens after a time and is, in its turn, shed. Woe to the crayfish caught 
 in this helpless, soft condition after molting! For it then has no way to 
 protect itself. We sometimes find the old skin floating, perfect in every 
 detail, and so transparent that it seems the ghost of a crayfish. 
 
 Not only is the crayfish armed in the beginning with a great number o^ 
 legs, antennae, etc., but if it happens to lose any of these organs, they will 
 grow again. It is said that, when attacked, it can voluntarily throw of? 
 one or more of its legs. We have often found one of these creatures with 
 one of the front claws much larger than the other; it had probably lost 
 its big claw in a fight, and the new growth was not yet completed. 
 
 I have been greatly entertained by watching a female crayfish make 
 her nest in my aquarium which has, for her comfort, a bottom of three 
 inches of clean gravel. She always commences at one side by thrusting 
 down her antennae and nippers between the glass and stones; she seizes a 
 pebble in each claw and pulls it up and in this way starts her excavation; 
 but when she gets ready to carry off her load, she comes to the task with 
 her tail tucked under her body, as a lady tucks up her skirts when she has 
 something to do that requires freedom of movement. Then with her 
 great nippers and the two pairs of walking feet, also armed with nippers, 
 she loads up as much as she can carry between her great claws and her 
 breast. She keeps her load from overflowing by holding it down with her 
 first pair of jaw-feet, just as I have seen a schoolboy use his chin, when 
 carrying a too large load of books ; and she keeps the load from falling out 
 by supporting it from beneath with her first pair of walking legs. Thus, 
 she starts ofT with her "apron" full, walking on three pairs of feet, until 
 she gets to the dumping place; then she suddenly lets go and at the same 
 time her tail straightens out with a gesture which says plainly, "There!" 
 Sometimes when she gets a very large load, she uses her second pair of 
 walking legs to hold up the burden, and crawls of? successfully, if not with 
 ease, on two pairs of legs, — a most unnatural quadruped. 
 
 I had two crayfishes in a cage in an aquarium, and each made a nest in 
 the gravel at opposite ends of the cage, heaping up the debris into a parti- 
 tion between them. I gave one an earthworm, which she promi)tly 
 seized with her nippers; she then took up a good sized pebble in the nip- 
 pers of her front pair of walking legs, glided over to the other nest, spite ■ 
 fully threw down both worm and pebble on top of her fellow prisoner, and 
 then sped homeward. Her victim responded to the act by rising up and 
 expressing perfectly, in his attitude and the gestures of his great claws, 
 the most eloquent of crayfish profanity. In watching crayfishes carry 
 pebbles, I have been astonished to see how constantly the larger pair of 
 jaw-feet are used to help pick up and carry the loads. 
 
 rii 
 
47© Handbook of N ature-Study 
 
 LESSON CVIII 
 The Crayfish 
 
 Leading iJiought — The crayfish, or crawfish, as it is sometimes called, 
 has one pair of legs developed into great pincers for seizing and tearing its 
 food and for defending itself from enemies. It can live in mud or water. 
 It belongs to the same animal group as do the insects, and it is a near 
 cousin of the lobster. 
 
 Method — Place a crayfish in an aquarium (a battery jar or a two-quart 
 Mason jar) in the schoolroom, keeping it in clear water until the pupils 
 have studied its form. It will rise to explore the sides of the aquarium at 
 first, and thus show its mouth parts, legs and swimmerets. Afterwards, 
 place gravel and stone in the bottom of the aquarium, so that it can hide 
 itself in a little cavity which it will make by carrying pebbles from one 
 side. Wash the gravel well before it is put in, so that the water will be 
 unclouded and the children can watch the process of excavation. 
 
 Observations — i. What is there peculiar about the crayfish wiiich 
 makes it difficult to pick it up? Examine one of these great front legs 
 carefully and see how wonderfully it is made. How many parts are there 
 to it? Note how each succeeding part is larger from the body to the claws. 
 Note the tips which form the nippers or chelae, as they are called. How 
 are they armed? How are the gripping edges formed to take hold of an 
 object? How wide can the nippers be opened, and how is this done? 
 Note the two segments behind the great claw and describe how they help 
 the work of the nippers. 
 
 2. Study the pair of legs behind the great claws or chelee, and com- 
 pare the two pairs, segment by segment. How do they difi'er except as to 
 size? How do the nippers at the end compare with the big ones? Look 
 at the next pair of legs behind these; are they similar? How do the two 
 pairs of hind legs difl^er in shape from the two pairs in front of them ? 
 
 3 . Look betw^een the great front claws and see if you can find another 
 pair of small legs. Can you see anything more behind or above these little 
 legs? 
 
 4. AVhen the crayfish lifts itself up against the side of the jar, study 
 its mouth. Can you see a pair of notched jaws that work sidewise? 
 Can you see two or three pairs of threadlike organs that wave back and 
 forth in and out the mouth? 
 
 5. How many legs, in all, has the crayfish? What are the short legs 
 near the mouth used for? What are the great nippers used for? How 
 many legs does the crayfish use when walking? In what order are they 
 moved? Is the hind pair used for pushing? What use does it make of 
 the pincers on the first and second pairs of walking legs? 
 
 6. Look at the crayfish from above ; the head and the covering of the 
 thorax are soldered together into one piece. AVhen this occurs, the whole 
 is called a cephalothorax ; and the cover is called by the same name as the 
 upper shell of the turtle, the carapace. Can you see where the head is 
 joined to the thorax? 
 
 7. Look carefully at the eyes. Describe how they are set. Can they 
 be pushed out or pulled in? Can they be moved in all directions? Of 
 what advantage is this to the crayfish? 
 
 8 . How many antennae has the crayfish ? Describe the long ones and 
 tell how they are used. Do the two short ones on each side come from the 
 same basal segment? These little ones are called the antennules. 
 
OtJier hivcrtcbrate-Animal Study 471 
 
 Describe the antennules of each side and tell how they differ. Can you 
 see the little fingerlike organs which clasp above the antennae and below 
 the antennules on each side of the head ? Can these be moved ? 
 
 9. Look at the crayfish from above. How many segments are there 
 in the abdomen? Note how graceful the shape of each segment. Note 
 that each has a fan-shaped piece down the side. Describe how theedges 
 of the segments along the sides are margined. 
 
 10. Of how many pieces is the tail made? Make a sketch of it. 
 How are the pieces bordered? Can the pieces shut and spread out side- 
 wise? Is the tail hinged so it can be lifted up against the back or curled 
 under the body? 
 
 1 1 . Look underneath the abdomen and describe the little fringed 
 organs called the swimmerets. How many are there? 
 
 12. How does the crayfish swim? \Vith what does it make the 
 stroke ? Describe carefully this action of the tail. "When it is swimming, 
 does it use its swimmerets? Why do not the many legs and big nippers 
 obstruct the progress of the crayfish, when it is swimming? 
 
 13. When does the crayfish use its swimmerets? Do they work so as 
 to push the body backward or forward? Do you know to what use the 
 mother crayfish puts her swimmerets? 
 
 14. Do you know how crayfishes breathe? Do you know what they 
 eat and where they find it? 
 
 15. Where do you find crayfishes? Where do they like to hide? Do 
 they go headfirst into their hiding place, or do they back in? Do they 
 stand ready to defend their retreat? When you look down into the 
 brook, are the crayfishes usually seen until they move? Why is this? 
 Where do the crayfishes pass the winter? Did you ever see the crayfish 
 burrows or mud chimnies ? 
 
 16. If the crayfish loses one of its legs or antennae, does it grow out 
 again? How does the crayfish grow? 
 
 17. Put a crayfish in an aquarium which has three inches of coarse 
 gravel on the bottom, and watch it make its den. How does it loosen up 
 a stone? With how many legs does it carry its burden of pebbles when 
 digging its cave? How does it use its jaw-feet, its nippers, and its first 
 and second pairs of walking legs in this work? 
 
 '.4 rock-lined, wood-embosomed nook, 
 Dim cloister of the chanting brook/ 
 A chamber within the channelled hills. 
 Where the cold crystal brims and spills. 
 By dark-browed caverns blackly flows, 
 Falls from the cleft like crumbling snows, 
 And purls and splashes, breathing round 
 A soft, suffusing mist of sound.'' 
 
 — J. T. Trowbridge. 
 
472 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 DADDY-LONGLEGS, OR GRANDFATHER GREYBEARD 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 WONDER if there ever was a country child who has 
 not grasped firmly the leg of one of these little 
 sprawling creatures and demanded: "Grandfather 
 Greybeard, tell me where the cows are or I'll kill 
 you," and Grandfather Greybeard, striving to get 
 away, puts out one of his long legs this way, and 
 another that way, and points in so many directions 
 that he usually saves his life, since the cows must be 
 somewhere. It would be more interesting to the 
 children and less embarrassing to the "daddy" if they were taught to look 
 more closely at those slender, hairlike legs. 
 
 "Daddy's" long legs are seven jointed. The first segment is seemingly 
 soldered fast to the lower side of his body, and is called the coxa. The 
 next segment is a mere knob, usually black and ornamental, and is called 
 the trochanter. Then comes the femur, a rather long segment directed 
 upward; next is a short swollen segment — the "knee joint" or patella; 
 next the tibia, which is also rather long. Then comes the metatarsus and 
 tarsus, which seemingly make one long downward-directed segment, out- 
 curving at the tips, on which the "daddy" tip-toes along. 
 
 I have seen a "daddy" walk into a drop of water and his foot was never 
 wetted, so light was his touch on the water surface film. The second pair 
 of legs is the longest; the fourth pair next, and the first pair usually the 
 shortest. The legs of the second pair are ordinarily used in exploring the 
 surroundings. Notice that, when the "daddy" is running, these two legs 
 are spread wide apart and keep in rapid motion ; their tips, far more sensi- 
 tive than any nerves of our own, tell him the nature of his surroundings, 
 by a touch so light that v/e cannot feel it on the hand. We have more 
 respect for one of these hairlike legs, when we know it is capable of trans- 
 mitting intelligence from its tip. 
 
 The "daddy" is a good traveler and moves with remarkable rapidity. 
 And why not? If our legs were as long in comparison as his, they would 
 be about forty feet in length. When 
 the "daddy" is running, the body is 
 always held a little distance above the 
 ground; but when the second pair 
 of legs suggests to him that there 
 may be something good to eat in the 
 neighborhood, he commences a pecul- 
 iar teetering motion of the body, 
 apparently touching it to the ground 
 at every step; as the body is carried 
 tilted with the head down, this move- 
 ment enables the creature to explore 
 the surface below him with his palpi, which he ordinarily carries bent be- 
 neath his face, with the ends curled up under his "chin." The palpi have 
 four segments that are easily seen, and although they are ordinarily 
 carried bent up beneath the head, they can be extended out quite a dis- 
 tance if "daddy" wishes to test a substance. The end segment of the 
 palpus is tipped with a single claw. 
 
 lateHn 
 
 of "daddy's" long legs with 
 segments named. 
 
OtJier I tivertebratc- Animal Study 
 
 473 
 
 Beneath the palpi is a pair of jaws; these, in some species, extend 
 beyond the palpi. I have seen a daddy-longlegs hold food to his jaws 
 with his palpi and he seemed also to use them for stuffing it into his 
 mouth. 
 
 The body of the daddy-longlegs is a little oblong object, looking more 
 like a big grain of wheat than anything else, because in these creatures the 
 head, thorax and abdomen are all grown together compactly. On top of 
 the body, between the feeler-legs, is a little black dot, and to the naked 
 eye it would seem that if this were an organ of sight the creature must be a 
 Cyclops with only one eye. But under the lens this is seen to be a raised 
 knob and there is on each side of it, a little shining black eye. We hardly 
 see the use of two eyes set so closely together, but probably the "daddy" 
 does. 
 
 Grandfather-greybeard . 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
 The most entertaining thing which a "daddy" in captivity is likely to 
 do, is to clean his legs; he is very particular about his legs, and he will 
 grasp one close to the basal joint in his jaws and slowly pull it through, 
 meanwhile holding the leg up to the jaws with the palpi, while he indus- 
 triously nibbles it clean for the whole length to the very toe. Owing to 
 the likelihood of his losing one of his legs, he has the power of growing a 
 new one; so we often see a "daddy" with one or more legs only half 
 grown. 
 
 There are many species of daddy-longlegs in the United States, and 
 some of them do not have the characteristic long legs. In the North, all 
 except one species die at the approach of winter; but not until after the 
 female, which, by the way, ought to be called "granny-longlegs," has laid 
 her eggs in the ground, or under some protecting stone, or in some safe 
 cre\ice of wood or bark. In the spring the eggs hatch into tiny little 
 creatures which look just like the old daddy-longlegs, except for their size. 
 They get their growth like insects, by shedding their skins as fast as they 
 outgrow them. It is interesting to study one of these cast skins with a 
 lens. There it stands with a slit down its back, and with the skin of each 
 leg absolutely perfect to the tiny claw! Again we marvel at these legs 
 that seem so threadlike, and which have an outer covering that can be 
 shed. Some say that the daddy-longlegs live on small insects which they 
 straddle over and pounce down upon, and some say they feed upon decay- 
 ing matter and vegetable juices. This would be an interesting line of 
 investigation for pupils, since they might be able to give many new facts 
 about the food of these creatures. The "daddies" are night prowlers, 
 and like to hide in crevices by day, waiting for the dark to hunt for their 
 food. They have several common names. Besides the two given they 
 
4J4 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 are called "harvestmen" and the French call them "haymakers." Both 
 of these names were very probably given, because the creatures appear in 
 greater numbers at the time of haying and harvesting. 
 
 LESSON CIX 
 The Daddy-Longlegs 
 
 Leading thought — These long-legged creatures have one pair of legs 
 too many to allow them to be classed with the insects. They are more 
 nearly related to the spiders, who also have eight legs. They are pretty 
 creatures when examined closely, and they do many interesting things. 
 
 Method — Put a grandfather greybeard in a breeding cage or under a 
 large tumbler, and let the pupils observe him at leisure. If you place a few 
 drops of sweetened water at one side of the cage, the children will surely 
 have an opportunity to see this amusing creature clean his legs. 
 
 Observations — i. Where did you find the harvestman? What did 
 it do as soon as it was disturbed ? How many names do you know for this 
 little creature? 
 
 2. A "daddy" with such long legs certainly ought to have them 
 studied. How many segments in each leg? How do the segments look? 
 How do the legs look where they are fastened to the body? Which is the 
 longest pair of legs? The next? The next? The shortest? 
 
 3 . If you had such long stilts as he has, they would be about forty feet 
 long. AVould you lift yourself that high in the air? Does the "daddy" 
 lift his body high or swing it near the ground? What shape is the body? 
 Can you see if there is a distinct head? Can you see a black dot on top of 
 the front end of the body? If you should see this dot through a micro- 
 scope it would prove to be two bright black eyes. Why should the 
 daddy's eyes be on top? 
 
 4. Do you see a pair of organs that look like feelers at the front end of 
 the body? These are called palpi. How does he use his palpi? Give 
 him a little bruised or decaying fruit, and see him eat. Where do you 
 think his mouth is? Where does he keep his palpi when he is not using 
 them for eating? 
 
 5. Note what care he takes of his legs. How does he clean them? 
 Which does he clean the oftenest? Do you think the very long second 
 pair of legs is used as much for feeling as for walking? Put some object 
 in front of the "daddy" and see him explore it with his legs. How much 
 of the leg is used as a foot when the "daddy" stands or runs? 
 
 6. When running fast, how does the "daddy" carry his body? When 
 exploring how does he carry it? Do you ever find the "daddy" with his 
 body resting on the surface on which he is standing? When resting, are 
 all eight of his legs on the ground? Which are in the air? Is the head 
 end usually tilted up or down? 
 
 7. Do you see the daddy-longlegs early in the spring? When do you 
 find him most often? How do you suppose he passes the winter in our 
 climate? Have you ever seen a "daddy" with one leg much shorter than 
 the other? How could you explain this? 
 
 8. Try and discover what the daddy-longlegs eats, and where he finds 
 his food ? 
 
Other Invertebrate- Animal Study 
 
 475 
 
 HE 
 
 SPIDERS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 spiders are the civil engineers amonj:,' the small 
 inliabitants of our fields and woods. They build 
 strong suspension bridges, from which they hang 
 nets made with exquisite precision; and they 
 build aeroplanes and balloons, which are more 
 efficient than any that we have yet constructed; 
 for although they are not exactly dirigible, yet 
 they carry the little balloonists where they wish 
 to go, and there are few fatal accidents. More- 
 over, the spiders are of much economic impor- 
 tance, since they destroy countless millions of 
 insects every year, most of which are noxious — 
 like flies, mosquitoes, bugs and grasshoppers. 
 
 There is an impression abroad that all spiders are dangerous to handle. 
 This is a mistake; the bite of any of our common spiders is not nearly 
 so dangerous as the bite of a malaria-laden mosquito. Although there is 
 a little venom injected into the wound by the bite of any spider, yet there 
 is no species found in the Northern States whose bite is sufficiently 
 venomous to be feared. 
 
 There is no need for studying the anatomy of the spider closely in 
 nature-study. Our interest lies much more in the wonderful structures 
 made by the spiders, than in a detailed study of the little creatures them- 
 selves. 
 
 Cobwebs 
 
 "Here shy Arachne winds her endkss thread. 
 And weaves her silken tapestry iinseen, 
 Veiling the rough-hewn timbers overhead. 
 And looping gossamer festoons htwcen." 
 
 — Eliz.^beth Akers. 
 
 Our house spiders are indefatigable curtain-weavers. We never sus- 
 pect their presence, until suddenly their curtains appear before our eyes, 
 in the angles of the ceilings — invisible until laden with dust. The cob- 
 webs are made of crisscrossed lines, which are so placed as to entangle any 
 fly that comes near. TheHnes are stayed to the sides of the wall and to 
 each other quite firmly, and thus they are able to hold a fly that touches 
 them. The spider is likely to be in its little den at the side of the web; 
 this den may be in a crevice in the corner or in a tunnel made of the silk. 
 As soon as a fly becomes entangled in the web the spider runs to it, seizes 
 it in its jaws, sucks its blood, and then throws away the shell, the wings 
 and legs. If a spider is frightened, it at first tries to hide and then may 
 drop by a thread to the floor. If we catch the little acrobat it will usually 
 "play possum" and we may examine it more closely through a lens. ^^ e 
 shall find it is quite different in form from an insect. First to be noted, it 
 has eight legs ; but most important of all, it has only two parts to the body. 
 The head and thorax are consolidated into one piece, which is called the 
 cephalothorax. The abdomen has no segments like that of the msects, 
 and is joined to the cephalothorax by a short, narrow stalk. At the front 
 
^^6 Hmtdbook of Nature-Study 
 
 cf the head is the mouth, guarded by two mandibles, each ending in a 
 sharp claw, at the tip of which the poison gland opens. It is by thrusting 
 these mandibles into its prey that it kills its victims. On each side of the 
 mandible is a palpus, which in the males is of very strange shape. The 
 eyes are situated on the top of the head. There are usually four pairs of 
 these eyes, and each looks as beady and alert as if it were the only one. 
 
 The spinning organs of the spider are situated near the tip of the 
 abdomen, while the spinning organ of the caterpillar is situated near its 
 lower lip. The spider's silk comes from two or three pairs of spinnerets 
 which are fingerlike in form, and upon the end of each are many small 
 tubes from which the silk is spun. The silk is in a fluid state as it issues 
 from the spinnerets, but it hardens immediately on contact with the air. 
 In making their webs, spiders produce two kinds of silk, one is dry and 
 inelastic, making the framework of the web; the other is sticky and elas- 
 tic, clinging to anything that it touches. The body and the legs of 
 spiders are usually hairy. 
 
 LESSON CX 
 
 Cobwebs 
 
 Leading tJiought — The cobwebs which are found in the corners of ceil- 
 ings and in other dark places in our houses, are made by the house spider 
 which spins its web in these situations for the purpose of catching insects. 
 
 Method — The pupils should have under observation a cobweb in a 
 corner of a room, preferably with a spider in it. 
 
 Observations — i. Is the web in a sheet or is it a mass of crisscrossed, 
 tangled threads? How are the threads held in place? 
 
 2. What is the purpose of this web? Where does the spider hide? 
 Describe its den. 
 
 3. If a fly becomes tangled in a web, describe the action of the spider. 
 Does the spider eat all of the fly ? What does it do with the remains ? 
 
 4. If the spider is frightened, what does it do? Where does the 
 silken thread come from, and how does its source differ from the source of 
 the silken thread spun by caterpillars? 
 
 5. Imprison a spider under a tumbler or in a vial, and look at it very 
 carefully. How many legs has it? How does the spider difl'er from 
 insects in this respect ? How many sections are there to the body ? How 
 does the spider dift'er from insects in this respect? 
 
 6. Look closely at the head. Can you see the hooked jaws, or fangs? 
 Can you see the palpi on each side of the jaws? Where are the spider's 
 eyes? How many pairs has it? 
 
 When the tangled cobweb pulls 
 
 The cornftower' s cap aivry. 
 And the lilies tall lean over the wall 
 To bow to the butterfly . 
 It is July. 
 
 — Susan Hartley Swett 
 
Other Invertebrate-Animal Study 
 
 477 
 
 *^^ f/ 
 
 y 
 
 
 Lfi^fefi^fS^'l 
 
 .4 funnel web. 
 
 i'holo u\' i. li. Cuiiisiuc 
 
 THE FUNNEL WEB 
 
 TeacJier's Story 
 
 "And dciv-hriglit webs festoon the grass 
 In roadside fields at morning." 
 
 — Elizabeth Akers. 
 
 Sometimes on a dewy morning, a field will seem carpeted with these 
 webs, each with its opening stretched wide, and each with its narrow 
 hallway of retreat. The general shape of the web is like that of a broad 
 funnel with a tube leading down at one side. This tube is used as a 
 hiding place for the spider, which thus escapes the eyes of its enemies, and 
 also keeps out of sight of any insects that might be frightened at seeing it, 
 and so avoid the web. But the tube is no cul-de-sac; quite to the con- 
 trary, it has a rear exit, through which the spider, if frightened, escapes 
 from attack. 
 
 The web is formed of many lines of silk crossing each other irregularly, 
 forming a firm sheet. This sheet is held in place by many guy-lines, 
 which fasten it to surrounding objects. If the web is touched lightly, the 
 spider rushes forth from its lair to seize its prey; but if the web be jarred 
 roughly, the spider speeds out through its back door and can be found 
 only with difficulty. The smaller insects of the field, such as flies and 
 bugs, are the chief food of this spider; it rarely attempts to seize a grown 
 grasshopper. 
 
478 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 The funnel-shaped webs in dark corners of cellars are made by a 
 species which is closely related to the grass spider and has the same general 
 habits, but which builds in these locations instead of in the grass. 
 
 LESSON CXI 
 The Funnel Web 
 
 Leading thought — The grass spider spins funnel-shaped webs in the 
 grass to entrap the insects of the held. This web has a back door. 
 
 MetJuxi — Ask the pupils to observe a web on the grass with a spider 
 within it. 
 
 Observations — i. What is the general shape of the web? Is there a 
 tunnel leading down from it? Wliy is it called a funnel web? 
 
 2 Of what use is the funnel tube, and what is its shape ? Where does 
 it lead, and of what use is it to the spider? Can you corner a spider in its 
 funnel tube ? Why not ? 
 
 3. How is the web made? Is there any regularity in the position of 
 the threads that make it? How is it stayed in place? 
 
 4. Touch the web lightly, and note how the spider acts? Jar the 
 web roughly, and what does the spider do? 
 
 5. What insects become entangled in this web? 
 
 6. Compare this web with similar funnel webs found in corners of 
 cellars, sheds or piazzas, and see if you think the same kind of spider made 
 both. 
 
 THE ORB-WEB 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 Fall the structures made by the lower creatures, the orb- 
 web of the spider is, beyond question, the most intricate 
 and beautiful in design, and the most exquisite in work- 
 manship. The watching of the construction of one of 
 these webs is an experience that brings us close to those 
 mysteries which seem to be as fundamental as they are 
 inex]jHcable in the plan of the universe. It is akin to 
 watching the growth of a crystal, or the stars wheeling 
 across the heavens in their appointed courses. 
 The orb-web of the large, black and yellow garden spider is, perhaps, 
 the best subject for this study, although many of the smaller orbs are far 
 more delicate in structure. These orb-webs are most often placed ver- 
 tically, since they are thus more likely to be in the path of flying insects. 
 The number of radii, or spokes, differs with the different species of 
 spiders, and they are usually fastened to a silken framework, which in 
 turn is fastened by guy-lines to surrounding objects. These radii or 
 spokes are connected by a continuous spiral line, spaced regularly except 
 at the center or hub ; this hub or center is of more solid silk, and is usually 
 surrounded by an open space; and it may be merely an irregular net- 
 work, or it may have wide bands of silk laid'across it. 
 
 The radii or spokes, the guy-lines, the framework and the center of 
 the web are all made of inelastic silk, which does not adhere to an object 
 that touches it. The spiral line, on the contrary, is very elastic, and ad- 
 
Other Invertebrate- Animal Study 
 
 479 
 
 heres to any object brought in contact with it. An insect which touches 
 one of these spirals and tries to escape, becomes entangled in the neighbor- 
 ing lines and is thus held fast until the spider can reach it. If one of these 
 elastic lines be examined with a microscope, it is a most beautiful object. 
 There are strung upon it, like pearls, little drops of sticky fluid, which 
 render it not only elastic but adhesive. 
 
 Some species of orb-weavers remain at the center of the web, while 
 others hide in some little retreat near at hand. If in the middle, the 
 
 spider always keeps watchful claws upon 
 the radii of the web so that if there is any 
 jarring of the structure by an entrapped 
 insect, it is at once apprised of the fact; if 
 the spider is in a den at one side, it keeps 
 a claw^ upon a trap line which is stretched 
 tightly from the hub of the web to the den, 
 and thus communicates any vibration of 
 the web to the hidden sentinel. When 
 the insect becomes entangled, the spider 
 rushes out and envelops it in a band of silk, 
 which feat it accomplishes, by turning the 
 insect over and over rapidly, meanwhile 
 spinning a broad, silken band which 
 swathes it. It may bite the insect before it 
 begins to swathe it in silk, or afterwards. 
 It usually hangs the swathed insect to the 
 web near wdiere it was caught, until ready 
 to eat it: it then takes the prey to the 
 center of the web, if there is where the 
 spider usually sits, or to its den at one side, 
 if it is a den-making species, and there 
 sucks the insect's blood, carefully throwing 
 away the hard parts. 
 
 The spider does not become entangled 
 in the web, because, when it runs it steps 
 upon the dry radii and not upon the sticky 
 spiral lines.' During the busy season, the 
 spider is likely to make a new web every 
 twentv-four hours, but this depends largely 
 upon whether the web has meanwhile been 
 destroyed by large insects. 
 
 The spider's method of making its first 
 
 bridge is to place itself upon some high 
 
 and, lifting its ab.lomen in the 
 
 .4 dcun' morning. 
 
 Insect Life. Comstock. 
 
 pomt 
 
 air, to spm out on the breeze a thread 
 of silk. When this touches any object, it adheres, and the spider 
 draws in the slack until the line is "taut;" it then travels across 
 this bridge, which IS to support its web, and makes it stronger by doubling 
 the line. From this line, it stretches other lines by fastening a bread to 
 one point, and then walking along to some other point spinning the thread 
 as it goes and holding the line clear of the object on which it is walking by 
 means of one of its hind legs. When the right pomt is reached it pulls 
 the Ime tight, fastens it, and then, in a similar fashion, proceeds to make 
 
480 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 another. It may make its first radius by dropping from its bridge to 
 some point below; then dimbing back to the center, it fastens the Hne for 
 another radius, and spinning as it goes, walks down and out to some other 
 point, holding the thread clear and then pulling it tight before fastening it. 
 Having thus selected the center of the web, it goes back and forth to and 
 from it, spinning lines until all of the radii are completed and fastened at 
 one center. It then starts at the center and spins a spiral, laying it onto 
 the radii to hold them firm. However, the lines of this spiral are farther 
 apart and much more irregular than the final spiral. Thus far, all of the 
 threads the spider has spun are inelastic and not sticky; and this first, or 
 temporary spiral is used by the spider to walk upon when spinning the 
 final spiral. It begins the latter at the outer edge instead of at the center, 
 and works toward the middle. As the second spiral progresses, the spider 
 with its jaws cuts away the spiral which it first made, and which it has used 
 as a scaffolding. A careful observer may often see remnants of this first 
 spiral on the radii between the lines of the permanent spiral. The spider 
 works very rapidly and will complete a web in a very short time. The 
 final spiral is made of the elastic and adhesive silk. 
 
 References — Comstock's Manual; Common Spiders, Emerton; The 
 Spider Book, Comstock; Nature's Craftsmen, McCook. 
 
 LESSON CXII 
 The Orb-web 
 Leading thought — No structure made by a creature lower than man is 
 so exquisitely perfect as the orb-web of the spider. 
 
 Method — There should be an orb-web where the pupils can observe it, 
 preferably with the spider in attendance. 
 
 Observations — i. Is the orb-web usually hung horizontally or ver- 
 tically ? 
 
 2. Observe the radii, or "spokes," of the web. How many are there? 
 How are they fastened to surrounding objects? Is each spoke fastened 
 to some object or to a framework of silken lines? 
 
 3. Observe the silken thread laid around the spokes. Is it a spiral 
 line or is each circle complete? Are the lines the same distance apart on 
 the outer part of the web as at the center? How many of the circling 
 lines are there ? 
 
 4. Is the center of the web merely an irregular net, or are there bands 
 of silk put on in zigzag shape? 
 
 5. Touch any of the "spokes" lightly with the point of a pencil. 
 Does it adhere to the pencil and stretch out as you pull the pencil away? 
 Touch one of the circling lines with a pencil point, and see if it adheres to 
 the point and is elastic. What is the reason for this difference in the 
 stickiness and elasticity of the different kinds of silk in the orb-web? 
 
 6. If an insect touches the web, how does it become more entangled 
 by seeking to get away? 
 
 7. Where does the spider stay, at the center of the web or in a Httle 
 retreat at one side ? 
 
 8. If an insect becomes entangled in the web, how does the spider 
 discover the fact and act ? 
 
 9. If the spider sits at the middle of the orb, it has a different method 
 for discovering when an insect strikes the web than does the spider that 
 hides in a den at one side. Describe the methods of each. 
 
Other Invertebrate-Anbval Study 
 
 481 
 
 10. How does the spider make fast an insect ? Does it bite the insect 
 before it envelops it in silk? Where does it carry the insect to feed upon 
 
 it:^ 
 
 1 1 . How does the spider manage to run about its web without becom- 
 ing entangled in the sticky thread ? How often does the orb- weaver make 
 a new web ? 
 
 Haw an Orb-web is Made 
 
 Spiders may be seen mak- 
 ing their webs in the early 
 morning or in the evening. 
 Find an orb-web with a spider 
 in attendance ; break the web 
 without frightening the spider 
 and see it replace it in the 
 early evening, or in the morn- 
 ing about daybreak. An orb- 
 weaver may be brought into 
 the house on its web, when the 
 web is on a branch, and placed 
 where it will not be disturbed, 
 and thus be watched at 
 leisure. 
 
 Observations — i. How 
 does the spider manage to 
 place the supporting line be- 
 tween two points? 
 
 2. How does it make the 
 framework for holding the 
 web in place? 
 
 3. How does it make the first radius? 
 
 4. How does it make the other radii and select the point which is 
 to be the center of the web? 
 
 5. How does it keep the line which it is spinning 
 clear of the line it walks upon? 
 
 6. After the radii are all made, are they fastened at 
 the center? 
 
 7. How and where does the spider first begin to 
 spin a spiral ? Are the lines of this spiral close together 
 or far apart? For what is the first spiral used? 
 
 8. Where does it begin to spin the permanent 
 spiral? Where does it walk when spinning it? By Thczif^Ziitistroifith- 
 the way it walks on the first spiral, do you think it is etiini^'hand at center 
 sticky and elastic? What does it do with the first of an orb-web. 
 spiral while the second one is being finished? 
 
 9. If the center of the web has a zigzag ribbon of silk, when was it put 
 on? 
 
 ID. How many minutes did it take the spider to comj)lete the web? 
 Supplementary reading — "Argiope of The Silver Shield," Insect Stories, 
 Kellogg. 
 
 A partially completed orb-web. 
 
 a, the temporary spiral stay line; b, the sticky 
 spiral line; c, the fragments of the tem- 
 porary spiral hanging to a radius. 
 Comstock's Manual. 
 
482 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 A filmy-dome web with its maker. 
 Photo by J. H. Comstock. 
 
Otlier Invertebrate- Animal Study 
 
 483 
 
 THE FILMY DOME 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 IKE bubbles cut in half, these delicate domes 
 catch the light rays and separate them like a 
 prism into waves of rainbow colors. One of 
 these domes is usually about the size of an 
 ordinary bowl, and is suspended with the open- 
 ing on the lower side. It is held in place by 
 many guy-lines which attach it to surrounding 
 objects. Above a filmy dome are always 
 stretched many crisscrossed threads for some 
 distance up. These are for the purpose of 
 hindering the flight of insects, so that they 
 the web. The little spider, 
 just below the center of the 
 
 will fall into 
 back downward, 
 
 which always hangs, 
 
 dome, rushes to its prey from the lower side, pulls it through the 
 meshes of the web, and feeds upon it. But any remains of the insect or 
 pieces of sticks or leaves w^hich may drop upon the web, it carefully cuts 
 out and drops to the ground, mending the hole very neatly. 
 
 LESSON CXIII 
 
 The Filmy Dome 
 
 Leading thongJii — One little spider spins a filmy dome, beneath the 
 apex of which it hangs, back downward, awaiting its prey. 
 
 Method — On a sunny day in late summer or early autumn, while walk- 
 ing along woodland paths, the careful observer is sure to see suspended 
 among the bushes or in the tops of weeds, or among dead branches of 
 young hemlocks, the filmy dome webs. They are about as large as a small 
 bowl, and usually so delicate that they cannot be seen unless the sun 
 shines upon them ; they are likely to be exquisitely iridescent under the 
 sun's rays. Such a dome may be studied by a class or by the pupils 
 individually. 
 
 Observations — i. Where did you discover the filmy dome? "What is 
 the size of the dome? Does it open above or below? How is it held in 
 place? 
 
 2. Are there many crisscrossed threads extending above the dome? 
 If so, what do you think they are for? 
 
 3. Where does the spider stay? Is the spider large and heavy, or 
 small and delicate? 
 
 4. What does the spider do if an insect becomes entangled in its web? 
 
 5. Throw a bit of stick or leaf upon a filmy dome web, and note what 
 becomes of it. 
 
 "With spiders T had friendship made. 
 And watch' d them in their sullen trade." 
 
 — Prisoner of Chillon. 
 
484 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 BALLOONING SPIDERS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 F we look across the grass some warm sunny morn- 
 ing or evening of early fall, we see threads of 
 spider silk clinging everywhere; these are not 
 regular webs for trapping insects, but are single 
 threads spun from grass stalk to grass stalk until 
 the fields are carpeted with ghstening silk. We 
 have a photograph of a plowed field, taken in 
 autumn, which looks likes the waves of a lake; 
 so completely is the ground covered with spider 
 threads that it shows the "path of the sun" like 
 water. 
 
 When we see so many of these random threads, it is a sign that the 
 young spiders have started on their travels, and it is not difficult then to 
 find one in the act. The spiderling climbs up some tall object, like a twig 
 or a blade of grass, and sends out its thread of silk upon the air. If the 
 thread becomes entangled, the spiderling sometimes walks off on it, using 
 it as a bridge, or sometimes it begins again. If the thread does not become 
 entangled with any object, there is soon enough given off, so that the 
 friction of the air current upon it supports the weight of the body of the 
 little creature, which promptly lets go its hold of earth as soon as it feels 
 safely buoyed up, and off it floats to lands unknown. Spiders thus sailing 
 through the air have been discovered in mid-ocean. 
 
 Thus we see that the spiders have the same way of distributing their 
 species over the globe, as have the thistles and dandelions. It has been 
 asked what the spiders live upon while they are making these long jour- 
 neys, especially those that have drifted out to sea. The spider has very 
 convenient habits of eating. When it finds plenty of food it eats a great 
 deal; but in time of famine it lives on, apparently comfortably, without 
 eating. One of our captive spiders was mislaid for six months and when 
 we found her she was as full of "grit" as ever, and she did not seem to be 
 abnormally hungry when food was offered her. 
 
 'A noiseless, patient spider, 
 
 I niark'd where, on a little promontory, it stood isolated: 
 Mark'd how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding. 
 It launch' d forth filament, filament, filament out of itself : 
 Ever unreeling them — ever tirelessly speeding them. 
 
 'And you, O my soul, where you stand. 
 Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space. 
 Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them; 
 Till the bridge you will need be form'd — till the ductile anchor hold; 
 Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul." 
 
 — Walt Whitman. 
 
Other Invertebrate- Animal Study 
 
 485 
 
 LESSON CXIV 
 
 Ballooning Spiders 
 
 Leading thought — The young of many species of spiders scatter them- 
 selves Hke thistle seeds in balloons which they make of silk. 
 
 Method — These observations should be made out of doors during some 
 warmsunny day in October. Read Nature's Craftsmen, McCook, p. 182. 
 
 Observations — i. Look across the grass some warm sunny morning or 
 evening of early fall, and note the threads of spider silk gleaming every- 
 where, not regular webs, but single threads spun from grass stalk to grass 
 stalk, or from one object to another, until the ground seems glistening 
 with silk threads. 
 
 2. Find a small spider on a bush, fence post, or at the top of some tall 
 grass stalk; watch it until it begins to spin out its thread. 
 
 3. What happens to the thread as it is spun out? 
 
 4. If the thread does not become entangled in any surrounding object 
 what happens? If the thread does become entangled, what happens? 
 
 5. How far do you suppose a spider can travel on this silken aero- 
 plane? Why should the young spider wish to travel? 
 
 THE WHITE CRAB-SPIDER 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 \^ — TT""^*^ HERE are certain spiders which are crablike in 
 '-^ — ^ ^ form, and their legs are so arranged that they 
 can walk more easily sidewise or backward than 
 forward. These spiders spin no webs, but lie 
 in wait for their prey. Many of them live upon 
 plants and fences and, in winter, hide in pro- 
 tected places. 
 
 The white crab-spider is a little rascal that 
 has discovered the advantage of protective 
 coloring as a means of hiding itself from the 
 view of its victims, until too late to save them- 
 selves; the small assassin always takes on the 
 color of the flower in which it lies concealed. In the white trillium, it is 
 greenish white; while in the golden-rod its decorations are yellow. It 
 waits in the heart of the flower, or in the flower clusters, 
 until the visiting insect alights and seeks to probe for the 
 nectar; it then leaps forward and fastens its fangs into its 
 struggling victim. I have seen a crab-spider in a milkweed 
 attack a bee three times its size. This spider was white 
 with lilac or purple markings. If disturbed, the crab- 
 spider can walk off awkwardly or it may drop by a silken 
 thread. It is especially interesting, since it illustrates 
 another use for protective coloring; and also because this species seems 
 to be able to change its colors to suit its surroundings. 
 
 <^] 
 
 A common 
 crab-spider. 
 
4S6 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Stvuiy 
 LESSON CXV 
 
 The AVhite Crab-spider 
 
 Leading thought— i. The white crab spider has markings upon its 
 body of the same color as the flower in which it rests and is thus enabled 
 to hide in ambush out of the sight of its victims— the insects which come 
 to the flower for nectar. 
 
 Method — Ask the children to bring one of these spiders to school in the 
 flower in which it was found; note how inconspicuous it is, and arouse an 
 interest in the dift'erent colors which these spiders assume in difl'erent 
 flowers. 
 
 Observations — i. What is the shape of the body of the crab-spider? 
 Which of the legs are the longest? Are these legs directed forward or 
 
 backward ? 
 
 2. How is the body marked? What colors do you find upon it? 
 Are the colors the same in the spiders found in the trilliums, as those in 
 other flowers? Why is this? Do you think that the color of the spider 
 keeps it from being seen ? 
 
 3. Place the white spider which you may find in a trillium in a 
 daffodil, and note if the color changes. 
 
 4. Do the crab-spiders make webs? How do they trap their prey? 
 
 Crab-spiders on golden-rod. 
 
 This species is white when lurking in the white trilHum and 
 yellow when among flowers of the golden-rod. 
 
 Photo by Slingerland. 
 
Other Invertehrate- Animal blitdv 
 
 487 
 
 HOW THE SPIDER MOTHERS TAKE CARE OF THEIR EGGS 
 
 Teacher's Story 
 
 ROTECTING her eggs from the vicissitudes of 
 the weather seems to be the spider mother's 
 chief care; though at the same time and by 
 the same means, she protects them from the 
 attacks of predacious insects. iMany of the 
 sj)ccies make silken egg-sacs, which are often 
 ekiborate in construction, and are carefully- 
 placed in protected situations. 
 
 Often a little silvery disk may be seen 
 attached to a stone in a field. It resembles a 
 circular lichen on the stone, but if it is examined 
 it is found to consist of an upper, very smooth, 
 waterproof coat, while below is a soft, downy 
 nest, completely enfolding the spider's eggs. 
 The egg-sacs of the cobweb weavers are 
 often found suspended in their webs. One of the large orbweavers makes 
 a very remarkable nest, which it attaches to the branches of weeds or 
 shrubs. This sac is about as large as a hickory nut, and opens like a vase 
 at the top. It is very securely suspended by many strong threads of silk, 
 so that the blasts of winter cannot tear it loose. The outside is shining 
 and waterproof, while inside it has a fit lining for a spiderling cradle. 
 
 Dr. Burt G. Wilder studied the development of the inmates of one of 
 these nests by cutting open different nests at different periods of the 
 winter. In the autumn, the nest contained five hundred or more eggs. 
 These eggs hatched in early winter but it seemed foreordained that some 
 of the little spiders were born for food for their stronger brethren. They 
 seemed resigned to their fate, for when one of these victims was seized by 
 its cannibalistic brother, it curled up 
 its legs and submitted meekly. The 
 result of this process was that, out of 
 the five hundred little spiders hatched 
 from the eggs, only a few healthy and 
 apparently happy young spiders 
 emerged from the nest in the spring, 
 sustained by the nourishment afforded 
 
 them by their own family, and fitted for their life in the outside world. 
 Some spiders make a nest for their eggs within folded leaves, and some 
 build them in crevices of rocks and boards. 
 
 The running spiders, which are the large ones found under stones, 
 make globular egg-sacs; the mother spider drags after her this egg-sac 
 attached to her spinnerets; the young, when they hatch, climb upon their 
 mother's back, and there remain for a time. 
 
 A ivolf -spider carrying her egg-sac. 
 
 LESSON CXVI 
 
 The Nests of Spiders 
 Leading thought — The spider mothers have many interesting ways of 
 protecting their eggs, which they envelop in silken sacs and place in 
 
 safety. 
 
488 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Method — Ask the pupils to bring in all the spider egg-sacs that they 
 can find. Keep some of them unopened, and open others of the same 
 kind, and thus discover how many eggs are in the sac, and how many 
 spiderlings come out. This is a good lesson for September and October. 
 
 Observations — i. In what situation did you find the nest? How was 
 it protected from rain and snoAV? To what was it attached? 
 
 2. Of what texture is the outside of the sac? Is the outside made of 
 waterproof silk? AVhat is the texture of the lining? 
 
 3 . How many eggs in this sac ? What is the color of the eggs ? When 
 do the spiderlings hatch? Do as many spiders come out of the sac as 
 there were eggs? Why is this? 
 
 The egg-sac of the large, black and yellow garden-spider suspended for 
 
 the winter in a branch of golden-rod. 
 
 Photo by Slingerland. 
 
BOOKS OF REFERENCE 
 
 The following list of nature books is by no means complete. It simply 
 includes books which the author has consulted in her work as a teacher, and to 
 which she naturally referred in the lessons. The list is given with the publishers for 
 
 the convenience of those who may use this volume. 
 
 BIRD STUDY 
 
 American Birds — Wm. L Finlcy — Scribners. 
 
 Birdcraft— Wri^dit— MacMillan! 
 
 Bird Life — Chapman — Applelon . 
 
 Bird Neighl>ors — Blanchan — Douljlcday, Pa-je & Co. 
 
 Birds that Hunt and are Hunted — Blanchan — Doubleday, Page & Co. 
 
 Bird Homes — Dugmore — Doubleday, Page & Co. 
 
 Birds and Bees — John Burroughs — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Birds of New York — Eaton and Fuertes — University of State of New York Press. 
 
 Birds of the United States — Apgar — American Book Co. 
 
 Birds of Song and Story — Grinnell — Mumford, Chicago. 
 
 Birds in their Relation to Alan — Weed & Dearborn — Lippincott. 
 
 Birds of Village and Field — Merriam — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Birds through an Opera Glass — Merriam — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Bob: The Story of a Mockingbird — Lanier — Scribner. 
 
 Citizen Bird — Wright — MacMillan. 
 
 Everyday Birds — Tjrrc}' — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Field Book of Wild Birds and their Music — Mathews — Putnanis. 
 
 First and Second Book of Bi-ds — Miller — Hougliton, Mifflin c^ Co. 
 
 Guide to the Birds — Hoffman, — Houghton, MifTlin & Co. 
 
 Handbook of Birds of Eastern N. America — Chapman — Appletons. 
 
 How to Attract the Birds — Blanchan — Doubleday, Page & Co. 
 
 Leaflets of National Association of Audubon Societies — 141 Broadway, N. Y. 
 
 Mother Nature's Children — Gould — Ginn & Co. 
 
 Nestlings of Forest and Marsh — Whcclock — A. C. McClurg & Co. 
 
 Neighbors with Wings and Fins — Johonnot — American Book Co. 
 
 Notes on New England Birds — H. D. Thoreau — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Our Birds and their Nestlings — Walker — American Book Co. 
 
 Sharp Eyes — John Burroughs — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Story of the Birds — Baskett — Appletons. 
 
 Stories About Birds — Kirby — Educational Publishing Co. 
 
 The Bird: Its Form and Function — Beebe — Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 The Bird Book— Eckstorm— D. C. Heath & Co. 
 
 The vSong of the Cardinal— Porter— Bobbs, Merrill & Co. 
 
 The Woodpeckers — Eckstorm — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 True Bird Stories— Miller — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Useful Birds and Their Protection — Forbush — Mass. Board of Agri. 
 
 FISH STUDY 
 American Food and Game Fishes — Jordan & Everman — Doubleday, Page & Cc. 
 Fish Stories — HoUler & Jordan — Henry Holt & Co. 
 Fisherman's Luck — Van Dyke — Scribners. 
 Guide to the Study of the Fishes — Jordan — Henry Holt &• Co. 
 Neighbors with Wings and Fins — Johonnot — American Book Co. 
 Science Sketches — Jordan — McClurg. 
 
 The Complete Angler — Isaac Walton — Little Brown & Co. 
 The Freshwater Aquarium — Eggeling & P^hrenberg — Henry Holt & Co. 
 The Home Aquarium — Eugene Smith — E. P. Dutton & Co. 
 The Story of the Fishes — Baskett— Appletons. 
 
 BATRACHIAN AND REPTILE STUDY 
 
 American Natural History — Hornaday — Scribner. 
 Elementarv Zoology — Kellogg — Henry Holt & Co. 
 Familiar Life of Field and Forest— Mathews— Appletons. 
 
_I^Sg6 Handbook of Nature-Study j 
 
 The Frog Book — Dickerson — Doubleday, Page & Co. 
 The Reptile Book — Ditmars — Doubleday, Page & Co. 
 Serpents of Pennsylvania — Surface — State College, Penn. 
 
 MAMMAL STUDY 
 
 American Animals — Stone & Cram — Doubleday, Page & Co. 
 
 Animals of the World — Knight & Jenks — Frederick Stokes Co. 
 
 Animal Heroes — Thompson-Seton — Scribners. 
 
 A Country Reader — Buchanan — MacMillan. 
 
 A Watcher in the Woods — Dallas Lore Sharp — Century Co. ^ 
 
 Black Beauty — Sewell — Lothrop. | 
 
 Bob, Son of Battle— Olliphant—McClure, Phillips & Co. I 
 
 Campfires of a Naturalist — Edwards — Appletons. j 
 
 Camp Life in the Woods — ^Gibson — Harpers. ' 
 
 Concerning Cats — Winslow — Lothrop. 
 
 Domestic Animals— Burkett — Ginn & Co. 
 
 Domesticated Animals — Shaler — Scribners. 
 
 Dog of Flanders — Ouida — . 
 
 Familiar Life of Field and Forest — Mathews — Appletons. 
 
 Familiar Wild Animals — Lottridge — Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 Forest Neighbors— Hurlbert—McClure, PhilHps & Co. 
 
 Half Hours with Mammals — Holder — American Book Co. 
 
 In Praise of the Dog— Bicknell— E. P. Dutton & Co. 
 
 Jack of the Bush Veldt — Fitz Patrick — Longmans, Green & Co 
 
 Jungle Books, First and Second — Kipling — Century Co. 
 
 Kindred of the Wild— Roberts— L. C. Page & Co. 
 
 Life of Animals — Ingersoll — MacMillan. 
 
 Lives of the Hunted— Thompson-Seton— -Scribners. 
 
 Little Beasts of Field and Wood — Cram — Small, Maynard & Co. 
 
 Little Brother of the Bear — Long— Ginn & Co. 
 
 Little People of the Sycamore — Roberts — L. C. Page & Co. 
 
 Mack, His Book — Florence Leigh — Frederick Stokes Co. 
 
 Neighbors of Field, Wood and Stream — Grinnell — Frederick Stokes. ,j 
 
 Neighbors with Claws and Hoofs — Johonnot — American Book Co. r 
 
 Nights with Uncle Remus — Harris — McClure, Phillips & Co. ,, 
 
 Rab and his Friends — Dr. John Brown — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Red Fox— Roberts— L. C. Page & Co. 
 
 Roof and Meadow — Dallas Lore Sharp— Century Co. 
 
 Secrets of the Woods — Wm. J. Long — Ginn & Co. 
 
 Squirrels and other Fur-bearers — Burroughs — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Stickeen — John Muir — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 The Animals and Man — Kellogg — Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 The Horse— L P. Roberts— Mac Millans. 
 
 The Fiieside Sphinx — Repplier — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 The Face of the Fields— D. Lore Sharp— Houghton, Miffllin & Co. 
 
 The Case for the Goat — Various Authors — E. P. Dutton. 
 
 The Silver Fox — Seton — Century Co. 
 
 Two Little Savages — Seton — Doubleday, Page & Co. 
 
 True Tales of Birds and Beasts — Jordan — . 
 
 Ways of Wood Folk — Wm. J. Long — Ginn & Co. 
 
 Wild Animals I Have Known — Seton — Scribners. 
 
 Wild Life Near Home — Dallas Lore Sharp — Century Co. 
 
 Wild Life in Orchard and Field — Ingersoll — Harpers. 
 
 Wild Neighbors — Ingersoll — MacMillan. 
 
 Wild Mammals of North America — Merriam — Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 INSECTS AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES 
 
 American Insects — Kellogg — Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 A. B. C. of Bee Culture— A. I. Root— A. I. Root Co., Medina, O. 
 
 Ant Communities — McCook — Harpers. 
 
 Ants. W. M. Wheeler — Columbia University Press. 
 
 Caterpillars and their Moths — Elliot & Soule — Century Co. 
 
 Common Spiders — Emerton — Gmn & Co. 
 
Books of Reference 48qc 
 
 Earthworms — Darwin — Applctons. 
 
 Economic Entomology — Smith — Lippincotts. 
 
 Everyday Butterflies — Scudder — Houghton Miflfiin & Co. 
 
 Grasshopper Land — Morley— A. C. McCkng & Co. 
 
 Home Studies in Nature — Treat — American Bock Co. 
 
 How to Keep Bees — Comstock — Doubleday Page & Co. 
 
 How to Know the Butterflies — Comstock — Applctons. 
 
 Insect Book — Howard — Doubleday Page & C 
 
 Insect Life — Comstock — Applctons. 
 
 Insect Stories — Kellogg — Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 Life Histories of American Insects — Weed — MacMillan. 
 
 Life of the Honey Bee— Ticknor Edwards — Mclluien & Co. 
 
 Manual for the Study of Insects — Comstock — Comstock Pub. Co. 
 
 Mosquito Life — Mitchell— Putnams. 
 
 Moths and Butterflies — Ballard — Putnams. 
 
 Moths and Butterflies — Dickerson — Ginn & Co. 
 
 Nature Biographies — Weed— DouI:)leday Page & Co. 
 
 Nature's Craftsmen — McCook — Harpers. 
 
 Outdoor Studies — Needham — American Book Co. 
 
 The Bee People— Morley— A. C. McClurg & Co. 
 
 The House Fly— Howard— Frederick S. Stokes Co. 
 
 The Natural History of Some Common Animals — Latter — Cambridge Press. 
 
 The Spider Book — Comstock — Doubleday Page & Co. 
 
 Wasps and their Ways— Morley — A. C. McClurg & Co. 
 
 Wasps, Social and Solitary — Peekham — Houghton Miffiin & Co. 
 
 Ways of the Six-footed — Comstock — Ginn & Co. 
 
 NATURE-STUDY— MANUALS AND LITERATURE 
 
 Education through Nature — Munson — E. L. Kellogg & Co. 
 
 Field Work in Nature-Study — Jackman — Flanagan. 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study — Lange — MacMillan. 
 
 How Nature-Study Should be Taught — Bigelow — Hinds & Noble. 
 
 How to Sudy Nature — J. D. Wilson — Bardeen. 
 
 Lessons in Nature-Study — Jenkins & Kellogg — Whittaker &- Ray, San Francisco, 
 t/ Nature-Study Idea — L. H. Bailey — MacMillan. 
 ^ Nature-Study and Life — Hodge — Ginn & Co. 
 
 Nature-Study and the Child— Seott—D. C. Heath & Co. 
 
 Nature-Study in the Common Schools — Jackman — Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 Nature-Study for Grammar Grades — Jackman — MacMillan. 
 
 Nature-Study — Holtz — Scribner's. 
 \^ Nature-Study in the Lower-Grades — Cummings — American Buok Co. 
 ^y Nature-Study in Elementary Schools — L. L. Wilson — Mai-.Millan. 
 ^ Nature-Study Lessons — Various Authors — Hinds Noble & Co. 
 
 Nature-Study — Overton & Hill — American Book Co. 
 y^ Nature Teaching— Watts & Freeman— E. P. Dutton & Co. 
 
 Outlines in Nature-Study — Engel — Silver Burdett & Co. 
 
 Outlook to Nature — L. H. Bailey— MacMillan. 
 
 Practical Nature-Study — Coulter & Patterson — Applctons. 
 
 Study of Nature — Schmucker — Lippincott. 
 
 Writings of H. D. Thoreau— Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 Works of John Burroughs — Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
 The Land of Little Rain — Mary Austin — Houghton Mifflin &• Co. 
 
 The Flock — Mary Austin— Houghton Mifflin <S' Co. 
 
 Songs of Nature edited by John Burroughs — McClurc Phillips Sc Co. 
 
 Golden Numbers edited Ijy Wiggin & Smith — McClurc Phillips & Ct). 
 
 The Posy Ring edited by Wiggin & Smith — Doubleday Page cS: Co. 
 
 Among Flowers and Trees with the Poets edited by Wait &' Letmard— Lee & Shcpard. 
 
 Nature in Verse comp. by Mary I. Lovejoy — Silver Burdelt Co. 
 
 Poetry of the Seasons, comp. by Mary I. Lovejoy — Silver, Burdett Co. 
 
 Nature Pictures by American Poets, Annie R. Marble— MacMillan Co. 
 
 Tiees in Prose and Poetry — Stone & Fickett — Ginn & Co. 
 
 Stars in Song and Legend — Jermain G. Porter — Ginn & Co. 
 
 Sharp Eyes, by Hamilton Gibson — Harpers. 
 
 Pageant of Summer— by Richard JefTeries— Moshcr, Portland, Mc. 
 
 "Ye Gardeyne Boke," J. D. Haines— Paul Elder & Co., San Francisco. 
 
INDEX OF VOLUME I 
 
 Page 
 
 Abdomen (of insect) 312-314 
 
 Acorn plum-gall 360 
 
 Adult Stage or Imago (of insects) .... 311 
 
 Ailanthus tree 33^ 
 
 Akers, Elizabeth 475,477 
 
 Allen, A. A 115, 117, 122, 123 
 
 Aldrich, Thomas Bailey 62 
 
 Allen, James Lane 133 
 
 Altcnburgcr Cheese 278 
 
 Animal Life 25 
 
 Anopheles 402 
 
 Ants 419, 420, 425, 426, 422 
 
 agricultural 480 
 
 Ant-nest 424, 425 
 
 Antennae 312,314 
 
 of male mosquito 402 
 
 Antenna-comb on ant's leg 426 
 
 on wasp 434 
 
 Anthnmyince 354 
 
 Ant-lion 395, 396 
 
 Aphids 392, 393, 394, 421 
 
 Aphid stable 421 
 
 Aphis-lion 397, 398, 399 
 
 Apple, just ready to spray 350 
 
 too late to spray 351 
 
 Aquarium, tadpole 185 
 
 Aquarium, how to make 
 
 for insects 380 
 
 Austin, Mary 281 
 
 Babcock Milk Tester 300 
 
 Bailey, Prof. L. H 38, 1 80, 189, 246 
 
 Bailey, Vernon 255 
 
 Baker, Ida 372 
 
 Ballard, Julia P317, 323, 328, 334, 338, 343 
 
 Barb, (of feather) 27 
 
 Barbels, (of feather) 27, 154 
 
 Barker, Eugene 170 
 
 Baskett, J. N 64, 149, 167 
 
 Batrachian Study 181 
 
 Bat 245 
 
 Bee 18, 20 
 
 Bumble 21,442,444 
 
 Carpenter 439, 440 
 
 Carpenter nest of 441 
 
 drone 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450 
 
 Honey 445,449 
 
 queen 445, 446, 447, 448, 450 
 
 Leaf-cutter 11, 436, 437, 438 
 
 worker 445, 446, 447, 448, 449 
 
 Beetle 61, 64, 310 
 
 Ground 92 
 
 Colorado Potato 409, 410, 411 
 
 Beet leaf-miners 88 
 
 Belgian Hares 216 
 
 Benefits of Nature-Study to Child . . i 
 
 to Teachers 2 
 
 Birch 73 
 
 Page 
 
 Birds 25 
 
 beaks of 37 
 
 ears of 36 
 
 eyes of 36 
 
 feet of 39 
 
 nostrils of 37 
 
 Birds — Flight of 33 
 
 Bird houses 47, 60 
 
 Birds' Nests 147 
 
 Bird, parts named 147 
 
 Bird Study 25 
 
 Blackbirds 130 
 
 red-winged 122, 123 
 
 Blanchan, Neltje 131, 142, 146 
 
 Bluebird 60, 61 
 
 Breathing pores of insect 314 
 
 Buchanan, H. B. M 294, 306 
 
 Buffalo 18,295 
 
 Bull 295 
 
 Bullfrog 193 
 
 Bullhead 154, 155, 156 
 
 Burkett, W. B 280 
 
 Burroughs, John 72, 74, 76, 79 
 
 Butterfly — Black swallow-tail. . .315, 318 
 
 changing to chrysalis 317 
 
 scales on wing of , 321 
 
 Cabbage 317 
 
 Monarch 320, 324 
 
 Viceroy 321,322 
 
 Caddis-fly 387, 388, 389, 390 
 
 Caddis- worms cases of . . 387, 389, 390, 391 
 
 spiral ribbon 390, 39i 
 
 with a grating of silk 389 
 
 Cage, bird 8 
 
 breeding 8 
 
 for crickets 375 
 
 Calves, dehorned 301 
 
 Camel 18 
 
 Canary 49 
 
 Canker-worms 92 
 
 Carapace (of turtle) 208 
 
 of crayfish 466 
 
 Caraway worms 319 
 
 Cardinal bird 3"i > 133 
 
 Carolina locusts 3'^^^7 
 
 Carpenter, Edward 39 1 
 
 Carpenter bee 439, 440, 441 
 
 Catastomus commersoni I59 
 
 Cat-tail 18 
 
 Cat, the 56, 61, 268, 272 
 
 Catbird 98 
 
 Caterpillars 61, 64, 92, 308 
 
 Cabbage 88 
 
 Cecropia 331 
 
 cotton-boll 96 
 
 external anatomy of 314 
 
 Forest tent 308 
 
Index 
 
 489c 
 
 Pase 
 Caterpillars — Milkweed or Monarch 
 
 322,324 
 
 Myron sphinx 343 
 
 Myron sphinx parisilized 345 
 
 pro-legs, prop legs and true legs of 314 
 
 Promethca 337 
 
 shedding skin 308 
 
 skin of 309 
 
 Caterpillars, swallow-tail 316 
 
 V^iceroy in winter home 323 
 
 Woolly l)ear 327 
 
 Cattle 295, 298 
 
 Original American wild 295 
 
 Cayuga Basin 1 70 
 
 Cayuga Lake 158 
 
 Cecropia, caterpillar, molting 331 
 
 weaving cocoon 332 
 
 cocoon, cut open 333 
 
 moth 330, 334 
 
 Cedars 19 
 
 Chapman, Frank 51 
 
 Charles, Prof. Fred S 254, 256, 260 
 
 Charts, use of 10 
 
 Cheese, AUenburger 278 
 
 Roquefort 278 
 
 Schweitzer 278 
 
 Chickadee 63, 66 
 
 Chickaree 233, 234, 236 
 
 Chick, the 41 
 
 Chicken ways 41 
 
 Chinch bug 82 
 
 Chipmunk 240, 241, 242 
 
 Chrysalis 309 
 
 of Monarch 322 
 
 Chub 163 
 
 Civil War 86 
 
 Claws of Cat 269 
 
 (of insects) 313 
 
 Clitcllum, (of earthworm) 463 
 
 Cob-wel^s 475, 476 
 
 Cockroach 378, 379 
 
 laying case of eggs 379 
 
 Cocoon 309 
 
 of Cecropia 333 
 
 of Luna 309 
 
 of Promethca 336 
 
 of woolly bear 327 
 
 Codling Moth .347,349 
 
 larva of 348 
 
 Collections of birds or insects 8 
 
 Colorado Potato Beetle . 409, 410, 411,412 
 
 larva of 410 
 
 Colt • 289 
 
 Comstock, Prof. J. H 45, 3 '9 
 
 Coolbrith, Ina 83 
 
 Coon, a pet 254 
 
 tracks 250 
 
 Corn 85, 131 
 
 Corn-cracker, the red 133 
 
 Correlation of Nature-Study with: 
 
 Arithmetic 19 
 
 Drawing 17 
 
 Page 
 Correlation of Nature-Study with: 
 
 English 19 
 
 Geography 18 
 
 History iH 
 
 Language work 16 
 
 Cotton-tail rabljit 213, 216 
 
 Country Life in America r>i 
 
 Coverts (of fealjiers) 44 
 
 Cow 295, 296, 29H, 300, 301 
 
 care of milch . 300 
 
 Cows as draft animals 298 
 
 Cow's stomach 296 
 
 Coxa (of insect) 314 
 
 Coyote, pet 256 
 
 Cray-fisli 466, ^(>x, 470 
 
 where it lurks 465 
 
 Crickets 311, 373. 375 
 
 Black male and female 372,374 
 
 front leg of 373 
 
 Snowy Tree 377, 378 
 
 wing covers of 374 
 
 Crosl)y, Prof. Cyrus 190 
 
 Croton bug 378 
 
 Crow, the 43, 46, 56, 129, 131 
 
 Crown of bird 44 
 
 Curculio of Plum 347 
 
 Cutworm 56, 82, 85, 92 
 
 Cynthia Moth 337 
 
 Dace 161 
 
 "Daddy Longlegs" 472,474 
 
 Daisy iS 
 
 Damsel-flies 382,383,384 
 
 Dandelion 19 
 
 Davie, Oliver 98 
 
 Dawson, Dr 133 
 
 Definition of Nature-Study i 
 
 Devil's darning needle 382 
 
 Dew 479 
 
 Dickinson, Emily 200, 204 
 
 Dogs 261, 267 
 
 Dragon-flics -51 r, 382, -^.s6 
 
 Drake, J. R 97 
 
 Drawing and Nature-Study 13 
 
 Dryden, John 4S 
 
 Duck, Rouen 31, 37, 39 
 
 Dugmore, A. R i jo, 147 
 
 Ears (of insects) 314, 365, 3<'i9, 373 
 
 Earthworms 20, ^(1, 4(0, 4(14 
 
 Eft or newt 197, 198, 199 
 
 Emerson, R. W .- 442 
 
 Ef)hippus 286 
 
 Equii)mcnt for teaching Nature-Study 8 
 
 Excursions, field 1 5 
 
 Eyelid, film 3<' 
 
 Eyes, insects, compoun<l 312, 314 
 
 simple 3 ' - 
 
 Feathers, as clothing 27 
 
 as ornament 30 
 
 form of 27 
 
4^9/ 
 
 Handbook oj Nature Study 
 
 Page 
 
 Feathers as wing, coverts 44 
 
 wing, primaries 33-44 
 
 wings, secondaries 33. 44 
 
 Feelers — insects 312 
 
 Femur.insect 312,313,314 
 
 Festina Lente 196 
 
 Fielde.MissAdele 420 
 
 Ant-nest 4^4 
 
 Field lessons 15 
 
 Field note-book 13 
 
 Firefly 416,417 
 
 Fish Study 149, 152 
 
 Fish bream 161 
 
 Brook-trout 164 
 
 Bullhead 154,155 
 
 Catosimous commersoni 159 
 
 Chub 163 
 
 Dace 163 
 
 gills of 156 
 
 Horned pout 156 
 
 Johhny darter 177 
 
 Minnows 163 
 
 Shiner 161,162 
 
 Stickleback 168, 170 
 
 Sucker common 158, 160 
 
 Sunfish or Pumpkin seed . . 172, 173,174 
 
 Fiske, Geo 78, 118, 1 19, 250 
 
 Flower, wild 21 
 
 Fly, House 405,406,407 
 
 Forest Service 255 
 
 Forsyth, Mary Isabella 84 
 
 Fox 257, 259, 260, 267 
 
 Frog 193, 195 
 
 tree, or Pickering's Hyla 190, 191 
 
 Fuertes, Louis A. .45, 70, 73,75,80, 81,94 
 Furry 238 
 
 Gage, Prof. S. H 187, 192 
 
 Gage, Mrs. S. H 198 
 
 Gallager, W. S I35 
 
 Gall-dwellers 360, 361, 362, 363, 364 
 
 Galls 360, 364 
 
 Garden, window 8 
 
 Gardening and Nature-Study 20 
 
 Geese I36-142 
 
 Canada or wild 139, 140 
 
 Celechia pinijoliclla 353 
 
 Geography 18, 299 
 
 Gilbert, Grove Karl 142 
 
 Glow-worms 417 
 
 Goat, The 275, 276, 277, 278, 279 
 
 Goldfinch, or Thistle bird 31, 49, 50 
 
 Goldfish W'ith parts named 150 
 
 Grades, bird study in primary 25 
 
 Grandfather Greybeard 472 473 
 
 Grasshoppers 8, 18, 61, 82, 85, 
 
 92, 311, 312, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369 
 Grassho])per, with external parts 
 
 named 365 
 
 Short-horned 367-369 
 
 Greene, Robert , 32 
 
 Page 
 
 Grosbeak, the Cardinal 133 
 
 Ground-hog 229, 230 
 
 Hardy, Irene 243 
 
 Hares 216 
 
 Harte, Bret 203, 224, 256 
 
 Hawks 36, 43, 46, 108, 109 
 
 Hay, John 132 
 
 Health value of Nature-Study 2 
 
 Hen.... 25, 27, 30, 33, 36, 37, 39, 41, 42, 43 
 
 Herford, Oliver 213,419 
 
 Hill, Mary E... 17 
 
 Hives — observation 453, 455 
 
 Hog, the 304, 305, 306 
 
 Honey, honeycomb 451,452,453 
 
 Hornblende 3^3 
 
 Home, R. H 325 
 
 Horse, the 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292 
 
 Howells, W. U 125 
 
 Howitt, Alary 103 
 
 How to make an aquarium 380 
 
 to produce good milk 299 
 
 Hummingbird 120 
 
 Imago, or adult stage of insect 310 
 
 Imagination, training of i 
 
 Insect Study 308 
 
 Insects, breathing of 3^3 
 
 biting and sucking 3^3 
 
 brownies 31 1 
 
 eggs of 308 
 
 Ingersoll, Ernest 249 
 
 Invertebrate-Animal Study 45^ 
 
 Irvine, J. P m 
 
 Javelins (hogs) 3^4 
 
 Johnny darter 177, 178 
 
 Jordan, David Starr I49. 
 
 157, 166, 167, 168, 176, 177, 179, 217 
 
 jug-building wasp 43^ 
 
 Junior Naturalist Clubs 23 
 
 Katydid 369,370,371 
 
 Keats, John 53. 163 
 
 Kentucky Cardinal •. I33 
 
 Kingfisher. Belted 101 
 
 Labium 3I3- 3^4 
 
 Labrum 3i3, 3i4 
 
 Lace-wing 397. 398 
 
 Ladybird 413,414, 415 
 
 Lanier, Sydney 96 
 
 Larcom, Lucy 90. 93 
 
 Laryae_ 308,311 
 
 Leaf-miners 352,353,354 
 
 Leaf-rollers 357, 358, 359 
 
 Leigh, Florence 267 
 
 Lens 9 
 
 Lesson, the nature-study 10 
 
 always new 7 
 
 length of 7 
 
 time for ^ 
 
 object lesson method 7 
 
Index 
 
 A^9g 
 
 Page 
 
 Living material in schoolroom 8 
 
 Longfellow, Henry W 2 
 
 Lowell, James Russell . .7, 128, 153, 196, 
 
 382,418 
 Lloyd, J. T. .114, 211, 387, 588, 389, 390 
 Lubbock, Sir John 423. 433 
 
 Maggots 308 
 
 Mammal Study 212 
 
 Mandibles — insects 313, 314 
 
 Matheson, Robert 82, 98 
 
 Maxillae, insect 313, 314 
 
 May beetle 131, 418 
 
 Meadow lark 77, 80, 81, 82 
 
 Merriam, Dr. C. Hart 248 
 
 Mesothorax 313,314 
 
 Metathorax 31 3, 314 
 
 Mice 224, 225, 226, 227 
 
 Milk 299 
 
 Minnows 163 
 
 Mitchell, Evelyn 401, 402 
 
 Metamorphosis, insect 311, 367 
 
 Mockingbird 94 
 
 Molting insects 308, 309 
 
 Morton, Verne — Photos by — Frontispiece, 
 164, 230, 242, 247, 271, 274 
 
 Mosquito 309, 400, 401, 402, 403 
 
 Moth, Cecropia. . .330, 331, 332, 333, 334 
 
 Codling 347,349 
 
 Cynthia 337 
 
 Isabella tiger 326, 327, 328 
 
 Luna 309, 310, 330 
 
 Promethea 330, 336, 337, 338 
 
 Polyphemus 330 
 
 Sphinx 
 
 313, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346 
 
 Mouse, deer, or whitejooted 223, 226 
 
 house 224, 225 
 
 Mullein 18 
 
 Muskrat 218, 220, 221 
 
 Museum specimens 8 
 
 Nape, (of bird) 4^ 
 
 Nature-study cliilas 22 
 
 Naylor . . .- \'\ ,^4 
 
 Necdham, Dr. James G. 382, 383, 3S4, 38^ 
 
 Newt, red-spotted 197, igg, 199 
 
 Nuthatch, white-breasted 63, 64 
 
 Nymph 3,1 
 
 of damsel-fly 384,385 
 
 of dragon-fly 384 
 
 of red-legged grasshopper 366 
 
 Oak-apple 3^1 
 
 Ocelli (of insects) 312, '3 14 
 
 Oriole, Baltimore 125, 126,' 127 
 
 Ovipositor (of insect) 314 
 
 Owl, screech jq4 
 
 Oxen 
 
 298 
 
 Peacock 30, 31, 32 
 
 Pears and apples, ready to spray ' 3 so 
 Peccaries ,p, , 
 
 Pets ;;■■ ^j^ 
 
 Phoebe-I)ird 
 
 67 
 
 gS't'ie .'.'■303,'305,306 
 
 Pl^'cons 45,46,47 
 
 Pigeon houses 4'i 1-7 
 
 Pine, the ' .'.'.'.' .'.'.\" V-i 
 
 white ,g 
 
 S"""? ni" •• • ,• 92,' 392, 393, 421 
 
 Plant Physiology 20 
 
 Pumpkin, seed (sunfish) '.'..' 172 
 
 Pupae 309,311 
 
 of caddis fly 3x3 
 
 of Codling Moth 34^ 
 
 of firefly '_\ 4,7 
 
 of Potato l)eetle 411 
 
 of Ladybird 411^ 
 
 of Mosquito 402 
 
 (jug handle) Tomato sphinx 342 
 
 Quail 
 
 Rabbit 213, 215, 
 
 Raccoon 250, 253, 
 
 Rattlesnake, The . . . 
 
 Redbird .' .' 
 
 Red-winged blackbird 122, 
 
 Reighard, Professor 174, 
 
 Reptile Study 
 
 Rcxford, Ellen . . 
 
 Rice, Prof. J. E '..'.'.'.'.'.'.'. '. '. '. '. '. 
 
 Rich, John 
 
 Rilcv, James Whitcomb 70, 
 
 Robin 54, 55, 
 
 Root, A. I. Co 
 
 Rossetti, Christina .... 
 
 Rowe, Mrs. F. W 
 
 41 
 
 216 
 
 254 
 
 203 
 
 1,^3 
 123 
 
 175 
 
 200 
 
 61 
 
 33 
 295 
 201 
 
 57 
 456 
 326 
 
 95 
 
 Palpi, insect 313 i^j. 
 
 Partridge .30^1 
 
 Salamander 197, 198, 199 
 
 vScales, on butterfly's wing 421 
 
 Screech Owl 1 04 
 
 Sheep 281, 283, 284, 285 
 
 Shepherd, a vSicilian 28 1 
 
 Shiner 161, 162 
 
 Silk-worm 312 
 
 American t,i,o 
 
 Skunk 43, 247, 248 
 
 SHngerland, M. V 308, 309, 313, 
 
 315, 316, 317, 318, 322, 323, 327, 328, 
 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 336, 337, 338, 
 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 34^', 348, 
 349, 350, 351, 362, 374, 379, 392, 410, 
 411, 418, 421, 429, 430, 438, 443, 457 
 
 vSnake 194 
 
 Garden 201, 202 
 
 Garter 201, 202 
 
 Milk 204 
 
 Rattle 203 
 
 Spotted Adder 204 
 
 Water 206 
 
489/^ 
 
 Handbook of Nature-Study 
 
 Page 
 
 Snakedoctor 3^"^^ 
 
 Snail, garden 458, 459 
 
 Sparrow-chipping 88, 89 
 
 English 54,61,84 
 
 Song 91 
 
 Spencer, John W 16, 23 
 
 Spiders 475 
 
 Ballooning 4^4 
 
 White Crab 485 
 
 care of eggs 487, 488 
 
 Spider-webs, cobwebs 475 
 
 Filmy Dome 482, 483 
 
 funnel 477 
 
 Orb 478,479,481 
 
 Spiracles, (of insects) 3i3- 3i4 
 
 Squirrel 56, 61, 233, 234, 236 
 
 Stetson, Charlotte Perkms 286 
 
 Stickleback 168 
 
 Stryke, Anna— Drawings by. ... i, 2, 3, 
 4, 5. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 15, 16, 17, 24, 
 136, 161, 181, 190, 193. 197. 199. 200, 
 204, 223, 233, 247, 250, 255, 261, 288, 
 315. 320, 326, 336, 340, 347. 352, 357- 
 360, 365, 370, 373. 377. 378, 387, 392, 
 395. 397. 400, 405. 4"9, 413. 4i6, 429, 
 430, 432, 436, 439, 442, 451, 453, 458, 
 462, 468, 472, 475, 483. 484. 485, 487 
 
 Sucker, common 158, 160 
 
 Sunfish 172, 173, 174 
 
 Swallows, the 112 
 
 Swett,S. H 476 
 
 Swift, chimney 112 
 
 Tabb, John B 29 
 
 Tadpoles 182, 183, 186 
 
 of frog 194 
 
 of toad 187 
 
 of tree-frog 191 
 
 aquarium for 185 
 
 Tanager, scarlet 31 
 
 Taylor, Bayard 376 
 
 Thaxter, Celia 132, 142 
 
 Thomas, Edith 100 
 
 Thompson, Maurice 63, 95, 133, 279 
 
 Thoreau,H. D 91, 129 
 
 161,205,207,232, 249 
 
 Thrush family 57, 60 
 
 Titmouse, black-capped 66, 67, 68 
 
 Toad, common 181, 182, 183, 187 
 
 development of a season 187 
 
 eggs of 182, 186 
 
 tree 190, 191 
 
 Treadwell, Prof 56 
 
 Pag 
 
 Trowbridge, J. T 471 
 
 Tnmt 164, 167 
 
 Turkey, the 41, 143 
 
 Turtles 208,209,211 
 
 "Uncle John" 16,23 
 
 U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
 
 185, 221, 276, 278, 279, 301, 352, 411 
 
 Valley of Cashmere 279 
 
 Vampires 244 
 
 Van Dyke, Henry 80, 91 
 
 Virgil 48 
 
 Wadswoith 267 
 
 Walton, Isaac 149, 154 
 
 Wasp 429,437 
 
 ]ug-builder and nest 431 
 
 Mud-daulier 429, 430 
 
 Yellow Jacket 432, 434 
 
 Wasp-nest, with side removed 457 
 
 nest of carpenter 440 
 
 nest of mud-dauber 429 
 
 Yellow-jackets 432, 435 
 
 Weasel 43 
 
 Wheat 85 
 
 White, Gilliert 48 
 
 Whitman, Walt 484 
 
 Whittier, J. G 164 
 
 Willow, cone-gall 362 
 
 Wister, Owen 277 
 
 Witch-hazel 356 
 
 Wolf, gray 255 
 
 Woodchuck or groundhog 229, 230 
 
 Woodpeckers, carpenter 75 
 
 Downy 69,70 
 
 Hairy 69 
 
 Flicker, yellow hammer or golden- 
 shafted 77,80 
 
 Red-headed '..'.,. 75 
 
 Sapsucker 73 
 
 Woolly-bear 326,327, 328 
 
 Wordsworth 329 
 
 Worms 308 
 
 Armv 82 
 
 Canker 92 
 
 Caraway 3i9 
 
 Cut 82,92 
 
 Earth 462 
 
 Glow 417 
 
 Wire 82,417 
 
 Yellow bird 49 
 
 Yellow-jacket 432, 433