THE LADY-BIRD OF OUR CHILDHOOD. 



" Give me leave 



To eat my fill, and I will through and through 

 Cleanse the foul surface of the infected leaf." 



MANY who exterminate Spiders as a matter of merit, crush 

 Earwigs without remorse, and hold i?/#/-Beetles in abhor- 

 rence, look with involuntary kindness on the little 7fo#-Beetle, 

 styled a Lady-bird. For this especial favour she stands in- 

 debted partly to her pretty spotted gown, and partly to her 

 being associated with the earliest recollections of our child- 

 hood. A word or two, en, passant, on Nursery Rhymes, on 

 that one at least which is pertinent to our subject. 



" Lady-bird ! Lady-bird ! fly away home, 

 Your house is on fire and your children alone ! ' 



