28 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



in a collection. This arranging may 

 be done with little difficulty, if you 

 have a sharp eye, a steady hand, and 

 know how to use a simple pocket lens. 

 Take a piece of black cardboard, 

 smear a little mucilage on it, and pick 

 up carefully one after the other of 

 these little eggs by the aid of some 

 slender, pointed instrument — a pin or 

 a very fine-pointed toothpick and 

 gently place them on the card. They 

 may be arranged in miniature pat- 

 terns, much as shells are sometimes 

 arranged on the lawn, especially of 

 some old-fashioned house near the 

 seashore. 



You should, of course, wait until 

 the eggs have hatched, and the little 

 caterpillar has escaped, as it usually 

 does at one end of the egg, leaving a 

 hole, and making the empty shell look 

 like a cup. Some resemble baskets 

 and some are ornamented by peculiar, 

 often beautiful markings. 



Young Partridges. 



BY RUTH CAROLYN W. DOGGETT, SPRING- 

 FIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. 



Just outside a sleepy country town 

 not far from my home, a friend of ours 

 owns a beautiful woodsy estate called 

 "River Bend." It is the delight of youth- 

 ful hearts to wander through the pine 

 woods, climb the hilly paths bordered 

 with blackberry bushes, and pretend 

 that the cedars standing there with 

 such primness and regularity are in an 

 Italian garden. 



As we were leisurely walking up one 

 of our favorite pathways, nibbling at 

 blackberries, admiring the scenery and 

 talking about things in general, we 

 suddenly heard a muffled drumming. 



"A partridge !" whispered our host, 

 creeping cautiously along like an In- 

 dian on the warpath. Instantly we 

 stopped our chatter and tried to emu- 

 late his example. 



Again that peculiar drumming — and 

 a sudden whirr and rush of wings as a 

 mother partridge flew close by us and 

 high into the air. 



A moment later we discovered four 

 or five tiny balls of buff-colored fuzz 

 hiding their silly little heads under 

 last year's dead brown leaves. As we 



"I PICKED 



UP TWO OF 

 THINGS." 



THE LITTLE 



came nearer, one enterprising young- 

 ster scrambled across the path into the 

 underbrush. 



I picked up two of the little things 

 and while my picture was being 

 snapped we could hear the mother 

 bird anxiously drumming to attract 

 our attention to her. Under a scrubby 

 pine tree we found the nest, but we 

 left it and the little partridges unmo- 

 lested and sauntered on uphill talking 

 excitedly about the cunning, fluffy lit- 

 tle birds, and our pleasing experience. 



Flossie's Bright Reply. 



One evening, when the mosquitoes 

 were very troublesome, Bobby cried 

 out, "Oh, dear, if these mosquitoes 

 don't stop biting me, there'll be noth- 

 ing left of me !" 



"Oh, no!" said Flossie, "the bites 

 will swell up and make you bigger 

 than ever!"— What To Do. 



