82 NORTII AMERICAN INSECTS. 



(Rutela punctata), so injurious to the Grape-vine. 

 Even the May-beetles (Meloloutha quercicula) are 

 not seen in such abundance as in previous years, and 

 should the laws for the protection of Birds be much 

 more strenuous, I fear our poor Entomologists will be 

 entirely thrown out of employment. It is a matter 

 of congratulation, however, that our favourite Birds 

 are so well protected by the laws of our State, and 

 by the general consent of the people. They are more 

 to be admired, even for their beauty, than most of our 

 noxious Insects, and certainly reward us by saving our 

 trees and shrubs, and by furnishing us a wholesome 

 and palatable article of food. I had the pleasure 

 of spending a week last summer at Bristol, R. I., 

 at the residence of my esteemed friend, Mr. Dimou, 

 the present Governor of Bhode Island, whose acquaint- 

 ance I made twenty-five years ago in Port-au-Prince, 

 when he was United States Consul for the Republic 

 of Hayti, and I was delighted to see the robins and 

 thrashers in whole families playing round me on the 

 piazza like domestic pigeons, perfectly free and unmo- 

 lested, building their nests and flying among the 

 branches of the majestic trees which shade his resi- 

 dence. Such care and protection of animals throws an 

 air of enchantment round the family mansion, and 

 renders it not merely the residence of two or three 

 isolated beings, but the centre of happiness to all 



