New Series, May, 1906. 399 



9. As much of the life history of a moth or butterfly as you can 

 study during the summer. I would suggest the Monarch butterfly as 

 being available. You will find the larva or caterpillar on milkweed. If 

 you take the caterpillar home and feed it fresh leaves of the milkweed, 

 it will become a chrysalis and a butterfly will emerge from this chrysalis 

 so that you will be able to give us a very interesting account of it. The 

 caterpillar which afterward becomes a Monarch butterfly has a white 

 body with narrow black and yellow cross stripes. 



10. What you have done to improve your school grounds. 



11. What farm crop has been most interesting to you? What can 

 you learn about this crop? How was the ground prepared for it? How 

 was it handled? How harvested? 



IP'e shall give one prize for the best results in each of the subjects 

 mentioned above. Write your description to Uncle John, z^'ho zi'ill be 

 very much interested in them all. For the purpose of separating these 

 letters from the large numbers that zcill come on other subjects, address 

 them to Alice G. McCloskey, Ithaca, N. Y. We shall file every letter 

 zcritten on these subjects. All compositions must reach us by Octo- 

 ber i^th. 



A LITTLE CHICK'S HAMMOCK 

 James E. Rice 



Whoever heard of such a thing? A little chick swinging in a ham- 

 mock ! Not many persons have heard about it, that is true, but it is 

 because the little chick's hammock is out of sight most of the time and 

 in such an unexpected place. Where do you think? Out in the chicken 

 coop? Under mother hen's wing? Beneath a berry bush? No, indeed! 

 You could never guess it ; not in a hundred years, because the little 

 chickens that we usually see running about are too big to swing in this 

 hammock. They have outgrown it. So I must tell you the secret, must 

 I? Well, the little chick and his hammock are inside of an egg. You 

 never saw one? You are not the only one who never saw a hammock 

 inside of an egg. I shall try to tell you right away how you can see the 

 hammock, and some day I will show you how to see the little chick 

 actually swinging in the hammock. 



Of course you would not expect to find a rope hammock that looks 

 like a fish net, nor a canvas hammock with bright colors swinging inside 

 of an egg, would you? We could not eat eggs if they had such things 

 inside them. The chick's hammock is so clear and transparent that you 

 can scarcely see it, except the ropes on the ends. The ropes are white in 

 color, twisted and very strong. Get a saucer and carefully break into 



