1856.] Agricultural Entomology. 395 



" Some years ago I took a f\incj to keep bees : accordingly hives 

 were procured, and books read upon the subject. One day a king 

 bird, or bee-martin, was observed to be very busy about the hives 

 api3arent]y snapping up every straggling bee he could find. Indig- 

 nant at such a breach of hospitality, as his nest was on the pre- 

 mises, I hastened to the house to procure a gun, to shoot the 

 marauder. When I returned, I perceived a greyish bird oti the 

 bushy top of a tree, and, thinking it was the robber, I fired, and— 

 down dropped a poor, innocent Phoebe bird. Hoping to find some 

 consolation to my conscience for having committed this most foul 

 murder, I inwardly accused the poor little Phoebe of having also 

 killed the bees; and, having determined to ascertain the fact by 

 dissecting the bird, it was opened, when, much to my regret and 

 astonishment, it was found to be full of the striped cucumber bugs, 

 and not a single bee. Here I had killed the very bird which had 

 been working for me the whole season, and perfectly innocent of 

 the crime for which it was sacrificed. After this circumstance I de- 

 termined never to let a gun be fired on ihQ premises, excepting on 

 special occasions ; and at present the place is perfectly crowded 

 during spring, summer, and autumn, with the feathered songsters, 

 which build their nests even in my very porch, and bring up their 

 young perfectly fearless of mankind ; and although cherries, straw- 

 berries, etc., do sufi'er, yet i\\e insects are not a quarter as numerous 

 and troublesome as they were formerly. 



"In the Southern States I have seen a bee-martin chase and 

 capture a ball-worm moth not ten paces from where I stood, and 

 the mocking bird feeding its nearly grown young on the same in- 

 sect. Even the ugly toad works for the gardener, as his food con- 

 sists of insects more or less injurious. The beautiful and lively 

 green and grey lizards of the Southern States, which are seen run- 

 ning on the fence rail, or amidst the green foliage of trees, shrubs, 

 and bushes, and from which they can scarcely be distinguished, 

 except when in motion, are ever on the watch for insect prey; and I 

 know of one curious case in which even the mice in a green -house 

 were of service, for they had rooted up the earth round several 

 potted peach trees, in order to devour the chrysalis of the peach tree 

 borer. 



"As I fear I have already trespassed too much upon your time 

 and good nature, I will now, in conclusion, merely observe, that if 

 the practical flirmer will note down lyrecisely the transformation of 

 insects, their first appearance and habits, and make them known to 



