Butterfly Nets 43 



unroll it, grasp each side of the piece (Fig. 25) 

 and use it as a scoop, poking it along under the 

 water plants until it is covered with duck weed, 

 frog slime, pieces of water-cress, etc. Then quickly 

 and carefully lift it from the water and dump the 

 contents into a tin pail, or spread the wire screen 

 out on a board and carefully go through the mess 

 with the fingers, picking out the small creatures 

 and placing them in vials or boxes. But I find 

 the best way is to dump the whole mass into the 

 pail and then do the sorting and hunting after I 

 reach home. With a scoop of wire netting I can 

 catch little fish, sticklebacks, snails, periwinkles, 

 m.inute fresh-water clams and all the interesting 

 and curious creatures upon which water-bugs and 

 beetles usually feed. 



BUTTERFLY NET EING 



For land winged creatures, such as grasshop- 

 pers, katydids, devil's darning needles, moths and 

 butterflies, we need an insect net (Fig. 27). To 

 make this, take a piece of telegraph wire, bend it 

 around and make a circle about a foot in diameter 

 which, you know, means across through the centre 

 from one side to the other. The two ends of the 



