TRANSFOEMATIONS OF THE DADDY LONG-LEGS. 609 



among the roots of the grasses, on which they feed. One of 

 these larvae is shown at Fig. c. They are tough-skinned, hard- 

 headed beings, and do incalculable damage to our lawns and 

 pasture lands, sometimes cutting away the roots of the grass so 

 completely that large masses of turf are completely separated 

 from the soil, and can be rolled up by the hand as if a tm-f- 

 cutter had been under them. There is no remedy against these 

 grubs which is half so effective as the starling. This bird 

 has a wonderful power of detecting the presence of the sub- 

 terranean larva. 



If any of my readers will get up very early, so as to be 

 abroad at day-break, and will hide himself in some convenient 

 nook near a grass lawn, he will see how the starlings can work 

 for the benefit of man. They evidently employ the sense of 

 hearing as their princijml mode of discovering their prey, and 

 may be seen with the side of their heads pressed against the 

 ground, evidently listening for the unseen grub. When they 

 have made up their minds, there is no delay, for the bird 

 gives half a dozeji sharp pecks, thrusts its beak deeply into the 

 ground, gives a strong pull, and hauls out the Tipula larva, 

 which it has seized by the head. It does not eat the grub, 

 but flies off with it, still holding it by the head with the very 

 tip of its beak. 



The pupal form of this insect is shown at Fig. h. When tlie 

 pupa is about to change into the perfect form, the pupa issues 

 partly out of the ground, and the skin then splits and allows 

 the perfect insect to escape. 



For the following interesting details of the Daddy Long- 

 legs, I am indebted to the Eev. J. W. Brooks, Great Ponton 

 Eectory, near Grrantham : — 



' Some years since, when I was Vicar of Nottingham, I 

 turfed over a small plot in the garden at the back of my house 

 with turves procured from a sandy meadow in the neighbour- 

 hood. They proved to be full of the eggs of the Fly above 

 nam.ed ; and in the spring the grass portion of the garden, 

 comprehending only about three hundred and fifty square yards, 

 was swarming with their grubs, with which I had not pre- 

 viously been acquainted. They were sluggish-looking larvse, 

 curled, and apparently harmless. It was not until the period 

 uf their escape that I discovered what they really were, and 



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