140 NATURE STUDY. 



broad abdomen. This is an Ambush-bug, which is lying in 

 wait for the insects that come to sip the nectar. It is es- 

 pecially abundant among the flowers of the golden-rod. If 

 any are found in the collection, they should be labeled 

 Phymatidse. 



The Squash-bugs are well known to all who live in the 

 country, and they are also not infrequently found in city 

 gardens. They belong to the family Coreidae. 



Many of the bug tribe aie protected from their enemies 

 by a disagreeable odor and taste, the Squash-bugs afford- 

 ing a familiar example, but there is one family whose 

 members have this sort of protection in so marked a de- 

 gree that they are known distinctivelv as the Stink-bugs. 

 These frequently live on berry bushes and leave their of- 

 fensive trail on the berries. But notwithstanding their 

 smell, some of these bugs are very useful, since they wage 

 relentless war on the Potato-beetle. They can be known 

 by counting the five joints in their antennae. They belong 

 to the famil}^ Pentatomidae. 



There are many other families of the true bugs, but 

 the individuals are mostly small and the family marks are 

 not easily recognized by beginners. Besides, perhaps this 

 is enough for a first lesson about bugs, anyway. 



Penguins have an extraordinary amount of vitality and 

 are harder to kill than any ordinary cat. The writer once 

 had an occasion to kill a large bird aboard his ship, the 

 Southern Cross, and, making use of the weapon next his 

 hand, he drove a large spike squarely through the creat- 

 ure's head and finished the operation b}^ nailing it fast to 

 the deck. That seemed to make the job ver}^ complete, 

 and he went below deck for dinner. Coming up an hour 

 later, his astonishment was prodigious on beholding the 

 penguin, heSd erect, flippers out, waddling about, appar- 

 ently without thought of the spike, which still remained 

 transfixed in his cranium. — Menominee, Mich., Herald. 



