December 215 



mischief in greenhouses by sucking the juices of 

 plants. 



Birds are sadly worried by a small red mite, 

 which lives in the crevices of cages which are not 

 kept perfectly clean. The best protection from 

 their attacks is a good sponging of the perches 

 and every part of the cage with a solution of 

 carbolic acid ; this will effectually get rid of the 

 insects. 



I am not attempting to write an essay upon 

 mites, or else I might speak of dozens of other 

 species, some parasitic upon flies and spiders, and 

 others inhabiting ponds and ditches. I have but 

 touched upon a few kinds I have happened to 

 meet with in daily life. 



The minute creatures evidently have an appointed 

 work, which they do secretly and mysteriously, all 

 unknown to us, until a suspicious heap of dusty 

 fragments shows where this unseen army have 

 been encamped. 



BIRDS' HEADS 



Having drawn attention to the feet of birds, as 

 affording a clue to the kind of life to which they 

 are adapted, I will now try to show how the 

 formation of a bird's skull and beak indicates the 

 character of the bird, and the kind of food it 

 lives upon. 



Ornithology is a very wide subject, seeing that 

 there are said to be over ten thousand species of 

 birds. These are grouped into about twenty-two 

 orders, and of these I have selected four specimens 

 to illustrate my remarks. 



