XIV CONTENTS 



the flower with a scarlet cloak. The well-kept secret of the flowering winter- 

 green, or polygala ; anchor flowers underground. The dwarf ginseng and 

 its sweet "ground-nut." Bewitched cocoons; Polyphemus and Cecropia co- 

 coons packed full of mischief. A spurious brood; "ugly wasps" instead of 

 beautiful moths. The witch at work. A pulpit theme. Life under a stone. 

 "Finds" for the naturalist. A beetle with a gun: the bombardier and his 

 shooting propensities. " Three rounds." Utility of the demonstration. The 

 devil's coach-horse and his wonderful tail: a test for sharp eyes. The "light- 

 ning change artist" of the bug circus; from a buzzing fly to a wingless 

 bug in a twinkling. How it is accomplished. Butterflies as botany teach- 

 ers. Plants classified into genera before the era of the human botanist. Re- 

 markable botanical instincts of the black " swallow-tail." The wise Archippus 

 and other butterflies Pages 1-86 



Summer 



kOISON- SUMACHS and the suspected Virginia creeper. Dangerous species 

 easily distinguished. A simple "jingle" for a talisman. " Expert " advice. 

 The harmless and libelled Ampelopsis, or woodbine, exonerated. Awakening 

 mummies : queer antics of burrowing chrysalids. A strange resurrection in 

 the June woods. A glittering-winged gem; pure gold outrivalled. A gold- 

 mine among the bind -weed leaves. Another insect gem; glowing jewels 

 on the dog-bane leaf ; a ruby and an emerald combined. Prize packages on 

 the hazel-bush. A clever piece of hocus-pocus; no string, pin, nor glue. A 

 long-headed clerk and her well-kept secret. Caught in the act at last. Pre- 

 cious bundles. The scouring -grass and its wriggling spores : what a simple 

 pocket-microscope can show us. A squirming legion. Jumping for freedom. 

 A pretty microscopic hygroscope. The " scouring -brush" of the Pilgrim 

 housewives. Secret of the bright tins. A mineral frame in a vegetable stalk. 

 A tube of flinty silex which defies nitric acid. Beautiful chemical experiment. 

 Geological significance of the plant. " How doth the little busy bee." A 

 complete tell-tale record of forage among the flowers. Queer fruits from the 

 bee's "basket." Epicurean and other fodder for bee-babes; melons, tea-boxes, 

 oranges, bombshells, and pepper-boxes. Pollen eccentricities. A pollen fly- 

 trap in a milk-weed blossom, and a decorated victim. Butterfly-net entertain- 

 ment; harvest of a few sweeps among the herbage. Revelations of the life 

 that peoples the grass. Insects extraordinary. A midnight walk and its sur- 

 prises: sleepy-heads, nightcaps, drowsy fringes, and wide-awakes among flowers 

 and leaves. Shuttlecocks on blue -bottle stems. Dew diamonds. Glittering 

 fountain of "horse-tail" plant. The tearful jewel-weed. Titania and the gos- 

 samers. A little known bird-song. The yellow-winged sparrow and its grass- 

 hopper music. The meadow grasshopper and its song. The well-kept secret 

 of the evening primrose. The flowers by daylight, and what they can show 

 us. Blossom - tents and tenants: the primrose's protege. The spice -bush 

 and its big-eyed bugaboo. Mystery of that folded leaf. Rustic superstition. 

 Musical beetles. The insect orchestra and its various instruments. A 

 doughty fiddler. A squeaky trio on the poplar branch. Musical collars. The 

 pretty golden-rod musician. An eccentric precentor with a double baton and 

 a ready whip -lash. The club-mosses and their inflammable spores: a fiery 

 explosion in the woods. Fireworks at home. "The rocket's red glare." 



