XVI CONTENTS 



net-nest, lace, horse-hair, and snake-skins. "Politician" and "preacher.'* 

 A Scripture text from a " preacher's" nest. A few particular whims in build- 

 ing material. A snake-skin specialist. The bed of snake-skins in the hollow 

 tree. Suggestive cherry-pits in a deserted nest. Autumn's lingering wild flow- 

 ers. November's bouquet. November's own flower. The luminous witch- 

 hazel copse. A calendar garland of dandelions. The perennial chickweed 

 and its winter blooms. A blossoming conservatory in a filmy ice grotto. A 

 winter bird's -nest. A summer bird -home newly furnished as a snug winter 

 resort. The field-mouse nursery. The most marvellous drill in the world. 

 A horse-hair gimlet. Ichneumon fly specimens in the winter woods. How 

 and why the drill is manipulated. A rival borer its victim. " Modern" in- 

 ventions and patents. Infringements on prehistoric models. Winter ro- 

 settes. Symmetrical leaf patterns under the snow. Significant arrangement 

 of leaves Pages 176-243 



Winter 



i TORIES in the snow. Tell-tale records of birds and bead-eyed folk. A mouse- 

 I race and a nest in a stump. Deer-mice at home. Autograph of the wild hare. 

 A singular discovery. How bunny writes his name. Employment for sharp eyes. 

 The cocoon harvest. Interesting quest for a winter walk. Artful disguise 

 of cocoons. City specimens. Some curious twigs in the winter woods. 

 Witches' brooms. Bulby golden-rod. Curious eggs. Girdler beetle and their 

 remarkable instinct. Hickory pruning extraordinary. The primer's plans. 

 The well-named horse-chestnut; its ..." horse " discovered hoof, fetlock, frog, 

 seven nails, and all. The "partridge" as a snow-walker. Bare summer feet 

 and winter snow-shoes. Snow burrows and budding-holes. The "fairy ring" 

 in the snow: strange snow writings of wind-blown grass - blades. January 

 butterflies. Winter outing in the sunny barn-yard. The angle-wings. Hiber- 

 nation of the hardy, world-wide Antiopa. A winged shower from the tulip- 

 tree. A snow-burrowing squirrel. The provident red squirrel and his happy- 

 go-lucky neighbor. How the gray squirrel finds his pine-cones through the 

 deep snow. Winter grist for the birds. Weeds redeemed. Wind-blown 

 weed-seeds on snow. A curious windrow analyzed. Those specks on the snow. 

 The myriad bird-shaped scales of the snowy woods traced to their source. An 

 innocent catkin with a trick of its own. Opening the door for the swarm.- 

 Living specks on snow. Snow-fleas and their history. Entomology and rustic 

 tradition. The basket -carrying caterpillar. Its puzzling cocoons. Baby 

 basket-makers and their building whims. A patriotic specimen. Life in a 

 hammock. " Pulling the hole in after him." The bag -worm at dinner. 

 Moored for the winter. Strange superstition of a darkey. The queer little 

 black moth. House-builders under water. Interesting dwellers in every pond 

 and stream. Stone cottages and wooden cabins of the caddis worm. A rare 

 mosaic tube of crystal. Water- proof cement. Various building designs. 

 What the rock-fish knows about caddis. " Around the evening lamp." The 

 " caddis" with which we are all too familiar. A few foreign caddis houses. 

 The whirligig water beetle. . Its mazy dance at the edge of the ice. Thoreau's 

 observations. A winter outinc:. How Gyrinus "goes to bed." The dive to 

 the depths, with its silvery bubble. Remarkable and unique dual powers of 

 vision. " Sharp eyes " extraordinary Pages 247-309 



