is certainly not a strenuous fellow, as he 

 likes to put his head into an empty cell 

 and stay there, with only his tail visible. 



In the largest of the cells, are laid the 

 fertilised eggs which develop into the 

 perfect females, or Queens. The larvae 

 of these are supplied with abundant 

 food, and the Queens emerge at the 

 proper time, large and handsome, and 

 very differently marked from the other 

 members of the community. On sunny 

 days, the Queens fly abroad, and mate, 

 with the drones. 



These excursions seem to mark the 



beginning of the end. Realizing that 

 cold weather is near at hand, the busy 

 little colony loses heart. The Queens 

 and males are turned out, the former to 

 find winter quarters, the latter to be 

 killed by the cold. The eggs and larvae 

 so carefully tended until now are pulled 

 from their cells, carried outside and left 

 to die. The workers themselves finally 

 desert their nest or return to it to 

 starve to death or die of cold. Only 

 in the few sleeping Queens rests the 

 hope of the Wasps in the future. 



LOUISE JAMISON. 



JIM CROW 



When Jim Crow became a member 

 of our family, he was very young and 

 could hardly balance himself upon his 

 slender legs. We fed him upon raw 

 eggs and scraps of raw meat until the 

 bird grew strong and the black feath 

 ers became smooth and glossy and the 

 bright eyes grew brighter and Jim 

 Crow changed into a beautiful bird. 



A smart bird was Jim, devoted to his 

 master and mistress, hailing them with 

 a loud caw whenever their steps were 

 heard and hopping about to greet them. 



Jim could talk a little and would have 

 acquired much more knowledge of the 

 language had he lived longer. He 

 would spread his sable wings, purple in 

 their deep black, and call in a hoarse 

 voice, "Come on, Come on," very dis 

 tinctly. He would greet his master 

 with "Hello, Pa-pa," and delighted in 

 feeding from his hand. He knew when 

 the butcher boy came with the meat 

 and was at the cook's side when she re 

 ceived the basket, croaking for his 

 share. 



Jim delighted in a plunge bath and 

 would splash away in an earthen crock, 

 a dozen times a day, if it was filled for 



him. He also loved red and blue, and 

 if ladies called at the house dressed in 

 those hues the lordly young crow 

 would become frantic, spreading his 

 wings and tail, bobbing his head from 

 side to side and circling around with 

 loud cries of "Come on, Come on," to 

 the great amusement of all. He would 

 even go to the gate with the visitors 

 and have to be brought back. He 

 would often eat corn with the chickens 

 and would act very greedy, rapidly fill 

 ing up his bill with the precious grain, 

 rushing away and hiding it, then com 

 ing back for more; so unless the chick 

 ens made haste Jim got the lion's share. 

 Jim enjoyed his life in the long rich 

 Kentucky blue grass and would sun his 

 glossy feathers upon the emerald sward, 

 and many a truss of scarlet geranium 

 was caressed too rudely by his power 

 ful bill. He was a remarkably intelli 

 gent bird, perfectly contented with his 

 home and petted and loved by his mis 

 tress. But poor Jim was hurt one day 

 by a stray dog and closed his bright 

 eyes in farewell to the beautiful world 

 in which he had so much enjoyment. 

 FANNIE A. CAROTHERS. 



