132 THOSE OTHER ANIMALS. 



even that this is quite a secondary matter in its opinion. 

 This, however, may be said of many other recognised 

 benefactors of man. The bullock is considered none the 

 less a benefactor because he eats, not with the express 

 purpose of making flesh, but to gratify his appetite ; while 

 the sheep values his warm coat rather because it keeps out 

 the cold than because it will some day furnish man with a 

 garment. 



There are a great variety of ladybirds, differing only in 

 the colours and markings of their coats ; these are for the 

 most part red, black, or yellow, with black, yellow, or white 

 spots. The red with seven black spots is the most common, 

 and is found all over Europe and in parts of Asia and 

 Africa. It is everywhere a favourite with children, and in 

 France they are called Vaches d Dieu or Betes de la Vierge, 

 and are considered sacred to the Virgin. Why this should 

 be so is not very clear, but it would be much more easy to 

 find explanations for the title than for the verses that 

 especially endear them to children throughout this 



country 



" Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home, 

 Your house is on fire, your children alone." 



There are two or three versions of the last two words, but 

 all alike express that there is danger to the children as well 

 as to the house. The antiquity of this legend is prodigious ; 

 it is one of the group brought by the earliest arrivals in 

 Europe from the Far East, and there can be little doubt that 

 it came to us from Scandinavia. It is familiar to children, 

 with but slight variation, all over Europe, and African 

 children repeat an almost identical sentence over the lady- 

 bird. As the legends current in Europe and Asia are but 



