262 



SHARP EYES 



it is said she travels along the branch tip beyond, 

 and lays an egg in the soft bark, beneath one or more 

 buds of the twig, depositing each in a puncture well 

 beneath the surface. She now commends the branch 

 to destiny, and repeats the operation on another twig. 

 Briefly told, the sequel is as follows : the eggs soon 

 hatch into minute grubs, which penetrate beneath the 

 bark, and later devour the wood, which is more or less 

 alive with sap during the first season. The grub is 

 believed to live within the twig nearly three years, re- 

 ducing it at last to a mere shell, from which the per. 

 feet beetle at length emerges. 



