180 UP AND DOWN THE BROOKS. 



'I have my own idea why Vanessa Antiopa 

 wears black. I also would wear mourning if I 

 flitted daily by this brook and saw the cruel deeds 

 done here. One day in April when Vanessa was 

 winging up and doVn the creek, I was passing 

 under the willows where their dropped-off blos- 

 soms lay like so many fuzzy, brownish caterpil- 

 lars on the grass, and I made my way to a well- 

 known pool. Horrors were enacting there. 



Vanessa Antiopa. Mourning Cloak. 



Is there anything more cool than the way in 

 which human beings assert their ownership of 

 smaller beings ? " Here 's my frog," cried a lit- 

 tle fellow as I drew near. The youngsters were 

 engaged in the time-honored custom of killing a 

 frog. The poor creature, already hurt, was swim- 

 ming with the little strength left it, and a boy 

 caught it up only to throw it back into the water 

 as a target for more shots. I fled from the spot. 



