132 NATURE'S CALENDAR 



June 12 ally distinctly colored, and may thus be 



easily recognized and avoided. Many 

 birds will not touch such caterpillars, 

 ■^ while some, like the cuckoos, will seize 



the most hairy ones as quickly as any 

 other, but beat them into a pulp before 

 swallowing them. 



When one remembers that most of 

 these caterpillars, grubs, and other insect 

 larvae are destructive to plants, and that 

 those which attack cultivated plants and 

 trees are given a chance to multiply just 

 as fast as we cultivate their customary 

 foods, one can see how important it is to 

 protect and encourage the birds that are 

 almost our only means of keeping the in- 

 sect hosts within bounds. The plainest 

 common-sense enjoins this, and it ought 

 not to be necessary to teach it or argue 

 about it at all. 



Before the month is out, a wide variety, 

 as well as countless numbers of larvae, 

 have changed by molting into the pupa 

 or chrysalis stage of insect growth, and 

 are quietly developing into butterflies, 

 moths, etc. Most of the chrysalids to 

 be found this month are not protected 

 by thick, felted, or paper-like cases, such 

 as those of the winter-sleeping sorts, but 

 are naked and smooth, and many are 

 suspended by a point glued to some ob- 

 ject, or else are hung in a sling or girdle 

 of threads. They are dull-colored, as a 

 rule, and readily overlooked, but once 

 seen are easily recognized, for they re- 



