28 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



does not pretend to be a poet, he feels that he has no right to 

 offer adverse criticism without offering a substitute for that 

 which he decries. Accordingly with fear and trembling the 

 following is submitted : — 



An American Nature-Study Alphabet 



A is for aphid, a fat little louse 

 that sucks up plant juices and lives in a house. 



B is for bats that fly in the night 

 and eat up mosquitoes with all of their might. 



C is for cabbage worm, green, hairy and slow. 

 He'll become a white butterfly some day I know. 



D is for dragon fly, the elf of the pond. 



Of mosquitoes and gnats he's indeed very fond. 



E's for the eel who very squirmy may be 

 Though he lives in our brooks, he was hatched in the sea. 



F is for the frog, a funny old thing 



He eats flies and mosquitoes and sings in the spring. 



G is for goldfinches who seem care-free all day. 

 "Per-chic-o-ree, chick-o-ree" that's what they say. 



H is for hair snakes, though found in a stream 

 They live in some insects before they are seen. 



I is for iris a stately blue flower. 



It lives in wet places and welcomes a shower. 



J is for jay-bird, a noisy young scamp 



He's about as much good as a common old tramp. 



K is for kingbird, a plucky young fighter. 



He beats crows and hawks, though he's very much lighter. 



