those as large as a buckshot to some the size of a 

 marrowfat pea. They were lifted and carried 

 seemingly without effort, and dropped almost 

 before one could see what she was about. Twenty 

 minutes were consumed in filling up the hole and 

 restoring the surface. 



On a sudden she vanished, and with her van- 

 ished the place itself where she had been at work. 

 It was as if a trap-door had closed, and no sign 

 was left. So carefully had she done her work and 

 so closely imitated the surroundings, like a miser 

 burying his gold, it was only after careful search 

 I could again locate the spot. 



Thus in the economy of Nature every insecl: 

 appears to be food for some other. On the leaves 

 of the Virginia creeper you may usually find, 

 in early autumn, some caterpillars which have 

 received the eggs of a small chalcid fly. These 

 caterpillars, otherwise so large and green and awe- 

 some to the beholder, have become limp and lean 

 and have an aged and decrepit look. They hold 

 feebly to the vine but no longer eat anything. I 

 brought home one of them and in a short time 

 there emerged from its body a great number of 

 small white grubs, fifty or more by actual count. 



92 



