150 



MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



this consummation it lives and feeds as a larva for a lengthy 

 period, and, if it was possible for reproduction to take place other 

 than in the adult state, it is reasonable to suppose that, in pro- 

 cess of time, this ephemeral creature would fall into obsolescence. 

 Surely the story of this one insect is sufficient, of itself, to engage 

 the devotion of a lifetime, magical and mysterious as it is, full 

 of interest and wonder. 



And as with these insect folk, so with the birds, and the trees, 

 and the flowers, and the fish in the nearest stream. I watch the 



FIG. 69. A COLONY OF Cow PAKSXIP. 



bare earth becoming reclothed with plants which have been 

 familiar to me these many years, and I am still content to wait, 

 and watch, and see. I whisper, and they respond. I coax them 

 to deliver unto me a few of their many secrets, but I do not 

 want to pull them to pieces to count stamens and pistils, only to 

 see them growing as sentient beings, in their own homes. Per- 

 chance after a dry spell, a fire, accidental or otherwise, has 

 swept across my favourite hunting ground among the dead herb- 

 age in late Spring, and Nature's fresh green livery has not yet been 

 acquired. The sight of the fast-gathering flames brings a pang 

 of regret into my heart, and I fight the fire fiend as best I can 

 in order to save the surrounding bushes from destruction. I 

 may, or may not succeed, but a few weeks later I discover how 



