432 THE ROLL OF THE SEASONS 



tically airproof case that will defy the keenest frost. 

 They have the prospect of a good blanket of snow to 

 keep out the most piercing arrows, whereas when snow 

 visits our lowlands it is to the undoing of many crea- 

 tures. We have seen it spotted far and near with the 

 bodies of caterpillars, great and small, that have 

 thought or felt that the sudden increase of tempera- 

 ture meant spring and all its bounties, and have 

 therefore unburied themselves. Thus will a light 

 sleeper kick the bed-clothes off before the coldest 

 hour, while he who sleeps heavily is unconscious of, 

 and unaffected by, all but the severest changes of 

 temperature. 



In the loose shelter of the ivy, and on the warm 

 side of any board that leans against a wall, you will 

 find blue-bottles and other flies resting. They are not 

 even so nearly asleep as the caterpillars, for they walk 

 drowsily up and down when they are disturbed, only 

 just lacking the alertness to fly. As for their cousin, 

 the drone-fly, he is still abroad in the sunny hours, 

 pretending to take honey from the late ivy blooms 

 and enjoying a warm perch on a sun-kissed stone. 

 No insect is up earlier in spring than this, but there 

 will be a month or two when the garden knows him 

 not. To a far slighter creature belongs the honour of 

 remaining on the wing the whole winter through, for 

 on any sunny midday you will see a small company 

 of gnats dance out from their shelter in the euonymus 

 or other evergreen. There can be nothing for them 

 to remain awake for but the bare dance, and we are 

 inclined to say that the stoutest heart and the bravest 

 spirit in the garden belong to this despised and disliked 

 mosquito. 



