CHAFFERS. J53 



surface is unbroken, and, in a great measure, unaltered, 

 unless that the grass begins to be of a sickly yellow. 

 Should drought continue, the destruction is complete, 

 at least in as far as the pasturage is concerned ; but if 

 copious rains fall, the grubs are driven downwards, and 

 the roots put out fresh fibres. Spring is generally 

 over by the Kalendar, and pretty far advanced, before 

 the winged insects of this genus make their appear- 

 ance ; and therefore as an insect in the air, infesting 

 trees, and sometimes stripping them of their leaves, 

 it belongs more to the summer than to the spring. In 

 its then state, however, it is much more abundant some 

 years than others, and suffers by rain as well as wind, 

 a smart breeze o'f the latter shaking it in great numbers 

 to the earth, where it is eagerly sought after by many 

 birds. In each of those years that it remains under 

 the ground, it is understood to have at least one 

 sloughing, or change of the skin, for which it prepares 

 by a sort of hybernation during the cold months. On 

 the last autumn, when it is to be for some time in- 

 capable of motion, and thus might be exposed to the 

 frost, if only at its common depth below the surface, 

 it bores downwards, to a greater or less depth accor- 

 ding to the nature of the soil, but sometimes as much 

 as six feet. There it lines its hole or cell with silk, 

 and changes to the winged form, after which it finds 

 its way to the surface. At first it is soft and weak, 

 and the wing covers are nearly white, nor does it get 

 its colour or the elytra their horny consistency till it 

 has been exposed to the air. Whether those beetles 

 may attack the roots of plants in the perfect state 

 before they come to the surface, is not known with 



