58 A NATURE WOOING. 



themselves by exuding a drop or two of liquid having 

 a very disagreeable odor, from two openings, one on 

 each side of the lower part of the body near the base 

 of the middle legs. Birds, and people, too, for that 

 matter, soon learn to avoid the bugs which excrete 

 this odor. Many a boy, while berry hunting in the 

 country, has clapped a number of berries into his 

 mouth, only to experience a smarting sensation and 

 a nauseating taste, brought about by the acidulous 

 liquid from the glands of a stink-bug which accom- 

 panied the berries. In this way, if in no other, the 

 boy learned the virtues of the protective principle 

 possessed by the stink-bug tribe, and future stink- 

 bugs, if not the one in the mouth, profited as a result. 

 Birds probably learn to avoid the use of stink-bugs 

 for food in much the same manner; though, like 

 many other traits of the lower 

 animals, this knowledge may 

 in them be instinctive rather 

 than acquired. 



The second species of bug on 

 the thistle is Leptoglossus phyl- 

 lopus L., dark reddish brown in 

 color and three-fourths of an 

 inch in length. A distinct, narrow 

 whitish band crosses the outer 

 wings ; while the hind tibiae bear 

 broad, flattened, leaf-like projections, each with a 

 small white spot near its inner edge. This is a true 



