ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



237 



separate vial, as they will get badly rubbed if 

 kept in the same place as the harder shelled in- 

 sects. But we can put in with them those short, 

 rounded little hoppers, of a greenish color, not 

 bigger than a pin's head, which also have a forked 

 spring in their tails, and belong to the genus 

 Smynthurus. 



Have you got through with the little world 

 under tliis stone? If so, slip your net ou the end 

 of your wallcing-stick, for here comes a I'ellow 

 on the wing, liis colors gleaming and tlashing in 

 the sun. Wait; now is your time, strike ! Now 

 twist your wrist slightly, so as to bring the 

 weight of the net across the mouth of the loop. 

 You can now grasp the net below the loop, and 

 pick out, with the other hand, the specimen ; or 

 pin it through the net, as you prefer. Wliat does 

 it look like? "A darning-needle." Oh I well, 

 you can introduce your hand and seize it witli- 

 out apprehension, for it cannot harm you, spite 

 of its formidable appearance, and the old women's 

 traditions, floating in your memory, of their 

 " sewing up folk's mouths," '• flying in at one 

 ear and out the other," " stinging horses," &c. 

 Drop an atom of chloroform on liim just under 

 his wings on each side; now he is still. "What 

 delicate colors in that slender body ; what glori- 

 ous eyes, in whose depths you seem to see the 

 spirit of life retreating sorrowfully from the 

 graceful body it had inspired but now. Those 

 glassy wings, so transparent, and so crowded 

 with slender dark veins, no longer obey the 

 impulse to soar; those long black spiny feet, 

 one of which faintly moves, and again contracts, 

 as if with a memory of duties undone, are no 

 longer capable of supporting their owner on 

 some sprig or leaf! It hardly seems as if this 

 beautiful creature, larger than some birds, could 

 be related to those little "spring-tails" we just 

 bottled. True, but the evidence is not all in; 

 we are just beginning to learn the connection 

 between species, and genera, and families, and 

 orders, and classes. Let us have patience, and 

 . observe carefully the structure and habits of each 

 insect that comes iu our way, and we may per- 

 haps discover day by day some of the links that 

 connect this Dragon-fly {Anax Junius) with the 



Spring-tails {Podura). 



• » • 



l^ TOADS VS. INSECTS. 



As summer advances the question of Toads 

 versus Insects is sure to come up, and perhaps 

 an experiment of mine on the capacity of a toad 

 may be of interest. Dr. T. W. Harris remarked 

 to me some twenty years ago, that he supposed 

 the odor of the Squash Bug {Coreus tristis), 

 would protect it from the toad, and to test the 



matter I offered one to a grave-looking Bufo 

 under a cabbage. He seized it eagerly, but spit 

 it out instantly, reared up on his hind legs and 

 put his front feet on top of his head for an in- 

 stant, as if in pain, and then disappeared across 

 the garden in a series of the greatest leaps I ever 

 saw a toad make. Perhaps the bug bit the biter. 

 Not satisfied with this, I hunted up another old 

 toad, who lived under the piazza, and always 

 sunned himself in one place in the grass, and 

 offered him a flue Squash Bug, whicli he took 

 and swallowed, winking in a very satisfied 

 manner. Twenty other fine bugs followed the 

 first, in a few moments, with no difficulty nor 

 hesitation in the taking or swallowing, though, 

 from his wriggling and contortions afterward, 

 it seemed as if their corners did not set well 

 within. The stock of bugs being then exhausted, 

 I found a colony of smooth black larviB on a 

 white birch, each about three-quarters of an inch 

 long, and fed him over a hundred of them. 

 Touching one of them with the end of a straw, 

 it would coil around it, and then, when shaken 

 before him, he would seize and swallow it, at 

 first eagerly, bnt with diminished zest as the 

 number increased, until it became necessary to 

 rub the worm against his lips for some time be- 

 fore he could decide about it. He would then 

 take it and sit with his lips ajar for a short time, 

 gathering strength and resolution, and tlien 

 swallow 'oy a desperate effort. 



There is no telling what the number or result 

 would have been, but the dinner bell rang as the 

 101st worm disappeared, and by tlie close of the 

 meal he had retired to his den; nor did he ap- 

 pear for four days in his sunning place. It is to 

 be hoped he slept well, l)ut there may have been 

 nightmares. J. C. Hill. 



Yellow Mpkings, O. 



Fowls vs. Worms. — M. Giot, a Prencli En- 

 tomologist, has lately found new employment 

 for fowls. He says that French larmers have, 

 during the past year, complained bitterly of the 

 prevalence of worms, whicli infest corn and 

 other crops, the highest cultivated fields being 

 the most infested. Fowls are known to be the 

 most indefatigable worm destroyers, pursuing 

 their prey with extraordinary instinct and 

 tenacity. But fowls cannot conveniently be 

 kept upon every field, nor are they wanted there 

 at all seasons. Therefore M. Giot has invented 

 a perambulating fowl-house, which is described 

 as follows: " He has large omnibuses, fitted up 

 with perches above, the nest beneath. The 

 fowls are shut in at night, and the vehicle is 

 drawn to the required spot, and, the doors being 

 opened in the morning, the fowls are let out to 

 feed during the day in the fields. Knowing 

 their habitation, they enter it at nighttall with- 

 out hesitation, roost aud lay their eggs there." 



