The Chicago Academy of Sciences there 

 is a young grebe which I picked up dead 

 near the nest of a Black Tern. The 

 grebe had crawled on the floating debris 

 to rest. The Tern had killed it by thrust- 

 ing its bill through its eye. 



It is often quite difficult to find the 

 nests, even after a colony has been lo- 

 cated. The eggs are almost the color of 

 the wet and muddy reeds on which they 

 are laid. It has been said that the birds 

 will also roll the eggs in the mud in order 

 to make them less observable. 



Apparently the Black Terns do not 

 feed upon fish at any time. Their foods 

 consist of aquatic insects and largely of 

 dragon flies which they catch w^hile on 

 the w^ing. Mr. Thompson says : "The 



bird may frequently be seen dashing 

 about in a zig-zag manner so swiftly the 

 eye can offer no explanation of its motive 

 until, on the resumption of its ordinary 

 flight, a large dragon fly is seen hanging 

 from its bill and sufficiently accounts for 

 the erratic movements of the bird. After 

 having captured its prey in this way, I 

 have frequently seen a Tern apparently 

 playing with its victim, letting it go and 

 catching it again, or if it is unable to 

 fly, dropping it, and darting under it to 

 seize it again and again before it touches 

 the water." The Terns will fly long dis- 

 tances over the prairies and many miles 

 from their nesting marshes in their hunt 

 for dragon flies. 



Frank Morley Woodruff. 



AN AUNT JANE STORY. 



BUTTERFLIES. 



The children at Woodland had cap- 

 tured a beautiful Butterfly in their new 

 net. As they crowded around their aunt 

 to show her the fine specimen she gave 

 them a little talk on Butterflies. 



"Do you know," children, she began, 

 "that there is an analogy between insects 

 and flowers?" 



''No, indeed, I do not see any like- 

 ness," said Alice. 



"I do," cried Bird, "if that is what 

 analogy means, there is an orchid which 

 looks just like a Butterfly. 



"I mean this, that the seed, bud, and 

 corolla of the flower correspond to the 

 egg, chrysalis and widespread wings of 

 the insect. Especially is this the case in 

 reference to those flowers of the air — 

 the Butterflies." 



"Do tell us more," pleaded the inter- 

 ested children. 



"Certainly, with pleasure, I only wish 

 I had more knowledge at my command, 

 when I see your eager faces. The eggs 

 of Butterflies are either cone, spindle, or 

 thimble-shaped. In color they are red, 

 brown, yellow, or else deep green with 

 a net-work of white. Though very 

 minute in size, the surfaces are often 

 carved, ribbed or pitted, though some 

 are quite smooth." 



"That sounds just as if you were 

 describing the flower seeds you showed 

 us under the microscope the other day," 

 exclaimed Madge. "Oh, but they were 

 beauties !" 



"One kind," Aunt Jane continued, 

 "has a lid at the end, which opens eas- 

 ily to allow the insect to escape. The 

 surface of the eggs is covered with a 

 kind of varnish which protects them from 

 the weather, and also seems to fasten 



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