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THE BROOK BOOK 



few curl up and stay on the tree ? I tried to pull 

 off the only one I could reach, but it would not 

 come. The branch sprung mockingly upward 

 when I let go. After another effort I succeeded 

 in getting a twig on which there were three leaves. 

 They were, indeed, put on to stay, but not by the 

 tree. They seemed to be sewed on or fast- 

 ened on by means of fine threads woven tightly 

 together. Inside of each leaf was what I could 

 not help recognizing as the cocoon of some 

 insect. What will come out of 

 these cocoons ? When they 

 come out I will tell, not be- 

 fore. They have gone to bear 

 that furry caterpillar company 

 until such time as suits them 

 for further development. On 

 the same tree were masses of 

 tent-caterpillar eggs, well pro- 

 tected from cold and rain by 

 their coat of varnish. How 

 easy it is to see them after one 

 has seen them once ! They 

 seem to stand out clearly, and 

 we wonder that they ever es- 

 cape our notice. I shall leave 

 them on the tree and visit them again during the 

 first warm spell of April. I found these same 

 things on our apple tree in the dooryard and made 

 bold to remove them bodily from their chosen 

 place. Their tents are not handsome ornaments 

 for the lawn, and the neighborly way in which they 



PROMETHEA 

 COCOON — " PUT 

 ON TO STAY" 



