96 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



shall lie securely until the emergence of the 

 little hummers. Strange to relate, these are 

 short billed, in reminiscence of the ancestral 

 condition. But before they leave the nest the 

 bill has lengthened, and their identity is plain. 

 Nature jumbles together, in strange jux- 

 taposition, the most dissimilar creatures, 

 and here comes a humble brown visitor, 

 just out from his winter nap. 



THE "JUNE-BUG" AWAKES 



The "June-bug" is not a bug, nor does 

 he arrive in June; he is a beetle and he 

 comes in May. It is true he keeps on com- 

 ing all through June, and that gives some 

 little excuse for half of the name. But the 

 other half has no justification whatever. 

 By persons not versed in this sort of lore 

 almost any insect is called a bug. In truth 

 that name should only be applied to such 

 insects as, inserting a piercing tongue into 

 the tissues of animals or plants, suck their 

 juices. The May-beetle, for such is the 

 proper name of the June-bug, does no such 

 thing. With a pair of small cutting jaws 



