136 FIELD ZOOLOGY. 



and you think the poor fellow certainly has killed himself; 

 but you may discover later on that he is swinging craftily 

 at the end of a silken web which he spun for safety when 

 you surprised him. As if these were not enough devices 

 for one worm, if he is at all warned of your coming or if 

 the cuckoo says anything before she gets near enough to 

 see him, he will throw up the forward end of his body, 

 sticking it straight out into the air, stiff and motionless, 

 and the bird often passes this new kind of twig by. But 

 justice sometimes has her due, and the villain is eaten after 

 all his schemes have failed. 



Cutworms. — The pests which, in addition to eating a 

 goodly share of our field and garden crops, also cut off 

 plants at the surface of the ground, thus destroying much 

 more than they can eat. The larvae on hatching out 

 either eat near the surface of the ground upon which the 

 egg was laid, or else crawl to the branches- of some tree 

 to feed during the day, coming back to the ground burrow 

 to spend the night in safety. They are at first minute 

 worms, but soon grow larger and look greasy and plump, and 

 are dark brown with lighter longitudinal lines. According 

 to Comstock, the time and the way to catch the ground- 

 feeding worms is early in the morning or late the previous 

 night by making holes in the ground close to the feeding- 

 places. The worms will crawl into these holes to keep 

 warm or to hide as it grows light, and will be unable to 

 crawl out again if the sides of the holes are smooth. The 

 tree-feeders can be caught by spreading a sheet under the 

 the tree and shaking the worms off, when they can be 

 readily disposed of. 



Some bird enemies of the harmful Lepidoptera de- 

 serve mention here : 



