INSECTS OF THE GARDEN 201 



in length, just beneath the surface of the ground. If 

 grasshoppers are numerous, the children may find them 

 laying in September. Experiment by feeding a few, in 

 order to determine how much grass they destroy. Grass- 

 hoppers are, further, of special interest in relation to bird 

 foods. It will be noticed in the food chart. Chapter XIX, 

 that all our common birds feed upon grasshoppers, the only 

 insect, in fact, of which this is true.^ 



Crickets are similar to grasshoppers in life story, eggs, 

 and feeding habits, and are even more interesting from 

 the way they "chirp." This may readily be observed if 

 a few are kept for a time in a vivarium, and the phenome- 

 non never fails to fascinate a child. Crickets may be fed 

 on grass, apple cores, or bits of raw carrot. 



Good Books on Garden Insects 



William Saunders. Insects I?ijiii'ioiis to Fruits, 436 pp. ; 440 

 illustrations. J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1S92. 



Mary Treat. InJ2irious Insects of the Farm and Garden, 

 296 pp.; 171 illustrations. Orange Judd Co., New York, 1S92. 



^ Food for soft-billed birds, robins, orioles, mocking birds, etc., is expen- 

 sive, " ants' eggs " costing about one dollar per pound. Some states are 

 paying bounties of one dollar per bushel for grasshoppers destroyed, and it 

 is quite certain that a very inexpensive and perfect bird food might be made 

 by a suitable preparation of these insects. Possibly they could be scalded 

 or steamed and thoroughly dried, then moistened again, as we treat " ants' 

 eggs" for feeding. If the grasshoppers are caught, as they always should 

 be, before egg laying has begun, no bird food could be more nutritious. 



