202 A BUSY CITY AND THOROUGHFARE. 



away and returning, but they do it with their own 

 sweet wills, and have the use of their many eyes 

 along the way; but here is an instance of an 

 insect, lower in the scale, blindfolded and carried 

 to a locality where, it is safe to say, she never visited 

 before, returning safe and sound. It would have 

 been interesting to have followed her through all 

 her winding ways. Her long absence indicated 

 sharp searching, and sharp searching means an 

 active operation of mind. 



This city with its busy hum is not without its 

 robbers and murderers, in the form of the tiger 

 beetles, that have come here to excavate their 

 tunnels like their peaceable, enterprising neigh- 

 bora. They are among the swiftest in the order 

 Coleoptera, and veritable tigers in their predaceous 

 habits. Their large eyes, sharp-toothed mandibles 

 and long, slender legs, especially fit them for the 

 trade of killing and making off with their plunder. 

 Their larvae, too — ugly-looking babies — as soon as 

 they have attained a certain age crawl at the mouths 

 of their burrows, where they lie in wait, ready to 

 pounce on any unwary stroller that may come 

 within their reach. These tiger beetles somewhat 

 resemble that other family of runners ( Oarahidce) 

 so common under stones, where they hide in the 



