WINTER GKMS AND SECRETS 151 
string, grasped it firmly with both feet and, head down¬ 
wards, slid the entire length until he reached the suet. 
But that was a Harvard College bird—our own nuthatches 
are not so athletic. 
Winter Gems and Secrets. 
BY SUSY C. FOGG. 
N the winter season of ice and snow, in¬ 
sect life is apparently at a low ebb, and 
it is only by some show of real interest 
on our part, that Nature is willing to 
betray the secrets of her wonderful pro¬ 
vision for the return of her children in 
the spring. Where do they go and how 
do they, live in the cold days that are 
upon us ? 
These are some of the places that may be searched, and 
not in vain : I11 the beds of running brooks and ponds 
active life abounds at all seasons of the year, but those in¬ 
sects which.live surrounded by air generally pass the win¬ 
ter in a dormant condition. Took among the raspberry 
canes and notice here and there the rough places upon the 
bark. By making a lengthwise slit with your knife along 
this line of punctures, you may discover a row of yellow 
egg-cases imbedded in the pith. The brood of Snowy 
Tree Crickets is assured for another summer, if all goes 
well, and will help to swell the chorus on late August 
nights, when time is too precious to sleep and there is mu¬ 
sic and a stirring almost equal to that of day. 
Near by, in the brambles, is the nest of the carpenter 
bee, and the mother bee herself is waiting there and 
watching for the time when her family will be matured. 
Under the bark of trees, the chickadees and woodpeck¬ 
ers will show you where, are countless numbers of eggs 
