Part 18

The horned-tails are the large wasp-like insects that we see about the elm, oak, and maple trees. They bore holes a quarter of an inch in diameter in the tree trunk, and in these holes the eggs are laid. Sometimes they get their augers wedged and are unable to free themselves. The horned-tails are destructive, and should be killed whenever found. They sometimes remain in the pupa state so long, that the tree may be cut down and the wood made into furniture before they finally emerge.

July Sixth

Before now you have probably seen the ruby-throated hummingbird poising over the flowers in your garden. Sometimes he goes through strange antics. Mounting ten or fifteen feet into the air, he swoops down in a graceful curve, then turns and repeats the performance time and time again.

Notes

July Seventh

In travelling from burrow to burrow, woodchucks often make roads a quarter of a mile long through the grass. Occasionally you will get a long distance view of the "'chuck" as he scuds to the mouth of his hole, and rising on his hind legs, stands erect and watches you, then bobs out of sight. He is the most alert and keen-eyed of all American rodents, and his presence in such numbers, despite the war waged upon him, proves his ability to take care of himself.

July Eighth

"The interrupted fern is less a lover of moisture than its kindred. The fertile fronds are usually taller than the sterile leaves, and they remain green all summer. The spore-bearing organs are produced near the middle of the frond" (Clute), thus "interrupting" the pinnæ growth of the leaf. It is also called Clayton's fern.

July Ninth

The hind feet of a honey bee are provided with stiff fringes. With these the bee scrapes from the rings of its body the oily substance that is exuded, and passes it to the mouth. After chewing and working it between the mandibles (for the bee has mouth-parts for biting, and a proboscis for sucking the juices and honey from plants), it becomes soft and is then built into comb.

WOODCHUCK.]

Notes

July Tenth

From the depths of the forest and thick underbrush, you will hear the "teacher, teacher, TEACHER, TEACHER" (in a swift crescendo) of the golden-crowned thrush, ovenbird, or teacher-bird. It is a note of such volume that, instead of a bird the size of a robin, you are surprised to find that the songster is no larger than a song sparrow. He is called ovenbird because his nest is covered over and resembles somewhat an old-fashion bake oven.

July Eleventh

Some "glow-worms" are female fire-flies or lightning-bugs. There are at least a score of common insects that are luminous, besides some rare ones. With some species of fire-flies (our common fire-fly included) both sexes are winged, while with others the females lack wings and are known as "glow-worms."

July Twelfth

With most birds, the female only builds the nest and incubates the eggs, after which both birds usually assist in bringing up the young. Some of the exceptions to this rule are the male Bob-white, house wren, catbird, blue-headed, yellow-throated, and warbling vireos, and the barn and eave swallows, each of which does his share of the domestic duties and takes care of the young birds.

Notes

July Thirteenth

Through ignorance we often persecute our best friends. The ichneumon fly is a parasitic insect that all should know. It lays its eggs in the larvæ of many injurious insects, and its larvæ feeds upon them. A great enemy to the horned-tails, it is invariably misjudged and killed, when discovered with its ovipositor inserted in one of the borings of the horned-tail fly.

July Fourteenth

How beautiful is the awakening of the evening primrose. No sooner is the sun beneath the horizon, than the calyx begins to swell and out springs a yellow petal. Then another and another appear before your very eyes, until the petals look like the blades of a screw propeller. The blossom is often less then five minutes in opening, and is immediately surrounded by tiny black insects.

July Fifteenth

Young spotted sandpipers, or "tip-ups," are able to leave their nest (in a slight depression in the ground) soon after the eggs hatch. It is indeed interesting to watch a family of these animated woolly balls on stilts, running along the shore with their parents. When pursued they sometimes will take to the water and cling to the vegetation on the bottom.

Notes

July Sixteenth

The perfectly round white heads of the button bush are now conspicuous along the streams, bogs, and lakes. The long slender styles project from all sides like the quills on the back of a frightened hedgehog. Although this shrub is a lover of water and damp soil, "it is sometimes found on elevated ground, where it serves, it is claimed, as a good sign of the presence of a hidden spring. The inner bark is sometimes used as a cough medicine." (Newhall.)