ato
plants. When we see a woodpecker industriously pecking at the bark of
our apple trees, we know that he is after the larvae of the terrible
codling moth and we call him our friend.

After we learn that a ladybug lives almost entirely on plant lice and
scale insects, we never kill one again except perhaps to place a
specimen In our collection. Naturalists say that without ladybugs, our
orchards would soon be entirely killed off.

The dragon fly or mosquito hawk as well as "water tigers," water
striders and many kinds of beetles are the natural enemies of
mosquitoes and as they never harm our crops we should never harm them.
Nearly every living creature has some enemies.

You have perhaps heard the famous verse of Dean Swift:

"So naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller that upon them prey
And these have smaller still to bite 'em
And so proceed _ad infinitum_."

[Illustration: An observation beehive]

Among our insect friends the leading place belongs either to the honey
bee or the silkworm. As silkworms are not especially successful in
this country and as their principal food, mulberry trees, are not
common, the nature student who cares to study our beneficial insects
had better devote his attention to honey bees. An observation beehive
is simply a glass box or hive instead of a wooden one. When we are not
engaged in studying our bee city, the hive must be covered with a
blanket as bees prefer to work in the dark. A boy or girl living in
the country can also keep bees profitably and thus combine business
with pleasure. A single hive will in a few years produce enough swarms
to give us a good start as "bee farmers."

X

THE CARE OF PETS

Cats--Boxes for song birds--How to attract the birds--Tame crows--The
pigeon fancier--Ornamental land and water fowl--Rabbits, guinea pigs,
rats and mice--How to build coops--General rules for pets--The dog

In this chapter on pets, I regret exceedingly that I cannot say much
in favour of the family cat. Like nearly all children, I was brought
up to love kittens and to admire their playful, cunning ways. When a
kitten becomes a cat my love for it ceases. Cats will do so many mean,
dishonourable things, and will catch so many song birds and so few
rats and mice that it simply has become a question whether we shall
like the song birds or the cat. So many people do like cats that it is
unfair perhaps to condemn the whole race for the misdeeds of a few