They are ruining that fine row of elms in front of the lawn."
"It is undoubtedly the _melolontha vulgaris_," said the professor. I
designate him in this way because he used such large words we did not
understand. My mother told us that she was positive he was president
of a college. "The _melolontha vulgaris_ is the most destructive of
beetles, but the larvae are still more injurious. They do incalculable
damage to the farmer. Fortunately enormous numbers of these grubs are
eaten by the birds."
"Unfortunately the birds are not so numerous as they used to be. They
are being destroyed so rapidly, more's the pity! These grounds and
woods yonder were formerly alive with birds of all kinds. Flocks of
the purple grakle used to follow the plow and eat up the worms at a
great rate. You are familiar with their habits? You know they are
most devoted parents. I have often watched them feeding their young.
The little ones have such astonishingly good appetites that it keeps
the old folks busy to supply them with enough to eat. They work like
beavers as long as daylight lasts, going to and from the fields
carrying on each return trip a fat grub or a toothsome grasshopper."
"I am a great lover of birds," returned the professor enthusiastically,
"and I find them very interesting subjects of study.
Pages:
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28