. Sharp eyes; a rambler's calendar of fifty-two weeks among insects, birds and flowers . o examine the materialof their tiny baskets. I went back to thebox. I had previously noticed a mottledappearance in its interior, but it had not es-pecially interested me. It now became amatter of more significance. The box was made of common strawboard covered with white paper, and at itsupper edge, inside, were attached two loosepieces of blue paper, which formerly hadcovered the articles packed within—can-dles, I believe. The white paper hadbeen worn through in spots by themyriad pairs of little teeth,
. Sharp eyes; a rambler's calendar of fifty-two weeks among insects, birds and flowers . o examine the materialof their tiny baskets. I went back to thebox. I had previously noticed a mottledappearance in its interior, but it had not es-pecially interested me. It now became amatter of more significance. The box was made of common strawboard covered with white paper, and at itsupper edge, inside, were attached two loosepieces of blue paper, which formerly hadcovered the articles packed within—can-dles, I believe. The white paper hadbeen worn through in spots by themyriad pairs of little teeth, and withthe bits of fibre thus obtained, andby the aid of the silk web, of whichthe caterpillars seemed to have aninexhaustible supply, a countlessnumber of baskets had been mottled effect of the interior ofthe box was caused by the yellowstraw board appearing in spots wherethe covering paper had been gnawed yellow board had again been utilized by several ofthe caterpillar babies, who preferred more highly col-ored homes, and the blue paper was riddled with holes. THE CURIOUS BASKET-CARRIERS 2Q5 by the immense demand made upon it for building-ma-terial. Near by, on the mantel, was a pile of books, in-cludine one old leather-covered volume, from which a & fragment of reel blotting-paper protruded. Both theleather and the blotter had been largely utilized in thebaskets, the soft quality of the red paper having madeit very popular among the little architects, many ofwhich occupied conspicuously gaudy apartments. Itwas from this blotting-paper that the patriotic speci-men above alluded to obtained the red material whichsurrounded his door-way--the white and blue bandshaving been built within the box. o Nor were these all the materials which the buildershad laid under tribute. A green worsted mat, a rednapkin, the black paper of a passe partout frame, hadall furnished their share in the motley acrobatic pro-cession that moved about the apartment. A repetition of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
