. The story of hedgerow and pond . ow the water. The beetle larva changes in due timeto a large beetle, which lives part of itslife in the water ; but it has also a largepair of wings carefully folded up underits wing-cases, with which it is able tofly about at night, and go from onepond to another. 138 Pond Life The larvae of the mayflies may beknown by the three whisks at the end oftheir tails. They turn into the greendrake, or mayfly, about the end ofMay. This hatching-time of the mayfly is animportant event in the world of these beautiful insects are con-sidered as great delicac
. The story of hedgerow and pond . ow the water. The beetle larva changes in due timeto a large beetle, which lives part of itslife in the water ; but it has also a largepair of wings carefully folded up underits wing-cases, with which it is able tofly about at night, and go from onepond to another. 138 Pond Life The larvae of the mayflies may beknown by the three whisks at the end oftheir tails. They turn into the greendrake, or mayfly, about the end ofMay. This hatching-time of the mayfly is animportant event in the world of these beautiful insects are con-sidered as great delicacies by many fishand birds, and, being- utterly defenceless,can only carry on their continued exist-ence by their prodigious numbers andtheir rapid rate of increase. When thetime comes for them to leave the waterthey crawl out in the same way as dothe dragon-flies, and the perfect flyappears, leaving the empty skin of itsformer state clinging to the rush orwhatever other object has served as asupport. (If you havent read Charles139. Pond Life Kingsleys Water Babies yow should do soas soon as you possibly can, for it willtell you tales of all sorts of things belowwater and above it in a far more interest-ing way than any fairy tale—and theyare all true.) Then the surface of the water is dottedwith fairy-like forms floating as lightlyas gossamer down the stream, and theair is full of crowds of gauzy, flutteringcreatures. And there seems to be aquite unusual excitement, and an excep-tional number of swallows and martinsand other birds at this spot. If youwatch any particular swallow you willsee that it is circlingabout just where themayflies are thickest, and that in itsflight it seems to meet mayfly after may-fly, and each time the insect suddenlyand mysteriously disappears. Take140 Pond Life another bird, and it is doing the same ;they are all catching maythes as fast asthey can while the * rise is on, for itmay stop at any minute, and the birdsseem determined to make hay while
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectwat
