Evening star., 1902-02-22
Places to Be Let Severely
Alone.
HOW THEY ARE BUILT
THE WooDPECKER KEEPS A FULL
GRANARY.
Nature Study Has an Alphabet to
Be First Mas
tered
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening STAR
Every country boy is acquainted with the
nest OF the common paper wasp. He sees
1t under the caves and roofs OF old farm
buildings and sometimes hanging from
twig on shrub small tree. Wherever
he finds It. he is apt to give 1t a wide berth.
as experience has taught him what fighters
the owners are. IL boy has never disturb
ed the wasps near their nest he has prob
ably felt their sting he walked through
the orchard where they were busy getting
the sweets from the fallen apples
When winter comes all of the wasps, ex-
cept a few of the females, die. These for
tunate ones winter in cracks about barns
or under stones and come out In the warm
days OF spring Each female at once goes
to work and builds small nest, lays her
eggs and commences feeding the young as
they are hatched. AS the grubs reach ma
turity and change to perfect insects they
help in the building and feeding.
The main paper nests are. OF course, MADE
by the adult wasps, but the white, convex
covers are formed by the grubs when they
have got their full growth. The covers are
woven much as other larvae Of insects
weave their cocoons.
The work of paper making as performed
by these red wasps Is interesting They
obtain fiber wherever a wood surface Is eN-
posed TO the elements and has "weathereu
Poplar planks which have remained out
until the soft part of the wood has rotted
and allowed the small tibers to hang, max
ing the plank look like velvet, are IaNorpe
spots from which the raw material Tor nest
building is obtained.
The wasp cuts enough fiber to make q
small ball In its jaws This Is taken TO the
nest and carefully chewed into soft pup.
The pulp is run all the way about the edge
of the CELL and as it begins to dry the wasp
lie II int "a
wasps pull and work the paper TO give I
strength, they are constantly measuring ,he
thickness with their antenae. Ihese are
used much as pair of calipers. one beihs
pIaced on each side of the thin wall or pa
per.
Most Of our native birds are improvident.
never laying up anything TO eat during 'he
long cold winter months. They seemingly
trust to the bounty OF good Mother Ma
ture to spread their daily meal in the tree
tops. fence corners and on the Wide
stretches of open field. A number OF birds
go south as soon as the first severe weather
is felt. But l am speaking OF the birds
which stay with the year through
The blue Jay and some of our woodpeck-
ers, however, often lay up goouiy supply
of nuts and acornS. Sometimes they Will
select a hole in a tree and fill H. lne
woodpeckers more commonly stick their
provisions in cracks and crannies OF the
Late i'm the mellow. fall days, when all
creation is singing her sleepy song of win
ter to come, the red heads and the red
belied woodpeckers become very pusy as
they fly loaded with acorns and beech
nuts, to the trees they have selected Tor
StorehouseS
If a hole in a tree has been chosen. 1t is
simple matter to drop the acorn or nut
in and hurry after another until the re-
ceptacle is full. But If such holes are easy
to fill, they are also likely to overflow with
water and ruin the food. The safest plan
is as usual. the most laborious and that
is the placing of acorns in holes and rough
places in the bark of trees. In such spots
there is little danger of the provender spoil
ing, as 1t cannot remain wet for any great
length Of time.
/ remember giant red oak whose rough.
scanned bark was used year after year by
an Industrious, red-bellied woodpecker for
storehouse. All fall / could hear his Pc
culiar chuckling notes as he filled his gran
ary for winter. II seemed as though he
chuckled in delight over the prospect OF
having so much good to eat He could be
seen hunting for a crack that would fit the
acorn he had in his bill and would hop
| along a branch with his head on one Side,
busly scanning every available nook. Oc-
| casionally he would stop and try to insert
| the acorn into hole. If 1t proved a tight
| fit, he would hammer it carefully to make
1t hold and then hurry after more.
How to Study Nature.
The energetic person who expects to
make nature study a fad of a few weeks
or months is certain to be disappointed.
Nature is an open book which all may read.
but like little child each person must OF
necessity learn the alphabet. Then must
follow slow lessons in putting letters to-
gether into short words. And then simple
sentences can be built up. At first the les
sons are to some extent irksome, but as the
student gradually begins to spell out the
great truths of the universe and read the
unity of all life the task becomes pleas
ure.
Another thing which usually makes the
impetuous person lose heart in this fasci-
mating study is that he falls to properly
see animals and birds when he goes out.
1t is simply because OF his desire to cover
a great amount of territory. The one
great secret for the student Is that he re-
mains quiet. The lesson is one which has
been learned by watching the denizens Of
the forest and open. They all know that to
remain perfectly still means to remain
practically unseen. Even a bird of very
gaudy plumage will be passed unnoticed IL
IL keeps STILL An inconspicuouS bird NOV
ing about will invariably attract attention
before q conspicuous one at rest.
Numerous animals and birds seem to dis
appear absolutely from view when they
become motionless. This instinct Is still
noticeable in some of our common domestic
Gated animals. especially among hogs.
When an old sow and her pigs are sud-
denly frightened while feeding in the high
grass, a startled grunt from the mother
will cause every little pig to drop hat. Ly-
ing close on their stomachs, the only mo-
tion to be seen is the rolling of their small
eyes as they strive to see what has alarmed
their parent. So the main point of nature
study Is not to tramp. but to sit and allow
nature to come to you. Then what Is seen
will be observed Just 1t appears every
day in it's ordinary life, and can be more
truly interpreted.
The Betting Evil.