XLI Enemies of the Grapevine 310 XLII Clever Mischief-Makers 315 XLIII Nut-Weevils and Flower-Weevils 321 XLIV Enemies of Clover 328 XLV Cabbage-Eaters 333 XLVI A Destructive Family 338 XLVII Fliers with Wings of Gauze 343 XLVIII Beneficent Parasites 349 XLIX Apple-Eaters 358 L Leaf-Rollers 363 LI The Hop-Moth 368 LII The Inchworm 374 LIII Sap-Suckers 381 LIV Queer Musical Instruments 385 ANIMAL LIFE IN FIELD AND GARDEN CHAPTER I WHAT UNCLE PAUL PROPOSES TO TALK ABOUT “In these talks that we shall have together,” said Uncle Paul, as he sat with his nephews one evening in May under the big elder tree in the garden, “I propose to designate as ‘friends’ those forms of animal life that, though not domesticated or cared for by us, nevertheless come to our aid by waging war on insects and various other devouring creatures which would in the end, unless their excessive multiplication were kept in restraint by others besides ourselves, eat up all our crops and lay waste our fields; and it is these ravagers of the farmer’s carefully tilled acres that I shall speak of as ‘foes.’ “What can man’s efforts avail against those voracious hordes, multiplying as they do every year to an extent beyond calculation? Will he have the patience, the skill, the keenness of vision necessary for waging successful warfare on the tiniest species, often the most formidable, when the June-bug, despite its far greater size, baffles all his endeavors? Will he undertake to examine his fields and inspect every lump of soil, every spear of wheat, every separate leaf on his fruit-trees? For so prodigious a task the whole human race would be inadequate, even if it united all its efforts to this one end. The devouring hordes would reduce us to starvation, my children, had we not able helpers to work for us, helpers endowed with a patience that nothing can tire, a skill that foils all ruses, a vigilance that nothing escapes. To lie in ambush for the enemy, to track it to its remotest retreats, to hunt it unceasingly, and finally to exterminate it—that is their sole care, their never-ending occupation. Urged on by the pangs of hunger, they are relentless in their pursuit, both for their own sake and on behalf of their progeny. They live on those that live on us; they are the enemies of our enemies.