of
Holland make good breeding places for them; no wonder, then, the Dutch,
who you know live in Holland, have a saying, "As thick as May flies."

Although so many of the May flies perish at once, multitudes of them
drop their eggs into the water to renew the race of May flies.

Is it not wonderful that after so long a period of creeping about in the
mud as larvae, these graceful and beautiful little creatures have but a
few hours in which to dance joyously about in the upper air on wings of
gossamer? Some, indeed, live less than an hour, and some, that come out
in the evening, finish their dance of life and perish before sunrise,
without ever having seen the beautiful daylight.

Yes, strange little beings are they.

They do us no harm and we should not kill them.

Let them live their short lives and be happy.

THE STONE FLY FOLK

[Illustration]

John has been fishing.

What do you think he caught?

Nary fish, my dears, but a goodly number of stone flies, which he has
brought to show us.

Yes, Mollie, they do remind us a very little of our May flies, only, of
course, they are many times larger.

It is rather a clumsy creature in spite of its large wings, and John
says he had no trouble whatever in catching it.

See, it has four wings, and the hind ones are the larger.

Yes, May, they fold up in plaits, like the sticks of a fan.

See its long antennae and its compound eyes. Its eyes are not so large as
are those of the dragon fly. It does not spend its time pursuing other
insects, but is more like the May fly after it gets its wings.

Yes, Ned, it lives longer than the May fly, but it does not live very
long, and it eats little.

It is a pretty little gray thing as it rests on the side of John's box,
with its wings folded like a gossamer cloak over its body.

[Illustration]

It lays its eggs in the water, and out of them hatch little six-legged
larvae that are not troubled by want of appetite. If the winged stone fly
does not eat, its larva does; it is like the other larvae we know, always
devouring something.

[Illustration]

Yes, Charlie, it feeds on living creatures, greatly relishing the larvae
of the May flies, or any other luckless insect infants it can capture.

It grows fast and moults several times, and when winter comes it hides
away, only to come forth at the first breath of spring and continue its
eating.

Like other larvae that live under water, it does its breathing by