Wisconsin School of the Air; Afield with Ranger Mac; 2

TIME 9:30 the Wisconsin School of the air invites you to go on a field with Ranger Mack on today's program boys and girls. Ranger Mack will take you on a radio hike to see the wonder of eggs. It is your guide Ranger Mack. Hello boys and girls. This is your day. So up under way when you stop to think about the great number and variety of creatures that live on this planet of ours all the amphibians all across stations all the molluscs all the insects all the reptiles the centipedes and millipedes hundreds of thousands of different kinds and millions upon millions of some of the kinds like the insects when you stop to think that each one came into this world by the hatching of an aide then you will be filled with wonder at the great number and variety of eggs that must be laid from year to year.

When you were bothered this summer by mosquitoes I'm sure you did not stop to think that each one of that host of mosquitoes came from an egg that developed in the body of the mother mosquito and was laid in a safe place to hatch most of the creatures that live on. And in this earth and in the waters of this earth. All except the mammals and a few of the rep told us were hatched from a goose. These eggs were developed in the body of the mother creature and each mother creature knows exactly where the eggs must be laid in order to hatch. So there are as many different kinds of different places who are exactly laid as there are different kinds of eggs. Most birds build nurseries called nests

where the eggs can be hatched by the want of the parents body. Total eggs. Turtles lay their eggs in the sand where the heat of the sun does the hatching crickets now laying their eggs in the ground. Where the heat of next spring sun will do the hatching. Some insects pierce the bodies of other creatures and lay their eggs in their bodies. Insects lay their eggs in most any place that you can think of in the crevice of the bark of trees and shrubs under the bark in the trunk on the leaves under the leaves in dead animals in rotted vegetation under stones in carpets in books in flour in the stems of plants in the heart of flowers to become worms in fruit in the hair and under the

skin of animals. It is difficult to think of a place where some kind of insect does not lay its eggs. There are some kinds that even lay their eggs in the eggs of other creatures where they hatch and find food. There is nothing more startling more wondered inspiring than the behavior of insects in placing their eggs. Let me cite just a couple of good examples. A number of years ago a very destructive insect called the Koran borer got into this cow country by way of Canada. It lives on the inside of a corn stalk. There is hardly a farm boy or girl but knows how destructive this insect can be. But there is a fly called the Newman fly. I c h n e u m o n. If Newman fly that has a long tube

with which it can bore into the corn stock and lay it say in the body of the corn borer the egg hatches and eats out the inside of the corn borer such an insect is a beneficial insect. It is called a parasite and there are many such kinds of parasites in the insect kingdom. Man cannot locate the corn borer in the corn stock even with any machine that he can invent. But the Newman fry can. On the bottom of page 5 in the teacher's manual you will see a picture of a tomato worm which Ranger Mack found in his garden. A little plant I laid eggs in the body of this worm these eggs hatched at the larva fed upon the flesh of the tomato worm. The picture shows about a hundred fifty cocoons

tiny cocoons of this insect that worm was a terribly sick worm Ranger MCAS told you something about the places where insects lay their eggs. He would like to say a word about the eggs themselves almost as startling as the kinds of places where the insect eggs are laid. Are the eggs themselves when seen through a magnifying glass they appeared tinted an ornamental like pieces of jewelry. They appear in all kinds of shapes according to the kind of insects they have the state of steeples on churches lollypops Camas miniature beer barrels sugar loaves ten pins pearls and their colors are as varied as their shapes. They are one of the wonders of nature these eggs.

Most people do not like insects. Some insects like the lice for the bed bugs seem to have no other purpose in life than that of making man miserable. But the beneficial insects far outnumber the harmful ones and the landscape would be drab indeed. And there would be no songs of birds because there would be no birds and there would be no fishing in our streams because there would be no fish without insects nor would we be here to look upon this scene. Now let's take a hasty glance at the eggs of birds. But first you should know that our fertile eggs whether of insects are of birds are alike in that they are the beginning of new lives. So any fertile egg whether it be that of an ostrich a hummingbird or of a midget

fly contains a single minute cell that is attached to the yolk. This cell has the spark of life where that spark comes from. Only the creator knows when the conditions are right. That cell multiplies to form all the parts of a living breathing moving creature in all eggs. Whatever the kind there is packed all the food that is needed to bring about this growth. Now let's take a look at the hard boiled egg you brought to school. I hope you broil it for at least five minutes longer. It would have been better. And immersed it in cold water immediately after boiling with the edge of a knife the sharp edge of a knife gently break the shell all away around the shorter circumference not link wise of the egg. Of course a file would do this

better. Remove the little pieces of shell and you will discover a membrane beneath. Cut this membrane all the way around. Now you can remove the two halves of the shell the inner surface is lined with a double membrane. This membrane divides at the larger end of the end of the shell to form an air sac. Here is the place where the head of the chick lives. Air moisture want and food are necessary for the development of the life cell. Now cut through the white of the aid all the way around and you can remove the yolk in its entirety. If your regulars a fertilised day you will find on the yoke a dark spot. This is OUR was the life cell in an egg that is not boiled. This life cell always folksong

top of the yolk. No matter which way the egg is turned. Now you have the important parts of the egg. The life cell. The yolk and white which punish food for the growth of the life cell. The membrane which prevents evaporation of moist air and the shell which protects the whole precious bundle. Notice that the yolk is large and a hen's egg it makes up one third to one half of the entire egg. It has the largest amount of valuable food. Also the yolk is always large in those eggs where the young are active and can run about. Soon after hatching. This is true of many of the ground birds like our own domestic hens. They ruffed grouse that killed their prairie chicken quail and many of the water birds like the duck. On the other hand the eggs with smaller

yolks with have less food and the young are born helpless naked and blind. They need the care of parents for woohoo for food and warmth for many days before they can fend for themselves. Most of our songbirds are helpless at birth but Ranger Mack would like to call your attention to the fact that where the young are born helpless the parents provide the best nurseries. Maybe you have wondered why some eggs have color and spots while others are pure white. Generally speaking birds that have nests that are open so that the eggs are exposed to easy view have color. Good examples are the robin Sandpiper kill deer and many of the song birds. It is believed that color AIDS in the concealment

of the eggs when the parent birds are away. The number of eggs laid varies with the different kinds of birds. The penguin lays one egg each year. So do many of the shore birds that lay their eggs on the ledges of cliffs. It is interesting to note that these eggs are pear shaped with a small and rather pointed this prevents the eggs from rolling off the ledge. When they move and when they move they always move in a circle. In general eggs that are exposed to the greatest number to the greatest dangers are laid in the largest amounts. A good example is the quail. Whose eggs are laid in a meager nest on the ground 13 to 15 eggs exposed to dangers of many kinds snakes Hawks crows skunks and rodents.

Nature wants to be sure that some eggs will survive these dangers so that there will always be quail. If our domestic Han were allowed to have her own way she would late to catch is a year of 13 to 15 each. But man removes the eggs she lays some day to day and so the hand keeps on laying for months at a time producing up to 200 eggs a year or even more hours always hoping to have a brood of chicks. Man takes advantage of the motherly instincts of the hand you see to provide food for himself the smallest of birthdays is the hummingbirds. It takes about 50 to weigh an ounce. The largest is the ostrich A which weighs about two and a half pounds.

The ostrich egg would make a good sized breakfast for one person wouldn't it. Good bye until next week and may the Great Spirit put sunshine in your heart today and for ever Mar heap much of. The familiar Indian farewell brings us to the end of another trip afield with Ranger Mack Ranger Mack will be back next week at the same time to take you on another radio hike. Now on the nature trail. Beecher's radio Ranger Max manual is a year round teaching aid for these broadcasts. If you happen to taint your copy yet we urge you to do so at once. See the September issue of the Wisconsin Journal of education for an order form or write direct to the Wisconsin School of the Air Radio Hall Madison 6. The prices 25 cents. This is the Wisconsin School of the air.