“Poor, dear little thing!” cried Dolly. “What a shame to kill you!”
“It is the otter’s nature,” said Uncle George. “He does a great deal of good, for he kills many water-voles, or rats, as they are sometimes called, as well as frogs and water insects. Sometimes, however, he does harm, for he catches salmon, trout, and wild-ducks. He seems to do this more for sport than for food, for he only eats small portions of his prey.”
Questions and Exercises.
1. Write down the names of some animals you would expect to find if you walked along the bank of a stream. 2. Describe the Otter and the Weasel. Tell in what way they are like and unlike.
Common and Ox-eye Daisy compared.
IV.—DWELLERS IN THE CORN FIELD.
As Uncle George walked by the edge of the corn field, Dolly and her two brothers ran up to him. Dolly carried a bunch of huge daisies in her hand.
“We want you to tell us about these, Uncle George,” she said. “Tom says that these are the little field daisies grown up; and Frank says they are not.”
“Frank is right,” said Uncle George, laughing. “This is not the common field daisy. It is the ox-eye daisy. You might bring me a common daisy, Frank. I am sure there are many growing near. Ah, here is one at our feet! Now let us hold them side by side.