SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS,
5, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLXX.
PREFACE.
In this little book my desire has been, not so much to impart knowledge to young people, as to induce them to acquire it for themselves. I have endeavoured to show that Country Walks may be full of interest and instruction to all who care to make good use of their eyes. If I have failed, the fault rests with me for the way in which I have treated the subject. I am aware that I have occasionally used words and phrases which may puzzle young brains, but I hope that nearly all will be intelligible to boys and girls of nine or ten years old, with a little explanation from parents or teachers.
The chief, if not the sole merit of this little book consists in the illustrations which adorn it; and I must express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Gould, the eminent ornithologist, for his kind permission to copy some of the magnificent drawings in his work on 'The Birds of Great Britain.' To Mr. R. S. Chattock, of Solihull, I am also deeply indebted, for the pains he has taken in reproducing, on a reduced scale, Mr. Gould's drawings, and for the drawings of the sticklebacks and the frontispiece. My generous friend and neighbour, Mr. Eyton, of Eyton, has furnished another instance of his numerous acts of kindness, in allowing me the use of Mr. Gould's work and of various woodcuts. To two lady friends I also express my best thanks; and last, though not least, to the publishers, Messrs. Groombridge, for the care they have taken to present the volume to the public in a very attractive form.
CONTENTS.
- PAGE
- WALK I.—April[1]
- On the Moors — Swallows — Water-voles — Peewits — Marsh Marigold — Water-primrose — Moles — Herons — Kingfishers — Moschatelle — Water-scorpion.
- WALK II.—April[17]
- Ophrydium — Reed Sparrow — Whirligig Beetles — Fresh-water Mussels — Zebra Mussel — Titmice — Thrushes cracking Snail-shells — Dabbling in a Pond — Dyticus, or Great Water-beetle — Corethra Larva — Weasels.
- WALK III.—May[36]
- Searching for Sticklebacks' Nests — Nest-making Fish — Snail Leeches — Other Leeches — Cuckoo Flowers — Blue Speedwell — Stitchwort — Tadpoles — Frogs — Frog and Cat.
- WALK IV.—May[50]
- The Melicerta or Tubicolous Wheel-animalcule — Water-crowfoot or Buttercup — Sedge-warbler — Reed-warbler's Nest — Cuckoos — Horsetail — Hydræ.
- WALK V.—May[69]
- Drive to Shawbury — Trout Fishing — Parasite on Trout — Curious habit of a Two-winged Fly — Ephemeræ, or May-flies — Willy hooking out Dace — Another fish Parasite — Globe Flower — Dragon-flies — Quotation from Thomson's 'Seasons.'
- WALK VI.—June[84]
- In the Fields — St. George's Mushroom — Tree-creepers — A handful of Grasses — Nettles and Dead Nettles — Butterfly — Larvæ feeding on Nettle Leaves — Fresh-water Polyzoa — Eggs of Newts — Development of Newts — Donacia Beetles — Planarian Worms.
- WALK VII.—June[103]
- Hedgehog and young ones — Hedgehogs, injurious or not? — On the Moors again — Great Tomtit — Shrikes or Butcher Birds — Lady-bird Beetles — Swifts — Coots — Water-hens — Grebes — Convolvulus.
- WALK VIII.—July[119]
- Frog's Spawn Alga — Other Fresh-water Algæ — Hawks — Kestrel — Sparrow Hawk — Buzzard — Shrew-mouse, superstitions about — Spiders' Nests and Webs — Spiders' Fangs — Spiders' Feet.
- WALK IX.—July[133]
- In the Fields again — Scarlet Pimpernel — Goat's Beard — Caddis Worms and Flies — Forget-me-not — Goldfinches — Cruelty of country lads to young birds — Grasshoppers — Crickets — Pike, voracity and size of.
- WALK X.—October[145]
- In the Woods at the foot of the Wrekin — A hunt for Fungi — Fly Agarics — Victims nailed to a tree — Gamekeepers — Squirrels — Rare Fungi — Woodcocks — Ring-marks on fallen timber — Conclusion.