Country Walks of a Naturalist with His ChildrenHoughton, W. (William)
History
Country Walks of a Naturalist with His Children
Houghton, W. (William)
Natural history -- Juvenile literature; Nature study -- Juvenile literature
Passes a cloud, he desperate takes the leap,
With sullen plunge. At once he darts along,
Deep struck, and runs out all the lengthened line;
Then seeks the furthest ooze, the sheltering weed,
The caverned bank, his old secure abode,
And flies aloft, and flounces round the pool,
Indignant of the guile. With yielding hand,
That feels him still, yet to his furious course
Gives way, you, now retiring, following now
Across the stream, exhaust his idle rage;
Till, floating broad upon his breathless side,
And to his fate abandoned, to the shore
You gaily drag your unresisting prize."
There is some good advice here worth remembering; at any rate,
persevere, persevere, and no doubt you will become in time
[Illustration: A MOST SUCCESSFUL ANGLER.]
WALK VI.
JUNE.
"We had many pleasant rambles last autumn," said Willy, "in search of
fungi. How I wish the time was come when we could hunt for fungi
again. Think of the woods at the bottom of the Wrekin, and those
delightful fir plantations near Tibberton. Besides you know some kinds
are so good broiled for breakfast. I often think of fungus-hunting.
When shall we be able to go out hunting again?"
September and October are the best months, but we shall meet with
fungi earlier. However, I will promise you a long day's ramble or two
in search of fungi when the time comes. In the mean time let us keep
our eyes open, and I dare say we shall even now, in the month of June,
meet with a few interesting species. We will go into some of the
meadows near home to-day, and I am much mistaken if we shall not be
able to find St. George's mushroom. It is a very delicious fungus, and
perfectly wholesome. I gathered a few specimens the other day, and now
that the weather is warm, I doubt not we shall meet a good number; so,
besides collecting bottles, we will take a basket, and Jack shall be
the carrier. Now separate yourselves and search this pasture well.
"Here are a lot of fungi growing in a ring," exclaimed May. Let me
look. You have found what we wanted. This fungus is the _Agaricus
gambosus_, or St. George's mushroom. See how closely the gills are set
together; they are yellowish-white in colour; the top is thick and
fleshy; the stem, too, is very thick. Few fungi, comparatively
speaking, grow so early in the year, and you could not mistake
_gambosus_ for any other kind. What? You think the smell rather
strong. Well, I confess this fungus has a strong and not a very
pleasant odour. Put what you have collected into the basket; you will
find that the taste is better than the smell. Here are some specimens
with the top cracked and split; these are a little older, but they are
very good. We will put them with the rest. "Oh, papa," exclaimed Jack,
"I was looking at that ash tree in the hedge, and I thought I saw a
mouse run up the trunk." I suspect it was not a mouse, but a bird,
called, from its habit of running up trees, the tree-creeper. Let us
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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