Nightingale.
Nightingale.
Frank could not resist a mighty draught of the cool wine, although it is anything but a good thing to take at such a time. An orange is the best thing,—it slakes the thirst, and does no injury to the stomach. The clergyman turned out to be Marston's father, and his mother and sisters were in the carriage. They invited our three boys to dine with them that evening; and after the yacht had been taken to her mooringsnear the railway bridge, the boys walked a mile out of the town to Mr. Marston's house, and there spent a very pleasant evening. After dinner they played croquet, and once, when it was Frank's turn to play it was found that he was totally oblivious of the game, and had his eyes fixed on an elegant brown bird which was flitting about the shrubs in the garden.
"Now then, Frank," said Marston, "it is your turn." Frank played and then asked,
"Is not that bird a nightingale?"
"Yes, her nest is at the bottom of that bush. Watch how she goes to it."
Nightingale's Nest.
Nightingale's Nest.
The bird hopped about in a promiscuous sort of way, just as if there were no nest there, and then, when she got near it, she hopped upon it in quite an accidental manner.
"She knows that we know her nest is there, because we look at it every day, but she always pretends she is only there by accident."
Frank went to look at the nest. It was untidy in make, built of straw and twigs, and lined with leaves. It contained five olive-brown eggs which were near to hatching.
"You must not take any of these, Mr. Merivale," said Miss Marston.
"No, I do not wish to do so," said Frank, but his looks so belied his words that they all laughed at him.
"There are two more nests about the grounds," said Marston, "and I have some eggs in the house which you can have."
Frank thanked him, and asked if there were any more nightingales about.
"There are so many about that many times I cannot go to sleep for the noise they make."
"Noise!" said his sister reproachfully.
"Yes, when it is dinned into one's ears so much, any singing becomes noisy."
Frank thought his friend was joking, but about ten o'clock they were strolling about the grounds in the bright moonlight, and then they heard nightingales singing all round them. The boys thought they had never heard such sweet sounds. First the song would commence with an intensely sweet, low, single note or pipe. Then would follow a strong clear flood of melody which was entrancing in its richness. Then the bird would cease, and in a few seconds another bird would answer from a little distance. Then the first one would reply, and a third would take up the strain from a different quarter. The moonlight silence of the night, the ravishing strains of bird music which made the grove vocal, and the heavy fragrance of the flowers which floated on the dewy air, made the evening most perfect and beautiful.
A queer Umbrella.—Visit to Scoulton Gullery.—Driving Tandem.—Running away.—Black-headed Gulls.—Collecting the Eggs.—Carp.—Wood Argus Butterfly.—Scarlet Pimpernel.—Grasshopper Warbler.—Chiff-Chaff.—Gall-Fly.—Robins' Pincushions.
Theboys slept at the Royal Hotel that night, and to their surprise found Sir Richard's groom there. He had brought the brougham to town for repairs, and had orders to wait until it was finished, which would not be until the next day but one.In the meantime his two ponies were in the stables with nothing to do. Here was a good opportunity for a long drive. Frank at once suggested that they should drive to Scoulton and see the breeding-place of the black-headed gulls. This was agreed to without hesitation. Then Frank said that as he had a pair of horses they might as well drive tandem, and he undertook to drive. Mason, the groom, objected to this, because he was afraid that Master Frank could not drive well enough; but Frank was positive that he could, although he had never driven tandem before. He said he knew the theory, and he was certain the practice was easy. At last it was agreed that the horses should be harnessed tandem, and that if Frank could not manage them he was to give the reins up to Mason.
"Why do the black-headed gulls breed at Hingham, which is an inland place? I always thought they bred by the sea," said Dick.
"The black-headed gulls don't. Every year as the breeding season approaches, they leave the sea and go to certain lakes or rivers, where from 'time immemorial' they have bred. Scoulton Mere near Hingham is one of these places, and they breed there in countless numbers, going there in March and leaving in July or August. It is a sight worth seeing, I can assure you. There are not many places in England now where they breed in such numbers as they do at Scoulton," answered Frank.
"What a curious instinct it is which leads them there. And how funny that for half a year they should live on salt food by the sea, and then for the other half on fresh-water food," said Dick.
Frank and Jimmy were standing in the archway of the Royal Hotel the next morning wondering where Dick was. It was raining heavily, and they had had to put off starting to Hingham. Presently Dick was seen running up the Walk with his coat collar turned up, evidently pretty well drenched. Under his arm however he had a very nice-looking umbrella.
"Oh, Dick," said Frank as he joined them, "whatever have you been buying an umbrella for, and why, having bought one, do you not put it up when it rains?"
"I believe every person I passed all the way from the top of St. Giles's Street would have liked to ask me that question. They plainly thought that I was a fool," Dick answered rather crossly.
"Well, no wonder. Why didn't you put it up?"
"It is not an umbrella at all, but a butterfly-net;" and he unfolded the supposed umbrella and opened it out into a good-sized butterfly-net.
"I did not much like to be seen carrying a great butterfly-net through the town, so I thought this a good dodge to save appearances, and lo and behold it serves me this trick the first time I carry it."
"Well, it could not help the rain, Dick," said Frank laughing.
These umbrella-nets are capital things, although they are useless in a shower. The reader may easily make one for himself in this way: Get an old umbrella-stick and place the catch which holds the umbrella open, lower down, so as to increase the diameter of your net; then get two slips of strong crinoline steel, make the ends red hot, and bend them with a pliers into little loops. Then fasten one end of each to the top of the stick with a piece of wire, and the other ends to the sliding ferrule. When this ferrule is pushed up to the catch the steels form a circle, to which the net can be attached. Slip the ferrule back, and the net can be rolled up round the stick just like an ordinary umbrella, and a case put over it. A very handy and useful net is thus formed, and one which is very portable. If you do not care to make it, it may be bought from a dealer for a small sum, but I should advise every boy to make himself all the things he can. He will thus not only save his money to buy those things which he cannot make, but he will (which is far more important) learn how to turn his hand to useful purposes, and encourage habits of self-reliance which will be very useful to him in after life. In addition to this, one gets far more pleasure from using a thing one has made oneself, than one which has been bought.
About twelve o'clock the rain cleared away and they decided to start. So the horses were harnessed in a dog-cart belonging to the inn, which also supplied them with the tandem harness, and the turn-out, which looked very creditable, was brought to the front of the inn, and the boys took their seats. Frank and Dick sat in front, and Jimmy and the groom behind. Frank felt nervous as he took hold of the reins, but pretended to feel quite at his ease. To his astonishment their steeds started off very quietly; and as the streets were very clear of traffic, they got out of the town without any accident. As soon, however,as they got into the open roads the leader evinced a strong desire to look about him, and presently his movements grew so erratic that Dick said he was sure he would turn round and look at them before long. Frank resented this imputation on his skill in driving by giving the leader a cut with the whip, whereupon he attempted to bolt, and it was as much as Frank could do to hold him in. Then sometimes he would hang back, so that the traces were loose, and the wheeler did all the pulling; and then he would start forward and nearly break the traces. After this sort of thing had gone on for some two or three miles, the wheeler, which had been going very steadily, began to imitate the bad example of his leader; and Frank and his companions began to wish they had let tandem-driving alone.
They came to a turnpike gate and, on Frank attempting to pull in the horses in order to pay the toll, he found that they were beyond his control, and after cannoning rather severely against the gate-post, they fairly bolted, and tore away at a great pace along the road, which was fortunately pretty straight and free from vehicles.
"Sit still," said Frank, "don't jump out, or you will come to grief. As long as there is nothing in the way they shall go as fast as they like. They will get tired of it sooner than I shall."
Away they went like the wind, the dog-cart bounding over the ruts and small stones in the roadway so that the boys had to hold on as tightly as they could. A large waggon now appeared in sight, and they rapidly came up with it. Frank tried to turn his horses a little, but they had the bits in their teeth and would not swerve out of their course. The waggoner, seeing the state of affairs, promptly drew his horses and waggon close up to the side of the road in time for the runaways to pass them safely, but the wheels were within an inch of coming into collision. On they went until they came to a rise in the road, and here the horses, seeing that a long hill stretched before them, began to draw in.
"Now," said Frank, "you have come at this pace so far for your own satisfaction, you shall go to the top of the hill at the same pace for mine." And he lashed them up and made them gallop right to the top of the hill, which was half a mile long, and then they were glad enough to be pulled up.
"You will have no more trouble with them now, sir," said Mason, and he was right. The horses went as steadily aspossible the rest of the way, and Frank's opinion of himself as a driver, which had been going down, again rose. Their way led through a fine and well-wooded country; and after the rain, the trees, the long stretches of corn-fields, and the meadows, shone out with their brightest emerald; and in the shady parts, where the sun had not dried up the rain-drops, it seemed as if a sheeny silk mantle had been cast over the fields. About two o'clock they reached Scoulton Mere, which lay by the road side, separated from it by a belt of trees. A keeper was entering the gate into the wood as they drove up, and Frank at once called out to him, and asked if they might go and see the gulls' nests.
"Oh yes, sir, I am going to collect the eggs now, and you can come with me. Bring your horses in here. There is a shed where we can put them up."
"Hurrah, we are in luck!" said Frank to his companions.
They drove into the woodland glade over the softest moss and between great masses of rhododendrons which were still in flower.
Leaving the horses in charge of Mason, they accompanied the keeper to the pool. It was about eighty acres in extent with a large island in the centre. As they reached the banks the air became filled with a thundering noise of wings, and as white as a snowstorm with the numbers of gulls which rose in the air at their approach.
"Oh, there are thousands and thousands of them!" said Dick in amazement.
"And if you look, there are as many on the water as in the air," answered the keeper.
Floating with the peculiar lightness which distinguishes the gull tribe, the birds seemed to occupy almost every yard of water.
"You spoke of collecting the eggs," said Dick to the keeper; "what do you do with them?"
"Oh, we sell them for eating. They are as good as plovers' eggs. I can get one shilling and sixpence or two shillings a score here for them, and the men who buy them of me get a good profit in Norwich market."
"How many eggs do you get?"
"Oh, that depends upon whether it is a good year or a bad one. In a good year we take 12,000 eggs or more. This yearwe have had one take already of 2,500 in one day, and I expect to get about 1,500 to-day. You see my men are collecting already. We only take the first laying of each bird if we can help it, but nests are so close together that it is hard to remember which we have taken and which we have not. If you would like to come on the Hearth, as we call the island in the middle, you can do so, but you must put these mud boards on your feet, for it is very soft and dangerous walking."
Common Gull.
Common Gull.
They crossed to the island in a heavy tub of a boat, and were surprised to see the number of eggs and nests. The nests were not more than one yard apart, built on the ground like water-hens', but not so cup-shaped. The number of eggs seemed to be aboutthree in each nest, and their colour was generally olive brown, blotched and spotted with darker brown, but there was a very great variety in their colour. Some were very light, some were very dark, and others were all blue like a heron's egg. The business of collecting the eggs went on very quietly and expeditiously, but the boys were almost made dizzy with the constant swooping of the gulls about their heads, and almost deafened by their cries. One part of the marshy island was so soft that no one could walk upon it, and the gulls which bred there never had their nests disturbed except by the rats and weasels, which naturally abound in such places.
Young Gulls covered with Down.
Young Gulls covered with Down.
The black-headed gull derives its name from the black patch on its head, which, however only appears during the breeding season.
"When do the gulls arrive?" the boys asked.
"Well, sir, a lot of them come in March and stay for a day or two, as if to see that everything is right; and then they go away, and in a few days afterwards the whole of them come and begin to lay directly. There was some very stormy weather in March this year and they were late in coming, or most of the eggs would have been hatched by now."
"And when do they leave?"
"In July and August they begin to go away, and leave in the night; and by the end of August very few are left."
"One would think that this small lake would scarcely afford sufficient food for them," said Jimmy.
"Oh they scour the country around, sir. They follow the plough and spread over the fields like rooks. They catch moths and other insects. They eat mice, and if a young bird (not their own) came in the way they would make a meal of it."
They bought a score of the eggs for the purpose of exchange, and then rowed round the pool watching the wonderful scene. There were plenty of other birds beside gulls there. Coots, water-hens, water-rails, grebes and dabchicks were in plenty.
Carp.
Carp.
"I should think that there cannot be many fish here where the gulls would eat up all the spawn," said Frank; but as he spoke Dick pointed out the backs of a couple of immense carp which were basking on the top of the water, and a little further on they saw the body of a huge eel, and they were told by the keeper that there were any number of eels there.
They were invited by the keeper to take tea at his cottage, and they had some of the gulls' eggs boiled, and very goodthey were. After tea they went for a birds'-nesting ramble through the wood.
"Oh, look here!" said Jimmy; "when we came this afternoon all this place was covered with the scarlet pimpernel, and now there is not one to be seen. They have all closed up."
"Yes," answered the keeper, "they always do that about four o'clock, and all day long when the day is dull. We call them wink-a-peep, and sometimes shepherd's weather-glass."
"How different to these dingy meadow brown butterflies which are fluttering all about us. I have seen them fly on the most damp and cheerless of days, when not another butterfly could be seen. I like them, although they are so dingy and ugly, because they are so hardy and homely."
"What butterfly is that?" said Jimmy, pointing to one that flitted past. Dick's net was ready in a moment, and off he went in chase. Bringing back his prize, they examined it and pronounced it to be the speckled wood butterfly or wood argus. It is a common insect nearly everywhere. It has wings of a deep-brown spotted with buff, and on the wings are pure white eyes with glossy black circles around them. It maybe seen in every woodland glade, and is not at all shy.
"Hush!" said Frank; "is that a shrew-mouse or a grasshopper which is making that chirruping noise?"
"It is neither, sir," replied the keeper; "it is a bird, and there it is creeping about the bottom of that hedge like a mouse."
"Oh, I know what it is, it is a grasshopper warbler. Let us look for its nest."
They searched for quite a quarter of an hour before they found it. It was placed on the ground in the middle of a tuft of grass and at the foot of a bush. It was cup-shaped, made of grass and moss, and contained six eggs which were pinkish-white in colour, spotted all over with reddish-brown.
The note of this little bird seems to be of a ventriloquial character like that of the landrail or corncrake. I have searched many a time in the exact spot where the sound appeared to come from, and then perhaps discovered that the bird was on the other side of the lane.
Jimmy next found a nest on the ground. It was arched over like a wren's, and was very beautifully constructed out of moss, hair, and feathers. It contained five round white eggsspotted with red. In order to identify it more positively as that of the chiff-chaff, which they suspected it was, they watched for some time, and saw the bird, a little pale-brown thing, creep up to it and enter it.
I would particularly impress on my boy readers the necessity of thoroughly identifying the nest and eggs which they find. It is often impossible to tell accurately without seeing the old bird, and as the value of a collection depends upon the accuracy of its named specimens, no trouble should be spared in ensuring thorough identification. This remark applies to collections of every kind. "What is worth doing at all is worth doing well."
Chiff-Chaff.
Chiff-Chaff.
The keeper said, pointing to some red, hairy masses on a bramble bush, "We call these robins' pincushions; can you tell me what causes them?"
"Oh yes," said Dick, "they are galls caused by a little grub which afterwards turns into a fly."
"They are very pretty things to be caused by a dirty little grub," said Jimmy; "and pray what causes this cuckoo-spit?" pointing to one of the little lumps of water foam which are so common on plants and grasses in the summer.
Dick said they were caused by the larvæ of a fly likethe galls, but as they were puzzled to know how it produced this casing of spit, when they got back to Norwich they went into the library and found, in a number ofScience Gossip, the following information about it:—
"The larvæ, as soon as it is hatched commences operations on some juicy stem or leaf, no matter what, so it be sappy enough; thrusts in its long proboscis; pumps up the sap; blows it off in small bubbles through a pipe in its tail, and so speedily constructs for itself a cool, moist, translucent home. By and by the sap dries up, and the insect changes its form and becomes winged."
Oak-Gall-Fly.
Oak-Gall-Fly.
It was now getting dusk, and the gulls were flying low over the meadows, hawking about like swallows. The boys went to see what they were catching, and saw that they were feeding on the ghost-moths which were hovering over the grass-tops with that vibrating and ghost-like flight which is so peculiar to them. Every country boy must know the ghost-moths which, large and small, white and yellow, hover over the hay-fields in the monthof June. Their size alone makes them conspicuous, and they have a weird look as they flit about in the warm, still twilight.
Dick got several for his collection, and then it was time to be returning; and after making due acknowledgment to the friendly keeper they drove back through the quiet night, while nightingales sang around them, and the great red moon rose over the eastern woods, and quenched the pale light of the stars. The horses went well together, and they had no trouble with them; and when they got back to the hotel they went to bed, declaring they had spent a very jolly day.
Back again.—Taken in Tow.—Bobbing for Eels.—Glow-worms.—Home.—Urticating Caterpillars.
Itwill be seen that our boys had great capacities for enjoying themselves, and so oblivious had they been of the flight of time, that they had only left themselves two days in which to get home, for they felt bound not to ask for any extension of their holiday. Two days was a very short time to sail all the way down the Yare and up the Bure again; and to add to their dilemma, the wind had settled in the east, and blew light and fitfully all day until five or six, when it would drop. They could have gone back by road and left the yacht to be sent after them, but this would have beeninfra dig., and was not to be thought of while the chance remained of reaching home in a legitimate way. So they started, and with infinite labour and much tacking and clever sailing, they succeeded in reaching Brundall, about six miles down the river, by the middle of the day.
"This won't do," said Frank. "Here comes a steam-wherry. I wonder if they will take us in tow."
The wherry was hailed, and for a small consideration hercrew consented to tow them to Yarmouth. Their sails were accordingly lowered, and a rope was made fast to the wherry; and in a few minutes' time they were being pulled along at a good pace by their great, black, ugly friend.
"Now we can enjoy ourotium cum dignitate," said Dick, throwing himself at full length on the roof of the cabin with the furled mainsail as a pillow; "and however light the breeze is to-morrow, it will take us home in time; so I shall write a note home and post it at Yarmouth."
Between the waving reed-beds, through the long miles of marsh, acres of which were white with the silky globes of the cotton-grasses, by whirling wind-mills and groups of red and white cattle browsing on the reclaimed marshes, past sailing wherries that surged along before the light breeze with a lazy motion, past white-sailed yachts with gay-coloured pennants at their mast-heads and laughter-loving pleasure parties on board, underneath a bright blue sky streaked with filmy cloudlets and dotted with uprising larks, over a stream that murmured and rippled with a summer gladness, they clove their steady way. With every nerve instinct with healthy life, and hearts which had the great gift of understanding and appreciating the true and the beautiful around them, what wonder if they felt as happy as they could wish to feel, and were full of contentment with the pleasant time it was their lot to pass.
They crossed Breydon Water under widely different circumstances to those in which they first crossed it. Then it was wild and stormy; now it was fair and placid.
They reached Yarmouth about five, and as the wind still held they turned up the Bure with the flowing tide, and sailed on and on in that quiet peaceful evening, with lessening speed as the wind fell, until at last they barely crept through the water. Even when there was not a breath of air perceptible to the upheld hand, and the surface of the river was as smooth as glass, and the reeds were silent from their whispering, yet a magic wind seemed to fill their large sails, and still they crept on with a dream-like motion. At last that motion ceased, but then they were so close to Acle bridge that they set to work and poled the yacht along with the quants, and in another half hour they were moored by the Staithe.
It was then half-past nine o'clock, but still very light; and there was a whiteness in the sky to the north-east, which toldthem the sun was not very far over the horizon, and that at midnight it would be but little darker than it was then.
After they had had supper Frank said,
"Do you remember those men whom we saw near Norwich, who sat in small boats all the night long, and with a line in each hand, bobbed for eels?"
"Yes; what of them?"
"Why should we not bob for eels to-night? I don't feel inclined to go to bed."
"Very well," said Jimmy; "but can we get the worsted?"
"I will go and ask for some at the Hermitage."
"What do you want worsted for?" said Dick.
"To catch the eels with; but wait a bit and you shall see. Bring the lantern and come with me."
Frank marched up to the house and knocked, and when the door was opened by a woman, said,
"Please can you let us have a hank of worsted? I will give you double its value." The woman looked at him in surprise, and he repeated his question. Then she went indoors, and reappeared with a hank of worsted in her hand. This she threw out to them with a frightened look, and slammed the door in their faces.
"Wait, my good woman, we have not paid you," said Frank. But there was no answer.
"We seem to have frightened her," said Dick.
Frank put a shilling under the door, and they went away laughing heartily. Their next proceeding was to look about the damp grass and pick up the lob-worms, which were about in great numbers. When they had each collected a large number they returned to the yacht, and by Frank's directions threaded the worms on to the worsted, lengthways, with the needle they had used for sniggling. In this way they made three large bunches of worm-covered worsted. These bunches they weighted with a stone, and tied strong lengths of cord to them.
"Now," said Frank, "we can begin to bob. This is the way, Dick:—let the bunch sink to the bottom and then keep the line taut. Let it lie there for some time, and when you feel some sharp quick tugs, it is the eels biting at it. Then haul it quietly on board and shake the eels off. There, I can feel them on my line now."
"And I at mine," said Jimmy.
"And I too," said Dick.
"Then wait five minutes, and haul on board."
At the end of five minutes they each hauled their lines quietly on board, and on Frank's were no less than six eels, their teeth entangled in the worsted. On Jimmy's there were two, and on Dick's three. They shook the eels on to the deck. Jimmy's two at once wriggled themselves off back into the water, and Frank and Dick had hard work to keep theirs from doing the same, until Jimmy got out the bucket they used for washing the deck, and in this they safely deposited their captives.
"This is not bad fun," said Dick, as he brought up three more eels, one of them a large one.
"No, is it?" answered Jimmy, as he followed Dick's example.
So they went on laughing and talking and pulling in eels until two o'clock in the morning, when their bucket was so full of eels that it would not hold any more.
"Now it is time to turn in," said Frank; "take up the bucket, Jimmy, and put it by the foremast with something over it to keep the eels from crawling out, while I do up the lines."
Jimmy took up the bucket, and was walking aft with it, when his foot slipped on an eel that had made its escape, and was wriggling about the deck. In an instant, Jimmy, the bucket, and the eels all went into the water. Jimmy rose to the surface and swam to the yacht, and climbed on board, with the bucket still in his hands, but all the eels had of course disappeared.
"What an extraordinary thing!" spluttered Jimmy, as he rose to the surface.
"Very," said Frank, as soon as he could speak for laughing; "but hadn't you better dive after the eels?"
"Do you mind my losing them, Frank?" said Jimmy, rather ruefully.
"Not at all, old man. We don't want the eels, and a good laugh is better for us."
While they were undressing, Dick was peering through one of the side lights and at length said,
"I suppose it is impossible for any one to have been smoking here lately, yet there are two or three things which are like cigar-ends gleaming on the bank. Is it possible that they are glow-worms?"
"Yes, of course they are," said Jimmy; "I will go and get them;" and presently he came back with the little, soft, brown things, which shed a circle of phosphorescent light for two or three inches around them.
"Put them into that empty jar with some grass, and we will take them home with us."
Glow-worm.
Glow-worm.
The glow-worm is the wingless female of a winged beetle. The male has a dim light, but nothing to be compared to that of his wife. The light issues from the three last segments of her body, and is of a bright yellow in colour. In general she shines from ten to twelve o'clock, but often much later, as on this occasion. Why such a brown, ugly little beetle should have such a beautiful light I do not know. Perhaps it is to guide the male to her. This beetle with the wonderful light has plebeian tastes, for she eats the flesh of snails, and, unlike our Gallic neighbours, she does not wait for the snails' decease first.
The morning soon shone brightly, and again the fair east wind blew;
"The sun was warm; and the wind was cool,"
and theSwanspread her white wings to the favouring breeze and glided between the narrowing banks, where the meadow-sweet in full luxuriance waved its cloudy clusters, the forget-me-not gleamed in turquoise blue, the tall iris or white flag reared its flowers of gold over its green sword-shaped leaves, and the modest ragged-robin showed its thin red petals amid the dew-wet grass.
Through Heigham Sounds and into Hickling Broad, and there at the farther end was a group of people, waving their handkerchiefs in greeting.
"There they are," said Frank; "give them three cheers;" and a "Hip! hip! hurrah!" rang over the water with a hearty good will.
Mr. and Mrs. Merivale, Sir Richard Carleton, and Mary, were all there to meet them.
Frank brought the yacht up to her moorings in his best manner, and in a few minutes they were ashore.
"Dick," said Sir Richard, "I can scarcely believe my eyes. I am delighted."
There was some cause for his surprise. Dick was as brown as a berry. His form was upright and full of vigour, and his handsome face was bright with the smile of health. A greater contrast to the pale-faced delicate boy, who some months before had aroused his father's anxiety, could not well be seen.
"I am glad you have enjoyed yourself, dear," said Mrs. Merivale to Frank, "but I have been very anxious about you, and it has seemed a long time."
Frank laughed merrily, as he put his arm round his mother, and kissed her with all a lover's devotion.
"You are like Martha, mother, who troubled herself about many things. But where is Florrie?"
"Oh," said Mary, "she can't leave her room. She got a little black hairy caterpillar for you, and it has stung her. At least she has a rash all over her, and nasty little red lumps, and she suffers so much."
"That must be a mistake, Mary, about the caterpillar," said Frank.
"No, it is not, Frank," said Dick; "I was reading the other day about urticating caterpillars. The caterpillars of some moths will affect some people like that."
"We have the creature in a glass, and you can see it, and try it, if you like, Frank," said Mary.
Golden Oriole.—Landrail.—House-martins in trouble.—Siskin.—Peacock and Red Admiral Butterflies.—Winchat's Nest.—Bitten by a Viper.—Viper and Snake.—Slow-worm.
"Frank," said Mary at breakfast the next morning, "I have seen the most beautiful bird about the orchard and the wood next to it. It is about as big as a thrush, and is a bright yellow all over, except the wings, which are black. What can it be?"
"By Jove," said Frank, "there is only one bird that is likethat; but it is so very rare that very few specimens have been seen in this country, and that is the golden oriole. Come and show me where it was at once, before I go to Mr. Meredith's."
Oriole.
Oriole.
Mary was nothing loath, and they hastily finished their breakfast and went out together. Scarcely had they got to the orchard when the gardener came towards them with a gun in one hand, and a dead oriole in the other. "I thought you would like to have him to stuff, Master Frank," said the man, and Frank took the bird and thanked him, and when they turned away Frank said,
"I am awfully sorry this has happened, Mary. The idea of shooting a rare bird like this at the breeding season. It must have been nesting here, and in a few weeks perhaps, there would have been a brood of young ones about. Let us go into the wood and look for its nest."
In a short time they saw its mate flying about from tree to tree, calling piteously; and after a little hunting Frank found a nest, which was like a missel thrush's, and placed in the fork of an oak branch. It contained four eggs, white in colour,covered with claret-coloured spots. Frank did not touch it, hoping that the remaining bird would sit and hatch the eggs; but she soon deserted it and left the neighbourhood, most probably to be shot, and the boys then took the eggs to add to their collection.
Nest of American Species of Oriole.
Nest of American Species of Oriole.
With the same vigour which characterised their out-door sports, the boys betook themselves again to their books. In Mr. Meredith's study at the Rectory the three boys sat busily engaged in making Latin verse, an exercise which suited Dick far better than it did the others. Their brown faces and their hands, hacked and roughened as only boys' hands can become, were in great contrast to their studious occupations. Mr. Meredith looked at them with keen interest, and resolved thathe would do all in his power to turn out of his workshop (as he called it) three good specimens of God's handiwork and his own, and as far as in him lay he kept his vow.
Saturday was a whole holiday, and as the boys met at the boat-house to be ready for anything which might turn up, Bell came to them and said, that while cutting the hay in a small meadow which he rented, he had come upon a landrail or corncrake, sitting on her eggs, and so close did she sit that he had cut off her head with his scythe. The boys went to see the nest and found eleven eggs in it, like those of the water-rail but larger. They were hard sat, which accounted for the old bird remaining on her nest until the last; but the boys knew how to blow hard-sat eggs, and took possession of them.
Landrail or Corncrake.
Landrail or Corncrake.
Passing by Mrs. Brett's cottage they saw the old lady beckoning to them. When they went to her she explained that she wanted them to aid her swallows. A pair of house-martins were flying about their nest in the eaves, uttering cries of distress.
"What is the matter? Have the sparrows taken possession of it?" said Frank.
House-martin.
House-martin.
"No, dear, but it seems breaking away from the wall. There are young ones in it, and I suppose the old birds did not make it strong enough to hold their weight. I am afraid it will fall down every minute."
The boys undertook to put matters right, and with the aid of a ladder they climbed up to the nest, and with a hammer and nails they nailed up the nest in a broad piece of flannel. While they were engaged in doing this, the martins ceased their cries, as if they knew that a friendly act was being done for them; and when the boys left the nest the birds returned to it, and by their busy twitterings and short excited flights seemed to wish to express their gratitude.
Leaving the cottage, they went for a long aimless ramble through the fields and woods, trespassing with impunity, for they were well known everywhere, and visiting every hedgerow and copse on the look-out for nests.
Siskin.
Siskin.
They came to a field round which there were hedges unusually high and thick for Norfolk, which is a county of trim hedges and clean farming. Almost the first nest they came to was that of a siskin. The old birds to which it belonged were hopping about the hedge. They were pretty lemon-colouredbirds with a black patch on their heads and black on their wings. The boys watched them for some time, in order to make sure that they were indeed the siskin, for they are so very rare, especially during the breeding season, that very few nests have been found.
"Well, there can be no doubt about that," said Frank. "They are siskins sure enough. What a very lucky find! Now let us have a look at the nest."
Both nest and eggs were like those of a goldfinch, but the latter were much smaller than a goldfinch's eggs. The eggs were hard sat, but they took three of them and blew them safely; and as they were still doubting the reality of their good luck, when they went home they consulted their books, and Mr. Meredith, and all came to the conclusion that there could be no mistake about the birds.
Chrysalis.Peacock Butterfly.Caterpillar.
Chrysalis.Peacock Butterfly.Caterpillar.
They found many more nests in that hedge. Most of them had young ones, for the season was now very far advanced.
Dick soon found something after his own heart, and this was a large bed of nettles. Every stem was covered with large, black, hairy caterpillars. These were the caterpillars of the peacock butterfly,—that splendid insect, which with its crimson and black, and the gorgeous peacock eyes which adorn its wings, is so conspicuous an object in the country in the summer. It is a great pleasure to me to see it as it sits on its favourite perch, the top of a nettle or a bramble, and opens and shuts its wings with the fanning motion peculiar to its tribe. Dick marked this spot, and in a short time he came to gather the gilded chrysalides which on every plant shone brightly in the sunshine.These he gathered and put in a safe place, and during the summer it was a great pleasure to him to watch the outcoming of these resplendent insects. Just before they were ready to emerge, the colours of their wings could be seen through the thin case which covered them, and with this warning he was often able to catch the insect at the instant of their appearance. Not long afterwards he found a colony of the caterpillars of the red admiral butterfly, a large black insect with crimson bands round its wings, and the under surface marbled with the most delicate tracery of brown and grey. As far as size and beauty go, these two butterflies may be said to be the gems of the entomologist's cabinet. They are common enough in the south, and the young entomologist may look forward to catching or breeding them his first year.