water. There are some yellow water-lilies with their broad expanded
leaves. I have noticed that the blossoms are often attacked by the
larvæ of some two-winged flies. These flies lay their eggs within the
petals, "lily-cradled" literally; the eggs hatch and the larvæ eat the
cradle. I do not know more of these flies: I have often meant to trace
their history, but have somehow forgotten to do so. Do you see that
pike basking on the top of the water; how still and motionless he
lies. He is a good-sized fish, at least I should say he was four
pounds weight. "I wish we could catch him," said Willy. We have no
tackle with us; besides, when pike are sunning themselves in that way
on the top of the water, they are seldom inclined to take a bait.
"What is the largest pike," asked Jack, "you ever saw caught?" The
largest I ever saw alive was caught in the canal about five years ago;
it weighed twenty-one pounds, and was really a splendid fish. What
voracious fish they are; they will often take young ducks, water-hens
and coots, and will sometimes try to swallow a fish much too large for
their throats. It is said that a pike once seized the head of a swan
as she was feeding under water, and gorged so much of it as killed
them both. The servants perceiving the swan with its head under water
for a longer time than usual, took the boat and found both swan and
pike dead. "Gesner relates that a pike in the Rhone seized on the lips
of a mule that was brought to water, and that the beast drew the fish
out before it could disengage itself. Walton was assured by his friend
Mr. Segrave, who kept tame otters, that he had known a pike, in
extreme hunger, fight with one of his otters for a carp that the otter
had caught and was then bringing out of the water. A woman in Poland
had her foot seized by a pike as she was washing clothes in a pond."
Mr. Jesse tells the story of a gentleman, who, as he was one day
walking by the side of the river Wey, saw a large pike in a shallow
creek. He immediately pulled off his coat, tucked up his shirt
sleeves, and went into the water to intercept the return of the fish
to the river, and to endeavour to throw it out upon the bank by
getting his hands under it. During this attempt the pike, finding he
could not make his escape, seized one of the arms of the gentleman,
and lacerated it so much that the marks of the wound were visible for
a long time afterwards. Pike will live to a great age, ninety years
or more. In the year 1497, according to old Gesner, a pike was taken
at Halibrun in Suabia with a brazen ring attached to it, on which was
the following inscription in Greek:--"I am the fish which was put into
the lake by the hands of the governor of the universe, Frederick the
Second, the 5th of October, 1230." This pike, therefore, would be two
hundred and sixty-seven years old; people said it weighed three
hundred and fifty pounds, and that its skeleton was nineteen feet
long. I will show you a picture of this ring in Gesner's book when we
get home.
[Illustration]
WALK X.
OCTOBER.
How pleasant is the season of autumn, with its yellow fields of ripe
corn, and its orchards laden with the fruits of the apple and the
pear. But now the golden grain is safely stored. The birds, too, have
done singing, with the exception of the robin and the hedge-warbler,
which even in the winter occasionally cheer us with their welcome
notes. There are yet, however, a few wild flowers to interest us, and
the ferns are still beautiful. The various kinds of fungi are
springing up in the fields and woodlands; it is a charming day for a
stroll; we will drive to the Wrekin and explore the woods at its base.
I am sure we shall be able to meet with many pretty forms. The woods
are rendered extremely beautiful by the rich autumnal tints of the
foliage. We will go through this wicket and follow the path in the
direction of Ten-Tree Hill. Now, who will be the first to find the
bright scarlet fly agaric? It is a poisonous species, though so
beautiful. We will put the wholesome fungi in one basket and the
suspected ones in another.
Here you see is the elegant parasol fungus, with its tall stem and top
spotted with brown flakes; it is a most delicious one to eat, and in
my opinion is superior to the common mushroom. "Shall we find the
beefsteak fungus, papa?" said Willy. I have never seen it growing
here; the beefsteak fungus prefers to grow on very old oak trees, and
it is, moreover, by no means common. It is so called from its
resemblance to a beefsteak when cut through; a reddish gravy-like
juice flows from the wound, and I think the whole fungus when young
very inviting. I have on three or four occasions eaten this species,
but I do not think it a very palatable one, though perfectly wholesome
and doubtless nutritious.
Here is a quantity of _Amanita phalloides_, very beautiful with its
green tints and white stem; but I should not like to eat any of this
kind. Do you notice what a very unpleasant smell it has?
[Illustration: FUNGI.
1.--Beef-steak Fungus.
2.--Latticed Stinkhorn, (very rare.)
3.--Boletus.
4.--Hedgehog Mushroom.
5.--Fly Agaric.
6.--Clavaria.
7.--Bird's-nest Fungus; b, Sporangium of ditto, magnified.]
What a number of animals are nailed to that beech-tree! Let us see
what they are: two cats, three weasels, two stoats, four jays, two
magpies, two kestrils, an owl, and a sparrow-hawk. The keeper has
trapped or shot these as enemies to the game, and no doubt, with the
exception of the weasels, owl, and kestrils, the other animals often
destroy young pheasants or suck their eggs. Still I should not like to
see all wild animals destroyed that occasionally harm game preserves.
Gamekeepers have strong affection for their hares, partridges, and
pheasants, and consider all other wild animals as either enemies or
beneath notice. Indeed, a gamekeeper's zoology is confined to five
things--pheasants, partridges, hares, rabbits, and ants' eggs. Ah! I
do think I espy about twenty yards ahead the fly agaric (_Amanita
muscaria_). To be sure, here is a fine lot; some just appearing
above ground in the form of scarlet balls; others fully expanded. How
splendid they are! You notice many white patches on their tops; let us
see how these patches are formed. Here is a specimen hardly showing
itself. I will dig it up. There, now you see; the whole fungus is
wrapped up in a thin white envelope; this is called a _volva_, from
the Latin word volvo--"I roll up." When the _volva_ breaks, it leaves
scattered patches on the top. The gills are white or yellowish and the
stem is bulbous. This is not a very common fungus; it is, however,
frequent enough in the woods about the Wrekin. The effects of this
fungus on a person who has eaten it are of an intoxicating nature. Dr.
Badham, who used to eat various kinds of fungi and has written a very
good book on wholesome kinds, once gathered some specimens of the fly
agaric. He sent them to two lady friends, intending to call soon
afterwards and explain that he had sent them on account of their
extreme beauty solely. Dr. Badham did not come, but these two ladies
said, "Oh, of course Dr. Badham would never send us anything
unwholesome; let us have some cooked for tea." So they had some cooked
and ate thereof, and were taken very ill. The bad effects, however,
soon passed away. Look at that little squirrel, see how nimbly he
climbs the tree; now he hides on a forked branch and thinks we do not
see him. Well, I must not forget to tell you that this fungus, growing
in this spot so plentifully, is called fly agaric because a decoction
of it was once used to destroy flies. The people in Siberia swallow
portions of it to produce intoxication. Here is another species
closely related to the one we have been considering, and not unlike it
in form; this is the blushing agaric (_Amanita rubescens_); you see
its top also is covered with whitish flakes or warts; and persons who
are not in the habit of noticing differences might confuse this
species with the other. Now look; I will cut this specimen through
with my knife, and bruise it slightly; do you see how it changes to a
reddish hue, thus at once distinguishing itself from its unwholesome
relative? This quality gives the name to the fungus. The blushing
agaric is perfectly wholesome. You remember how often we had it cooked
last autumn, and how delicious it was both for breakfast and dinner. I
would never, however, advise persons who have not paid attention to
the study of fungi to gather and eat them without asking the opinion
of some one who had knowledge of the subject; and I am sure that you,
children, will never think of eating any kind that you have not first
brought to me. There sits the squirrel. Let us make him show us how he
can leap from one bough to another. I clap my hands and Jack throws a
stone, and off the little fellow goes, taking wonderful leaps. As the
winter approaches the squirrel will be busy laying up stores for
consumption during that season, such as nuts, acorns, and beech-mast.
For the greater part of the winter the squirrel is dormant; on fine
warm days, however, he ventures out of his retreat in the hole of a
tree, visits his cupboard, cracks a few nuts, and then goes to sleep
again. The nest of the squirrel is made of moss, leaves, and twigs
curiously intertwined, and is generally placed between the forked
branches; the young ones, two or three in number, are born in the
month of June. A gentleman, in a letter to Mr. Jenyns, says "a pair
which frequented a tree opposite the window of one of the rooms,
evinced great enmity to a couple of magpies with whom they kept up a
perpetual warfare, pursuing them from branch to branch, and from tree
to tree with untiring agility. Whether this persecution arose from
natural antipathy between the combatants, or from jealousy of
interference with their nests, is not known."
What are those black circular spots some four or five yards in
diameter, so common in the woods of the Wrekin? They are places where
wood has been burnt for charcoal. Always examine such spots, as you
may find rare plants growing upon them which scarcely grow anywhere
else. Here, for instance, is _Flammula carbonaria_ abundant. On these
charcoal spots this fungus delights to grow, and I do not think you
will find it elsewhere. Mr. Worthington Smith tells us it is a very
rare British fungus; it is not mentioned in Mr. Berkley's 'Outlines of
Fungology.' Here is a beautifully marked variety of _Polyporus
perennis_, also very rare; it is tinted with rich sienna, chocolate,
and black; it is found only in these charcoal rings. Let us go farther
on. Look at that splendid bright, orange-yellow fungus growing amongst
the moss in large tufts as it were. Each plant has a tender stem with
short branches; what a number are growing together with roots or lower
portions of the stem closely intertwined! This is _Clavaria
fastigiata_. Here we meet with the sticky _Gomphidius viscidus_, and
here with the handsome _Tricholoma scalpturatus_, and the lovely _T.
rutilans_. I am obliged to use Latin names as there are no English
ones. The ground here is covered with the small _Clitocyle fragrans_;
it smells like newly-mown hay. And now we meet with various _Boleti_.
Look at the under surface; you see it is riddled with numerous small
holes, very unlike the gills of the mushroom and all agarics. We shall
find _Boletus luteus_, _B. flavus_, _B. edulis_, _B. scaber_, the
handsome but poisonous _B. luridus_. _Boletus edulis_ is, as its name
imports, very good to eat and perfectly wholesome; so, too, is _B.
scaber_ and _B. luteus_. Holloa! what bird has just fled before us? it
is a woodcock evidently, and has probably lately arrived in this
country from the south of Europe, though woodcocks occasionally reside
here all through the year. The woodcock is a very handsome bird with
its dark mottled brown plumage, long bill, and large, full, black
eyes. "What do these birds feed upon?" asked Willy. You often hear
people say "they live upon suction," and "do not eat any food." That I
fancy is a common belief amongst sportsmen. It is, however, altogether
a mistake; for these birds eat quantities of earthworms, as has
frequently been witnessed. I will give an instance of this in the case
of a woodcock kept in an aviary somewhere in Spain. "There was a
fountain perpetually flowing to keep the ground moist and trees
planted for the same purpose; fresh sod was brought to it, the richest
in worms that could be found. In vain did the worms seek concealment;
when the woodcock was hungry it discovered them by the smell, stuck
its beak into the ground, but never higher than the nostrils, drew
them out singly, and raising its bill into the air, it extended upon
it the whole length of the worm, and in this way swallowed it smoothly
without any action of the jaws. This whole operation was performed in
an instant, and the action of the woodcock was so equal and
imperceptible that it seemed doing nothing; it never missed its aim;
for this reason, and because it never plunged its bill beyond the
orifice of the nostrils, it was concluded that the bird was directed
to its food by smell." There is one very interesting point in the
natural history of the woodcock which I must not forget to mention.
The old birds sometimes carry their little ones from the place where
they are hatched down to soft marshy places to feed on the worms and
insect larvæ found there; they take them in the evening and return
with them in the morning. "But how do they carry them?" asked May.
Some observers have said they are carried in the claws, but Mr. St.
John maintains that the little birds are clasped tightly between the
thighs.
"Is it not a difficult thing to tell the difference between the male
and female woodcock?" asked Willy. Yes, I do not think it is possible
in every case to tell the difference; the male bird is smaller than
the female of the same age, and there are slight differences in the
colour of the plumage, but as you may meet with birds of different
ages, and as woodcocks are much subject to variation of plumage, it is
difficult to pronounce whether this woodcock is a male and that a
female.
"Oh, papa, what are these ring-marks on the end of this bit of timber
upon which we are sitting?" said Willy. These rings or zones represent
the various growths made every year by the tree when it was growing,
each zone being the produce of one year. As the wood ceases to grow
for some months in the winter, a distinction in appearance between the
last wood of a former and the first wood of the succeeding year is
occasioned; so that, in our own country at least, the age of a tree
can be ascertained within some limit by counting the number of zones;
there is, however, great difference in the size of the same species of
trees, even of the same age, and great difference too in the width of
the zones; indeed, you can see this in the case of the wood we have
been sitting upon. See how the zones differ, how broad some are, how
narrow are others; nay, even in one year you see how the zone varies.
The subject of the growth of trees is very interesting, and I would
advise you, when you get older, to pay some attention to it.
Here is another fungus, and a species which I am very glad to find in
the Wrekin woods, though it grows but sparingly. Take it up; turn it
over. How curious! the under side is not a series of gills, as in
_Agaricus_, nor a substance perforated by a number of little holes, as
in _Boletus_. It is formed of a quantity of delicate white teeth or
spines; see how beautiful they are and how easily broken. The spines
are exactly like miniature awls. It is called from the prickly
appearance of the under surface, or _hymenium_, the hedgehog mushroom
(_Hydnum repandum_). "Is it good to eat?" asked Jack. It is, in my
opinion, one of the most exquisite fungi that grows, and the most
curious thing about it is that its flavour very strongly resembles
oysters. Last year we had some of these fellows cut up in bits about
the size of a bean and stewed in white sauce; the sauce we ate with a
beefsteak at dinner, and I do think that as far as flavour is
concerned one might almost pass it off as oyster sauce without any one
finding it out. Not that the hedgehog-mushroom-sauce is really as good
as oyster sauce, but, as I said, the flavour strongly reminds one of
it, nor do I think that any fungi, delicious as they are, can ever
come up to oysters, the _ne-plus-ultra_ of exquisite food.
It is getting towards evening and we must not linger much longer. How
many eatable fungi have we got? let me count. _Lepiota procera_,
_Amanita rubescens_, _Hydnum repandum_, and _Marasmius oreades_ which
we gathered in the meadow before we entered the wood. We will take
them home, they will come in very well either at breakfast or at
dinner time. The other fungi we will also take home and compare them
with the descriptions and drawings in my books.
* * * * *
And now our rambles are ended; we have seen there is much to notice,
much to admire. Let us never forget our great Creator who has made all
the beautiful things we see around us; let us learn this lesson from
the contemplation of the works of the Almighty--that as all created
things are fulfilling their appointed work, so we too should fulfil
ours, and by obedience, diligence, kindness, and patience show our
love of Him for whose "pleasure all things are, and were created."
[Illustration]
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