82 NATURE STUDY. 



tumbles over rocks through the woods, pausing to rest 

 now and then in a deep, dark pool, until it comes out into 

 the open countrj^ through a big stone culvert under a high- 

 way, where the picture was taken, and hurries on through 

 pasture and meadow, slowing up at last in the lowlands, 

 a big brook now, finding its way leisurely to a lake. 



Though flowing throughout its course within a few miles 

 of a city, and fished almost constantl}^, there are trout in 

 it, and probably always will be so long as its water is left 

 clear and pure, for there is a wonderful supply of food, and 

 the trout, having plenty to eat, seldom take the hook 

 greedily. There are always a few big ones in the deep 

 holes near the lake, but they can be caught only with pa- 

 tience and skill. If you bait a hook with a tempting clus- 

 ter of angleworms, set your fishing-rod firmly in the 

 ground at an angle, so that the baited hook will nearly 

 touch the bottom of a deep hole, and then creep noiseless- 

 ly to the bank, remaining very still and peering through 

 the grass and bushes, j^ou will sometimes see a big trout 

 move lazily out to the bait, swim slowly around it, and 

 even give it a contemptuous snap with his tail. Farther 

 up, among the rapids, the smaller trout are more active, 

 but when one is taken, its stomach is almost always full, 

 and no wonder, for the trout are comparatively few and 

 the brook well stocked with food. 



The stones in the rapids are covered with brook-weed, 

 and in the weed are countless creatures, feeding on one 

 another and finally making the best of food for fishes. 

 Snails are so numerous that I have counted 312 — very 

 small, of course — in a single handful. The larva of the 

 horse-fly, an ugly looking creature, lives in the water, 

 feeds on these snails, grows big and plump, and not infre- 

 quently ends its career in the stomach of a fish. Here, 

 too, among the rocks and in the brook-weed, is the larva 

 of the big crane-fly, or daddy-long-legs, which also lives in 



