66 FEBRUARY. 



ing flower-roots ; but in the fields they seem to do 

 no other harm than rendering the surface of the 

 ground unequal by their hillocks, which obstruct the 

 scythe in mowing. They are said also to pierce the 

 sides of dams and canals, and let out the water. Of 

 this latter charge we should be doubtful. Their 

 instinct, it is very probable, will preserve them from 

 letting off water which would drown them, and the 

 approach to which they must perceive by the mois- 

 ture of the soil. 



A Mole-catcher, Miss Mitford has said, "is of the 

 earth, earthy;" but he is of the green fields, of the 

 solitary woodlands. We observe him, especially in 

 the spring and the autumn, a silent and picturesque 

 object, poring under hedges and along the skirts of 

 the forest, or the margin of a stream, for traces of 



The little black-a-moor pioneer 

 Grubbing his way in darkness drear. 



We have met him in copses and hazel-shaded lanes, 

 cutting springs for his traps ; and we not only love 

 him, and look upon him as one of the legitimate 

 objects of rural scenery, but have often found him 

 a quiet but shrewd observer of nature, and capable 

 of enriching us with many fragments of knowledge. 

 In the winter by his fire he makes his traps. These 

 are very simple machines, which almost any one 

 may construct. We have made and set many a 

 one ourselves, and have been up by the earliest 

 dawn of day to discover their success. Many 

 moles may be caught in one place, if the trap be 



