WILD LIFE: FURRED AND FEATHERED. 59 



the mud all the winter, and filling themselves with frog for 

 some time past. 



Then there is our common toad, now busy destroying 

 great quantities of insect life; the bee-keeper dreads his 

 proximity to the hives and kills him without remorse. Yet 

 he is a good friend to the gardener, and he will remain 

 long in some shady corner, doing only good by his presence. 

 In melon and cucumber frames, and where grapes are 

 grown, he is very useful. The natterjack toad differs from 

 his more common relative by having a bright buff line 

 down the middle of his back, and his movements are 

 quicker than those of the first-mentioned. 



The hare is liveliest in the month of March. The proverb 

 that maligns by calling him mad at once recurs to the 

 mind. His antics and gestures have caused him also to be 

 styled " the merry-hearted brown hare." The fox and the 

 stoat seek after his life, but puss is generally a match for 

 these. Many other foes too he has, and of these man is 

 the chief. He has his seat on the borders of woods, as 

 well as on the hillside. Again on the wild marshlands he 

 grows to a large size, and is very numerous. Nor is he 

 actually timid, as another proverb asserts ; and as he can 

 swim and jump with such agility, not to mention his feats 

 in boxing, we must certainly give him credit for some 

 accomplishments. 



The wild rabbits are busy with their young, and in many 

 a coppice you will see the gamekeeper's lads about with the 

 ferrets. The female rabbits go to the ploughed fields often 

 now to make their stops, where they rear their young in 



