264 THE (:anadjan naturalist. 



((Estrus Ovis) ; and the Horse Gad-fly (Gastrus Equi) 

 is quite common. In hoeing potatoes lately, I laid bare a 

 curious scene of domestic economy. It was a Humble-bees' 

 nest, about an inch below the surface of the earth, and con- 

 tained two bunches of yellowish oval sacs, each containing a 

 pupa ; about a dozen in all. Twenty or more bees of dif- 

 ferent size and appearance, but I suppose all of the same 

 species (Bombus Terricola 9 J, flew about, very much 

 alarmed at the destruction of their household. 



F. — All our neighbours are now very busy ; it is the 

 height of the haymaking season, one of the most cheering and 

 pleasing, but one of the most laborious of agricultural occupa- 

 tions. It is a fine morning for the mowers ; the grass is cut 

 with far greater ease while wet with dew than in the heat 

 of the day. Our usual plan is to mow till about nine or ten 

 o'clock in the forenoon, then spread and turn it : and if the 

 day be fine, so hot is our sun, that in the afternoon the hay 

 is ready to go to the bam or stack. Let us walk into the field 

 among the mowers. 



C. — There is the whetting of the scythe : what a pecu- 

 liarly rural sound that is ! how connected with pleasant 

 fields, snug cottages, merry peasants, and bright skies. 

 How beautifully smooth and green the closely shaven 

 meadow looks, from which the hay has been cut and raked : 

 very different from the pasture, where many brown heads 

 and coarse tufts and rank weeds destroy the uniformity of 

 the appearance. 



F. — The short young grass which escapes the scythe, is 

 very agreeable to cattle, and we always turn our stock into 

 the fields immediately after mowing; a practice which I 

 believe does not so generally prevail in England, where the 

 ground is usually so level and smooth, that the scythe goes 

 very close to the surface. In our rough fields, much grass is 

 left in the hollows, and about stones, stumps, &c. which the 

 scythe cannot reach. 



