THE LITTLE BROOK GONE DRY 



30^ 



sedges; also, some fine close-growing tussock-sedges, that 

 build hillocks of green at the edges of the channel. There 

 will be grasses, also; especially the pale cut-grass (Leersia), 

 fringing the edges of former pools. There will be a few fine 



mints, such as pepper- 

 mint, spearmint, water- 

 mint, and the less 

 attractive bugle-weed. 

 There will be a few fine 

 wild flowers, such as 

 turtleheads, skullcaps 

 and lobelias. There 

 will be evidences of 

 animal life in the tracks 

 of the muskrat and of 

 birds in the dried mud- 

 bed of the pools. 



Robins, that sit, while 

 we pass by, on the lower 

 branches of the trees, 

 with gaping beaks, pant- 

 ing in the shade — these 

 have been exploring the 

 brook-bed before us. 

 They have been seeking 

 for things to replace 

 earthworms in their 

 diet, since the dr^ang 

 of the topsoil in the 

 fields has driven the 

 worms doTVTi below . Other things there are to take advantage 

 of the hapless brook-dwellers. The concentration of the 

 pools leaves their inhabitants exposed to merciless 

 enemies. 



Fig. 135. A late-season spray of the fowl 

 meadow-grass {Panictdaria nervata) , show- 

 ing vegetative aerial offsets with roots: a small 

 lateral oflEset is shown enlarged at the right. 



