THE MAGIC OF THE SEASONS 



149 



be called for respite, or the wonderful living machinery which 

 sets this great clock in motion will be tired out. 



I love best the Spring, or early Summer, when I can see animate 

 Nature at work and play, when all living things respond to the 

 call for action, and my own activities are more deeply stirred. 



I do not forget the water- worn bridge which spans the Eiver 

 Gade, where an old Trout friend of 

 my youth is always to be seen 

 when the Mayfly is rising, for 

 then I see Nature at her best. 

 Swallows and Martins swoop over 

 the surface of the stream, in a 

 frantic endeavour to take toll of 

 as many as possible of the airy 

 insects which have just risen from 

 the water. This wonderful Mayfly, 

 which has so short an existence in 

 the perfect state, has a remarkable 

 life history, for it takes several years 

 for it to pass through its complete 

 metamorphoses, and I am at a loss 

 to understand why, after so long 

 a time in coming to maturity, it 

 should only enjoy its little day 

 and then begone. Its mazy wings 

 of great delicacy, and the curious 

 streamers on the tail, are objects 

 of interest, as is also the really 

 pretty larva, which can be observed 

 to advantage in an aquarium at 

 home. This larva lives in the water 

 as a voracious feeder for several years. Eating is to the 

 Mayfly as a grub the keynote of its existence, as it is to 

 all insects when in a similar state. When it has attained 

 the adult form, it takes no nourishment at all, indeed, it 

 does not possess any organs which would enable it to do so. 

 Both these states in its existence may be regarded as separate 

 personalities. In the one (the larval), an abundant supply of 

 food is a necessary equipment for helping it to prepare for the 

 next stage in its existence, and in the other (the adult), courtship 

 and parentage are necessary essentials. The Mayfly's ambition 

 as a grown-up insect is to mate, and thus reproduce its kind. For 



FIG. 68. MAYFLY. 



