WILD PASTURES 



cult to be sure of your margaritifera, as 

 there are about fifteen hundred species 

 of unios known to people who classify 

 creatures, and most of these are found 

 in the rivers of this country. 



Little do the crows care for that. In 

 the sunny coves they have their clam- 

 bakes, and as I slip slyly up I fancy I 

 hear them smack their mandibles. As I 

 round the screen of shore-loving button 

 bushes, I know I shall come upon them, 

 and I expect to find them seated in 

 riotous fellowship, with napkins spread 

 across broad waistcoats, dipping delicious 

 mouthfuls in melted butter and tucking 

 them away behind the white napkins. I 

 have always missed the napkins and the 

 butter dishes, but the shells are proof 

 enough of what has been going on. If 

 the mother crow carries the table fur- 

 nishings away with her when she flies, 

 196 



