132 The Amateur Poacher 



love to see something that reminds them of the 

 green meadows. 



As the season advances and the summer comes 

 he gathers vast quantities of dandelion leaves, parsley, 

 sowthistle, clover, and so forth, as food for the tame 

 rabbits kept in towns. If his haunt be not far from 

 a river, he spends hours collecting bait — worm and 

 grub and fly — for the boatmen, who sell them again 

 to the anglers. 



Again there is work in the meadows — the hay- 

 making is about, and the farmers are anxious for men. 

 But the moucher passes by and looks for quaking 

 grass, bunches of which have a ready sale. Fledgeling 

 goldfinches and linnets, young rabbits, young squirrels, 

 even the nest of the harvest-trow mouse, and occa- 

 sionally a snake, bring him in a little money. He 

 picks the forget-me-nots from the streams and the 

 ' blue-bottle ' from the corn : bunches of the latter are 

 sometimes sold in London at a price that seems 

 extravagant to those who have seen w^hole fields 

 tinted with its beautiful azure. By-and-by the golden 

 wheat calls for an army of workers ; but the moucher 

 passes on and gathers groundsel. 



Then come the mushrooms : he knows the best 

 places, and soon fills a basket full of buttons,' picking 

 them very early in the morning. These are then 



