TIMES AND SEASONS. 



of clear red liquid on the blades of grass; and if 

 we look into the ponds, we see multitudes of little 

 black, brown, and yellow forms come up to the 

 surface, hang there for a moment, and then hurry 

 down again into the depths. And then come up 

 the newts from their castle in the mud, willing to 

 see and to be seen; for they have donned their 

 vernal attire, and appear veritable holiday beaux, 

 arrayed in the pomp of ruffled shirt and scarlet 

 waistcoat. The frogs, moreover, are busy depos- 

 iting their strings of bead-like spawn, and an- 

 nouncing the fact to the world in loud, if not 

 cheerful strains. 



The streams, freed from the turbidity of the win- 

 ter rains, roll in transparent clearness, now glid- 

 ing along smooth and deep in their weedy course 

 through "th' indented meads," where the roach 

 and the dace play in sight, and the pike lies but 

 half-hidden under the projecting bank ; and now 

 brawling and sparkling in fragmentary crystal, 

 over a rocky bed, where the trout displays his 

 speckled side as he leaps from pool to pool. 



The willows on the river margin are gay with 

 their pendant catkins, to whose attractions hun- 

 dreds of humming bees resort, in preference to the 

 lovely flowers which are already making the 

 banks and slopes to smile. The homeliest of 

 these, even the dandelions and daisies, the butter- 

 cups and celandines, are most welcome after the 

 dreariness and death of winter. 



''Earth fills her lap with treasures of her own;" 

 and even "the meanest flower that blows" has, 

 to the opened eye, a beauty that is like a halo of 

 glory around it. Yet there are some which, from 

 the peculiarities of their form, colour, or habits, 

 charm us more than others. The germander 

 speedwell, with its laughing blue eyes, spangling 

 15 



