2o8 IN SUMMER. 



beautiful water-lilies pink, yellow, blue, and 

 white the stately lotus, and many a pretty 

 aquatic plant from foreign lands. Of these I have 

 nothing now to say, except incidentally, but a 

 good deal concerning the remarkable zoological 

 features of this artificial pond in the corner of an 

 exposed upland field. 



I am quite sure that the most skillful hunter 

 would have found no game had he scoured this 

 and the adjoining fields, even with trained dogs ; 

 no trapper would have deigned to set a snare any- 

 where about the place, and the naturalist would 

 have considered the outlook most unpromising. 

 As in every farming district, here were acres of 

 corn-fields, wheat-fields, truck-patch, and pas- 

 ture, and nothing but grass or growing crops to 

 relieve the monotony of the landscape. Every 

 vestige of wildness has long since been improved 

 off the face of this region, and grasshoppers, 

 mice, and field-sparrows constitute the fauna. 

 That is, apparently so; and how readily we 

 underrate the merits of the so-called common- 

 place in nature ! The truth is, every inch of 

 these unsuggestive fields has ever been and is 

 familiar ground to hosts of cunning creatures, or 

 how else could the pond that was formed in a 

 few days have become tenanted as it now is ? 

 The remarkable promptness with which every 

 nook and corner was occupied by some water- 



