however, that were about twenty inches and their great dorsal fin is a superb 



in length and weighing about two mark of loveliness." 

 pounds. That angler whose fortune it may be 



All who are familiar with the Grayling to see the Cirayling swimming in the 



must agree with the angler who said : clear cool water of some northern river 



'There is no species sought for by an- can say with Shakespeare : 



glers that surpasses the Graylings in The pleasant 'st angling is to see the fish 



beauty. They are more elegantly Cut, with her golden oars, the silvery stream, 



formed and more graceful than the trout, And greedily devour the treacherous b^it. 



Seth Mindwell. 



"A NATURALIST'S CALENDAR." 



To January with a weary sigh 



The listless redwing makes his presence known ; 

 A chattering flock, the fieldfares pass on high : 



The burns are turned to glass, the clods to stone. 



In February comes a sudden rush 



Of burns from binding frost set free, and then 

 Loud blares the bugle of the misselthrnsh 



Against the shriller fifing of the wren. 



March bids the mavis fill the show with mirth. 

 The merle begins to try his flute anew: 



The buds are all astir within the earth. 



And here and there some bolder bloom peeps through. 



April brings the swallow to our land, 



The soaring laveroch fills the air with glee : 



The flowers are trooping forth on every hand. 

 And blythely to her labour goes the bee. 



May is the month! The other months may yield 

 Their boon of starry night or sunny day. 



But garden tells to orchard, wood to field. 



The self-same tale — "No month can vie with May." 



June and the rose have kept their tryste of old ; 



The cuckoo flouts them hoarsely, but they scorn 

 His mockery : sweetly their tale is told 



Year after year of ancient love new-born. 



In July hovering martins haunt the eaves 



To feed their nestlings ; robins, newly-flown, 



Lurk in the covert of the thick-hung leaves. 

 And lisp a baby-language of their own. 



36 



