THE LITTLE BROOK GONE DRY 



309 



sedges; also, some fine close-growing tussock-sedges, that 

 build hillocks of green at the edges of the channel. There 

 will be grasses, also; especially the pale cut-grass (Leersia), 

 fringing the edges of former pools. There will be a few fine 



mints, such as pepper- 

 mint, spearmint, water- 

 mint, and the less 

 attractive bugle-weed. 

 There will be a few fine 

 wild flowers, such as 

 turtleheads, skullcaps 

 and lobelias. There 

 will be evidences of 

 animal life in the tracks 

 of the muskrat and of 

 birds in the dried mud- 

 bed of the pools. 



Robins, that sit, while 

 we pass by, on the lower 

 branches of the trees, 

 with gaping beaks, pant- 

 ing in the shade — these 

 have been exploring the 

 brook-bed before us. 

 They have been seeking 

 for things to replace 

 earthworms in their 

 diet, since the drying 

 of the topsoil in the 

 fields has driven the 

 worms down below. Other things there are to take advantage 

 of the hapless brook-dwellers. The concentration of the 

 pools leaves their inhabitants exposed to merciless 

 enemies. 



Fig. 135. A late-season spray of the fowl 

 meadow-grass (Panicularia nervata) , show- 

 ing vegetative aerial offsets with roots : a small 

 lateral offset is shown enlarged at the right. 



