  As Uncle George walked by the edge of the corn field, Dolly and her two brothers ran up to him. Dolly carried a bunch of huge daisies in her hand. “We want you to tell us about these, Uncle George,” she said. “Tom says that these are the little field daisies grown up; and Frank says they are not.” “Frank is right,” said Uncle George, laughing. “This is not the common field daisy. It is the ox-eye daisy. You might “You can see that they are unlike one another in many ways. The ox-eye daisy has much larger leaves and flowers. It bears its leaves and flowers on tall, strong stalks. The leaves of the common daisy lie almost flat on the ground, and there is only one little flower-head on each stalk. When we get home we shall look at them both more closely.” “Oh, look at those big yellow daisies growing among the corn,” said Dolly. “And I see some blue flowers near them,” said Tom. “The yellow flower is the moon-daisy. It is also called the corn-marigold. It is a great deal like the two daisies we have just been talking about. The other is the blue cornflower. It belongs to the same great family as the daisies. Frank will go and fetch us some.” Frank gathered a bunch of both flowers. He was just reaching over for some large red poppies when he saw a pair of small black cunning eyes peering at him. Then a brown “A rat! a rat! Uncle George!” he shouted. “Yes, it is a rat, I saw it,” said his uncle. “But what is he doing out in the fields?” said Frank. “I always thought that rats lived in houses.” “The brown rat lives where he can,” said Uncle George. “Very likely this one has come from the farm. Farm-yard rats often come out and live among the long grass and reeds in summer-time. When the cold weather comes, and the crops are gathered, they go back to the stables and barns. There they rob the farmer. They are very cunning creatures. They steal eggs, milk, grain, and even kill and carry away young chickens. The rat lives by thieving. That is why he is killed whenever he shows his face. “Rats are sometimes useful, though. They swarm in ship docks and places where stuff is left about. They eat up what would rot and poison the air. They thus help to keep down disease. “Now, boys, before we go home I am going to show you something. I found it the other day when taking a walk.” Uncle George led the children to the end of the field, and pointed to a strange object among the corn. It was a nest of some sort. It was made of dried grass, and hung from five or six wheat stalks. It was round like a cricket-ball, and just about as big. “It is the nest of the harvest-mouse,” said Uncle George in a low voice. “Keep still, and perhaps we shall see Mistress Mousie.” The children waited a long time looking at the curious little object. At last a tiny brown creature ran up one of the wheat stalks and went into the nest. It seemed to go right through the wall of its little house. There was no hole to be seen where it went in. Then Uncle George clapped his hands. At once two wee brown mice came out. They slid down the corn stalks and were out of sight in a moment. “Ha! Mr and Mrs Mousie, we have disturbed you,” said Uncle George. “We will now go nearer and see your nest.” “I can’t see where they came out,” said Tom. “There is no hole to be seen.” Uncle George pointed out to the children how the nest was woven together and fixed to the wheat stalks. He then took a pencil from his pocket and moved aside some of the dried grass. The children looked in and saw a family of naked little mice cuddled up together. They could not tell how many there were; but Uncle George said that there were eight or nine young ones as a rule in a harvest-mouse’s nest. “What will become of these wee mice when the corn is ripe?” Tom asked. “They will perhaps be grown up and able to take care of themselves by that time, Tom,” said Uncle George. “The harvest-mouse stores up corn in its nest. Before winter comes it makes a hole in the ground. Here it sleeps through most of the winter and spring. It wakes up from time to time and feeds upon its store of grains.” “It is much smaller and browner than our house-mouse,” said Frank. “Yes, Frank, it is our smallest four-footed animal. We have many kinds of mice in this “How does it manage to slide down the wheat stalk so quickly without falling off?” Tom asked. “It can use its long tail as well as its feet for climbing,” his uncle answered. “When it wishes to get to the ground it just coils its little tail round the stalk and slides down.” Questions and Exercises.
HARVEST TIME THE SQUIRREL |
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