Excerpt from The River-Side Naturalist: Notes on the Various Forms of Life Met With Either in on or by the Water, or in Its Immediate Vicinity
Some writer on Natural History whose name we forget says, that in every one of us there is an innate love of Nature in her purest and simplest phases. Yet how few there are who, having this love and enjoying thoroughly the beauties which meet their gaze when wandering by the water-side, know anything of the various forms of animal life which are so profusely distributed in every direction How many are there who know the difference between what is called the water-rat and the rat of the barn or corn-stack - between the weasel and the stoat - the field mouse and the house-mouse The flowers which carpet the meadows and marshes with blue and yellow in spring tide, with purple and gold in autumn, are to many nothing but flowers; the insects which hum and fly around us, nothing but beetles or flies, butterflies or moths.
A little more knowledge of Nature’s handicraft, so as to be able to distinguish the various species, would make the hours pass more pleasantly to any one, whatever might be his occupation by the river-side, but more especially to the angler, when either waiting for his float to bob, or sitting on a rail expecting the rise.
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