The little salmon, a plucky fellow,
fought hard for his life, and swam round and round, up and down, hither
and thither, trying to escape from this terrible murderer; but it was no
use, he could not free himself from his grip; and while the poor little
wretch was giving the last few flutterings of his tail, the water-beetle
proceeded coolly to peck out his left eye, and to devour it at once." The
larva not only of the carnivorous dytiscus but also of the
vegetable-feeding water-beetle are ferocious and carnivorous, and deadly
enemies of young fish and ova.
[1] In mentioning some of the Thames _insecta_ I have also noticed some of
the _mollusca_ and _crustacea_. It is a pity these have not some common
names. One cannot write easily of "pulmonate gasteropods."
"THE CHAVENDER OR CHUB"
"Now when you've caught your chavender,
(Your chavender or chub)
You hie you to your pavender,
(Your pavender or pub),
And there you lie in lavender,
(Sweet lavender or lub)."
_Mr. Punch._
I went into the Plough Inn at Long Wittenham in mid-November to arrange
about sending some game to London. The landlord, after inquiring about our
shooting luck, went out and came back into the parlour, saying, "Now, sir,
will you look at my sport?" He carried on a tray two large chub weighing
about 2-1/2 lbs.
Pages:
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48