some of the largest, a little below the surface of the earth, they make their nests of moss, in which four or five young are found at a time. These animals live on worms, insects, and the roots of plants. They do much mischief in gardens, by loosening and devouring flowerroots; but in the fields they seem to do no other harm than rendering the surface of the ground unequal by their hillocks, which obstruct the scythe in mowing. They are said also to pierce the sides of dams and canals, and let out the water. Of this latter charge we should be doubtful. Their instinct, it is very probable, will preserve them from letting off water which would drown them, and the approach to which they must perceive by the moisture of the soil.

A Mole-catcher, Miss Mitford has said, "is of the earth earthy ;" but he is of the green fields, of the solitary woodlands. We observe him, especially in the spring and the autumn, a silent and picturesque object, poring under hedges and along the skirts of the forest, or the margin of a stream for traces of

The little black-a-moor pioneer
Grubbing his way in darkness drear.

We have met him in emses and hazel-shaded lanes, cutting springs in his traps, and we not only love him, and look 1pon him as one of the legitimate objects of rural scenery, but have often found him a quat but shrewd observer of nature, and capable of enriching us with many fragments of knowledge. In the winter by his fire he makes his traps. These are very simple machines, which almost any one may construct. We have made and set many a one ourselves, and have been up by the earliest dawn of day to discover their success. Many moles may be tight in one place, if the trap be judiciously set in a main burrow. It is better near a ge, or in a plantation, than in the middle of a, where it is liable to be disturbed by

A strong hazel stick for the spring, pieces of brass wire, a little string, a few pegs, and a top made of the half of a willow pole, about six inches long and diameter, hollowed out, are all the for a mole-trap.

RURAL OCCUPATIONE.

ng, tending cattle, early lambs, calves, ue, as in last month, to occupy the

thoughts and the hands of the husbandman. Manures too are carried to grass lands. Ploughing is on the increase, and spring wheat, beans, peas, oats, and tares are sown. In mild weather, hedges are planted; overgrown fences are cut, or plashed. Ponds and drains are made. Timber is felled, and tree-seeds are sown. Copsewood is cut, and plantations are thinned. In the garden various operations of pruning, digging, sowing, etc. are going on.

ANGLING.

Almost fresh water fish is in season every excepting chub, during the latter half of the month, and trout, which continues so till April. Roach and dace are deemed to be this month in prime. They frequent rivers, and must be sought for at this season in deep, shaded holes, in clear waters with gravelly bottoms; dace, particularly amongst weeds, and under the foam caused by eddies. The best baits for them now are paste, gentles, or larvæ of beetles, got by digging up the roots of plants. The flies of this month are plain hackle, great blue dun, and dark dun.

dun, great