GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 



deer quietly feeding in supposed security, and may rest assured that 

 a nice bit of fresh venison steak will in no way interfere with your 



investigations. 



Crossing from the Beaver meadow to the nearest lake, we find its 



o 



shores steep and rocky, with a dense border of dark cedars overhanging 

 the water which is of considerable depth, even close to the shore. 

 A little farther along, the steep rocks are replaced by a more sloping 

 bank, covered with stones of various sizes, and spruce and hem- 

 locks, mingled, perhaps, with a few birches and maples, are substitu- 

 ted for the cedars just passed. Beyond still is a beach of clean white 

 sand, strewn with smooth quartz pebbles, and backed with a grove 

 of tall pines, beneath whose lofty summits a cluster of paper birch 

 saplings casts flitting shadows over the blue huckleberries below. 

 Continuing the circuit, we next come to a marshy bay lined with 

 sedges and covered with lily-pads a feeding ground, at night, for the 

 much persecuted deer. Finally we reach the outlet, with its dense 

 thicket of alders, and are startled by the splash of a diving Musk- 

 rat, or the sudden flight of a Wood Duck or Heron. In the alders 

 and undershrubs bordering the stream we notice a few Song Spar- 

 rows, Rusty Blackbirds, and a solitary Maryland Yellow-throat. 

 Turning from the lake into the adjoining forest, the dark form and 

 yellow crown of a Three-toed Woodpecker arrest our eye, and 

 rounding a rocky knoll we get a glimpse of his princely cousin, the 

 Cock-of-the-Woods. From various quarters may be heard the clear 

 mellow whistle of the Peabody Bird, and the less frequent but sadder 

 note of the Wood Pewee. Winding slowly up the shady ravine that 

 leads to the pass between the mountains that separate us from the 

 valley beyond, a Hermit Thrush silently glides across our path, and 

 we notice here a pair of Slate-colored Snow-birds, and the trim form 

 of a little Winter Wren as she flits from a moss-covered log to the 

 branches of a fallen tree-top, pertly tipping her tail in salute. Near- 

 ing the summit a passing flock of noisy Blue Jays excites the wrath 

 of a Red Squirrel who, perched on a neighboring limb, manifests his 



