THE NOVEMBER WOODS 



219 



scattered all along the hillsides in the 

 open woodland, and underneath, the 

 waxy, berry-like fruit of the false Solo- 

 mon seal and spikenard still persist. 

 The abundant, purple fruit of the vi- 

 burnums appears like great clusters of 

 blueberries dangling from the ends of 

 the branches, and some of the purplish- 

 crimson leaves still cling to the twigs, 

 even after repeated frosts. I was sur- 

 prised to find a gray squirrel gathering 

 and eating these berries the other day, 

 and upon tasting them, I found they 

 were full of seeds and a bit puckery. 

 but not bad. 



In the pine woods the trailing part- 

 ridge vines are laden with their bright 

 red, berry-like drupes, upon which the 

 bobwhites and grouse are said to feed, 

 and here if it be a bright day and not 

 too cold we should not be surprised to 

 see a butterfly or two, or to hear an 

 occasional hyla or spring peeper — per- 

 haps better known as tree frog. The 

 mourning-cloak and the comma are 

 two of our hardiest butterflies, hiber- 

 nating in the winged ' stage under 

 stones and logs, and are occasionally 

 met hovering about a sunny spot in 

 the open woods even while there are 

 patches of snow on the ground. Both 



the red and gray squirrels are abroad 

 at this season, and having completed 

 the gathering of their winter stores, 

 are now at liberty to enjoy the free- 

 dom of the woods. On sunny days the 

 cheery whistle of a chipmunk may also 

 be heard, or you may catch a glimpse 

 of him scampering over the rocks, 

 though doubtless he has already pre- 

 pared his soft nest beneath the wall, 

 where he is soon to retire for his hiber- 

 nating sleep. 



We find even the dried grasses and 

 weeds interesting before they have 

 been destroyed by the winter storms, 

 and many of the flowers which have 

 gone to seed are exquisitely beautiful 

 when closely examined and studied in 

 their natural surroundings. We pass 

 through large beds of asters and gold- 

 enrod, which, though having gone to 

 seed, still retain their perfect form and 

 in a remarkable degree resemble flow- 

 ers in bloom. Very attractive, too, is 

 a picturesque bed of dried grasses with 

 long stems and wavy, plume-like tips. 

 Bleached nearly white it seems almost 

 to sparkle as it waves in the breeze and 

 the sunlight falls full upon it. 



A dense massing of smooth sumac 

 along the hillside attracts us with its 



£ 







•%•*;-«.. ,• v.,.. *, .■•■>&.'m.- i m~- i . '-- dtr 3? ». ; .2.1* 







'LARGE BEDS OF ASTERS 



THOUGH HAVING GONE TO SEED STILL RETAIN THEIR 

 PERFECT FORM." 



