28 ^tn^ntu of ttie ^vttn 



Once we found tracks in the dust by 

 the roadside where a bevy of quail had 

 passed the night. They had stood in a 

 bunch, with their tails together and heads 

 outward as though for mutual protection. 



We saw strange things on those long 

 rambles through the forest. Molly Cot- 

 tontail scurried across our path, but squat- 

 ted under a bush, to see what we were 

 like. Squirrels eyed us curiously from 

 the tops of trees, and the red squirrel 

 usually scolded away and made a great 

 fuss because we dared to come into his 

 woods. 



I came to know all the call notes, 

 songs, and cries that floated down the 

 aisles of the sweet green woods. The 

 rat-a-tat of the black and white, and red 

 and white, woodpeckers, and the queer 

 cackle of their larger cousin, the yellow- 

 hammer. Once we heard the cackle of 



