214 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



table. They saluted us a few times with their curious 

 and rapidly uttered " wake up, " " wake up, " and 

 then with that shrill scream flew away. On a little 

 hillside across the road, three woodchucks came out of 

 their burrows and fed awhile on the clover. These 

 homely though wholesome burrowing animals are very 

 ■ cleanly in their eating habits, living almost entirely on 

 clover, unless they can find growing beans, of which 

 they are very fond. They are grotesque in their move- 

 ments, and billow along one end at a time as awkwardly 

 as a moving caterpillar. Few people are aware that 

 when fat and properl}^ cooked these animals form a 

 most enviable dish that rivals in flavor the most savory 

 lamb. Woodchucks and muskrats had a peculiar charm 

 for Thoreau, and the sight of either always awakened 

 in him the liveliest interest. •" 



The roadsides are just now beautified as never 

 earlier or later, by the sweet elders, which are in full 

 blossom. Their creamy white flowers are xerj showy 

 and fragrant. We miss them along many of the 

 model farms, and often turn aside and travel miles 

 of byroads where these beautiful bushes are al- 

 lowed to grow wild and luxuriant, a joy to man 

 and bird. There are few ornamental bushes grow- 

 ing in cit}^ lawns and gardens that can compare 

 in beauty and fragrance with this vagrant of 

 the hedges and highways. Like the clover and 

 dandelions, they are so common and without cost that 

 many people forget to admire them ; but were they 

 blotted from the earth, or could they be obtained only 



