Swamp of Oracles 177 



Water Thrush {^Sehirus noveboracensis) and her brood 

 of five little foolish, half-grown thrushlings. The 

 awkward birds ran peeping across my path, not in the 

 least afraid. I caught them all, and placed three in my 

 hat, leaving two for consolation to the mother, while I 

 hurried home to obtain a photograph of my prizes. 

 But I was not able to reconcile them to their new con- 

 ditions and food so easily as I had domesticated my 

 whippoorwills. As soon as I had secured a negative, 

 I returned them, nearly famished, to the mother, who 

 was running along the shore of the pond, tipping-up her 

 tail like the wagtail. These birds are swift in flight, 

 skimming near the water, whistling as it were, while 

 they catch insects. Their nest is very difficult to find, 

 being as a rule among the roots of trees along the 

 shores of ponds or streams in damp woods. I fre- 

 quently observe these birds walking in the stony 

 brook flowing down from Cold Spring in Chalk Pond 

 region, as well as about the shores of Aurora's L<ake 

 in North Adams. 



The hillside clearings in this region are the haunts 

 ofwoodchucks {Ardofnys monax). Many holes show 

 where they have burrowed. Usually these ground- 

 pigs seek for their habitations clover and bean fields, 

 which furnish them provender. Exploring the door- 

 yard of the woodchuck, I found several plants of the 

 Small Round-Leaved Orchis maturing their seed-cap- 

 sules. Not every wild pig's garden bears this evidence 

 of aestheticism. 



The fertilization of these strange Round-Leaved 



