12 A WORD AT THE START. 



apparently too fragile to hold safely the three little eggs 

 it contained ; yet with them was an egg of the Cowpen 

 bird, larger than the three others together. 



If a walk is taken for mental as well as bodily exer- 

 cise, it is most unwise to ignore familiar objects, or refuse 

 to ramble because there is nothing to see. When once 

 the impression of nothing to see gains possession of a 

 person, he is in a bad way, as he is deprived of one great 

 source of pleasure, and must acquire his knowledge at 

 second hand or not at all. Not that I think little of a 

 book-knowledge of Nature, for I read many books with 

 delight ; but the best book is that which sends us out- 

 of-doors, in search of information, rather than to the 

 library. 



Walks may be taken alone or in company ; but if you 

 go with a companion, be sure he is thoroughly sympa- 

 thetic, or the ramble will be in vain. The best company 

 are those that live closest to Nature, and he is wise who is 

 friendly with the old trappers and fishermen who still lin- 

 ger in every village. If the rambler is young, and learn- 

 ing Nature's A, B, C's, an opportunity to question an old 

 trapper is something to be prized. More can be learned 

 of them, by judicious questions, than by reference to a 

 cyclopaedia. Aspiring, then, to be an accomplished ram- 

 bler, to know how to stroll profitably, be not less on the 

 lookout for those whose business is with Nature than 

 for those lower forms of intelligence we call, collectivelv, 

 animal life. A chance conversation discovered to me 

 one companion of many of my walks. When a mere 

 boy, Uz Gaunt lived in this neighborhood, having a 

 little cottage adjoining my grandfather's woods ; and 

 he, above all others, gave me my first lesson in practical 

 zoology. 



