lUbcn (Brass is Green 



when in the woods. Why are forests so apt to be 

 silent ? Primarily, because they are comparative- 

 ly uninhabited as compared with the more open 

 country. (I am speaking of the woodland tracts 

 of to-day. When the country was all forested, 

 the immediate banks of streams and lakes attracted 

 the greater portion of wild-life.) The few strictly 

 wood-birds are not noisy species, and open-coun- 

 try-birds, when in the woods, are not so given to 

 singing as when they can see in every direction 

 and have the sun shining directly upon them. 

 Mammals that lurk in the forest are usually silent 

 and sleep by day, and wander forth and out of the 

 woods by night. I have often walked a mile in a 

 dense woods, and heard only the hiss of a snake, 

 the hum of insects, or the rattle of loose bark over 

 which a lizard swiftly darted. A light breeze may 

 rustle the leaves, a sudden gust may cause touching 

 branches to creak, and in " the pines " we have 

 ever " that magic tone awakened by the wind 

 alone. " But all such sounds but intensify the si- 

 lence. We long for a sound from the throat of 

 a living creature, and at last we hear it. Then, 

 how alert is every sense! The possibly timid wan- 

 derer becomes an explorer, and we have reached 

 the flood tide of enjoyment in a forest. Some 

 strange bird or beast has uttered a cry, and we 

 would know what manner of creature it was. I 

 know of no greater pleasure than that of solving 

 such mysteries. To follow a sound through the 



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