FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW. 3 



turns to the woods. The barberry bushes had 

 been found, however, and were thoroughly en- 

 snared in the tracks. The mice which formed 

 them had made holes in the snow near the stems 

 of the bushes, and these holes led through long 

 tunnels down to the ground and possibly into it. 

 Among the pitch pines, old orchards, and chest- 

 nut trees squirrel tracks were countless. Most 

 of them were those of the red squirrel, but in 

 deeper woods I found records of gray squirrels 

 as well. Along frozen brooks, where alders, 

 willows, privet, and rosebushes were thick, the 

 small brown rabbits had been feeding and pay- 

 ing moonlight visits to each other. In an or- 

 chard I found a place where a crow had alighted 

 and marched about with long strides. Most in- 

 teresting of all were the hurried tracks of a 

 flock of birds which had been feeding on bar- 

 berries, juniper and privet berries. They had 

 been disturbed by a dog and had skurried 

 through the thicket, their sharp toes printing 

 innumerable " crow's feet " in the snow. What 

 were they ? I pushed on to see, and soon started 

 a flock of fifteen quail from a dark grove of 

 pines. Later I found one cuddled up in a hol- 

 low in the snow under a juniper, eating the ber- 

 ries over her head. I nearly stepped upon the 

 bush before she flew. 



Descending into a ravine filled with ruddy 



