THE RENAISSANCE. 77 



owl, which we startled into flight in the depths 

 of a pine grove where snowdrifts still lingered. 

 Although close watch was kept for frogs or pip- 

 ing hylas, none were seen or heard. Our sur- 

 prise was great, however, to see a large wood- 

 chuck run clumsily through an oak grove, and 

 turn to watch us from the mouth of his hole. 

 He was very thin, and probably correspondingly 

 hungry after his long winter nap. We saw two 

 gray squirrels, but no red squirrels or chipmunks. 

 At the base of a boulder, in a moist wood, lay 

 a garter snake. I caught him, and found his 

 forked tongue, bright, defiant eyes, and tightly 

 entwining folds all in the best possible working 

 order. Near the end of our walk we found a 

 grass-grown ants' nest, formed of light soil piled 

 into a conical heap a foot and a half high. Not 

 thinking it possible that the hill was tenanted, I 

 knocked away part of its top. Instantly, en- 

 raged red ants came from the hidden chambers 

 of their fortress, and in a sluggish way sought 

 the intruder. I replaced the earth and mentally 

 begged the ants' pardon. 



It was evening when we reentered Cambridge 

 streets, well pleased with having seen eighteen 

 kinds of birds, three kinds of mammals, two 

 species of turtles, one snake, three species of 

 butterflies or moths, and at least five other kinds 

 of insects. 



