SOME NOCTURNAL PROWLERS. 131 



among them; all delighting to dwell in high 

 shaded spots. Ahout the margin of the cliff the 

 marmot has the openings of his abiding places, 

 and in the forks of one of the tallest of the oaks, 

 the red-tailed hawk its nest. If one could rest 

 here every pleasant day from April to Novem- 

 ber, he could discover and note many comings 

 and goings, many wooings and matings of the 

 rightful inhabitants of this charming, secluded 

 retreat. 



At eventide the sinking sun sends his rays in 

 bountiful numbers all about me. Soon the di- 

 urnal forms of animal life will quiet down to a 

 night's repose, and the nocturnal or night prowl- 

 ing ones will sally forth from their daytime 

 hiding places. Raccoons, opossums, skunks and 

 bats among mammals; owls and whippoorwills 

 among birds ; moths and many beetles among in- 

 sects each in search of a mate or of some form 

 of food to stay the pangs of hunger. A mate to 

 perpetuate its kind, food for growth and as a 

 source of energy, those the two great necessities 

 of every animal form since life began upon this 

 sphere. As long as man sought them alone, his 



