156 BOULDER REVERIES. 



The shadows fall aslant the slopes, while the 

 oaks and maples which gave them birth rise 

 perpendicularly. The sun moving to the west- 

 ward gives the shadows a seeming motion. 



I often wonder at the lack of ground feeding 

 birds in open woods. We have at this season 

 scores of tree and shrub inhabiting insectivorous 

 species to one that seeks its living among the 

 grasses. Our terrestrial birds are mostly per- 

 manent or winter residents, like the towhee, the 

 song sparrow, the winter wren, etc. During the 

 summer and early autumn months, where the 

 turkeys and other domestic fowls do not range, 

 ants, ground crickets, green grasshoppers and 

 other insect forms abound, with few or no birds 

 to prey upon them. It seems that here is a cor- 

 ner of nature, where the environments are suit- 

 able for a successful struggle, with no form of 

 bird life to do it justice. Thrushes there are, to 

 be sure, but their numbers are relatively few and 

 their abiding places the thickets or woods with 

 much underbrush, where they keep company 

 with the towhee and the cardinal. The chip- 

 ping and field sparrows feed chiefly on insects 



