164 BOULDER REVERIES. 



iterative, comes from the maple-top. Joyous 

 his July days as he moves hither and thither, 

 sending forth his overflow of energy in contin- 

 uous ditty, as he hunts for food. How differ- 

 ent his manner from that of the pair of dimin- 

 utive blue-gray gnatcatchers which flit silently, 

 like fairy ghosts, from twig to twig of the near- 

 by dogwood, scanning closely every leaf for the 

 minute insect forms which furnish sustenance. 

 Sauntering slowly and quietly along the val- 

 ley of the stream as I came hither this morn, 

 I encountered a ground-hog, about three-quart- 

 ers grown, which had come down from his bur- 

 row at the top of a steep, shelving bank to get 

 a drink. He had evidently quenched his thirst 

 and was feeding daintily upon the tender tips 

 of grasses and the heads of white clover which 

 grew close along the edges of the water. Stand- 

 ing motionless within five feet of him, I 

 watched him closely for several minutes. The 

 taller grass blades he pulled down with his 

 fore paws and munched their tips with evident 

 satisfaction, while he seemed to choose only the 

 riper clover heads, in which the seeds were 



