148 NOVA SCOTIA. 



each of these colours, which appear the more vivid by 

 contrast with the dark and gloomy pines and firs. There 

 are more signs of animal life in the woods at this season 

 than at any other. The young birds are strong on the 

 wing ; none of the migratory species have left ; and the 

 animals and those birds that remain the winter are either 

 busily engaged in putting on a good coating of fat to 

 protect themselves from the cold, or, like the beaver, are 

 laying in stores of provisions. 



This is the rutting season of the moose, and the hunter, 

 for his own base purposes, imitates the amorous roars of 

 the cow, which she utters periodically to make known her 

 whereabouts to the bull. From the 20th of September to 

 the 20th of October is the season for moose calling, and 

 the full of the moon is the best time, as the bulls seldom 

 come up to call before sunset. I have had most suc- 

 cess in that short half-hour between sundown and dark. 

 Later than that, even with moonlight, no one can make 

 sure of his shot; and the moose, though not a very 

 difficult animal to kill, is, I have always thought, more 

 tenacious of life at this time of year than at any other, 

 and requires to be hit in the right spot. The old bulls 

 leave off running the soonest ; the young ones I have 

 called as late as the first week in November. They are 

 very pugnacious in the rutting season, and fight des- 

 perately. On one occasion, had it not been for my 

 impatience, I should have witnessed one of these en- 

 counters. I was calling in a little barren or open space in 

 the woods, and during a quarter of an hour of breathless 

 suspense I could hear two bulls advancing towards me 

 from different directions, and both so near .that it was a 



