68 IN THE HEMLOCKS. 



song consists of a single plaintive note, and 

 that the veery's resembles that of the wood- 

 thrush ! These observations are as wide of 

 the mark as that of the author of " Out- 

 door Papers," whose usually accurate pen 

 slips badly when he tells us that the trill of 

 the hair-bird is produced by the bird flut- 

 tering its wings upon its sides ! The her- 

 mit-thrush may be easily identified by his 

 color ; his back being a clear olive-brown, 

 becoming rufous on his rump and tail. A 

 quill from his wing placed beside one from 

 his tail on a dark ground presents quite a 

 marked contrast. 



I walk along the old road, and note the 

 tracks in the thin layer of mud. When do 

 these creatures travel here? I have never 

 yet chanced to meet one. Here a partridge 

 has set its foot ; there, a woodcock ; here, a 

 squirrel or mink ; there, a skunk ; there, a 

 fox. What a clear, nervous track Reynard 

 makes ! how easy to distinguish it from that 

 of a little dog, it is so sharply cut and de- 

 fined ! A dog's track is coarse and clumsy 

 beside it. There is as much wildness in 

 the track of an animal as in its voice. Is 

 a deer's track like a sheep's, or a goat's? 

 What winged-footed fleetness and agility 



