BIRCH BROWSINGS. 231 



thrive and sing well when caged, like the 

 canary, how far it would surpass that bird ! 

 It has all the vivacity and versatility of the 

 canary, without any of its shrillness. Its 

 song is indeed a little cascade of melody. 



We again retraced our steps, rolling the 

 stone, as it were, back up the mountain, de- 

 termined to commit ourselves to the line of 

 marked trees. These we finally reached, and, 

 after exploring the country to the right, saw 

 that bearing to the left was still the order. 

 The trail led up over a gentle rise of ground, 

 and in less than twenty minutes we were in 

 the woods I had passed through when I 

 found the lake. The error I had made was 

 then plain : we had come off the mountain a 

 few paces too far to the right, and so had 

 passed down the wrong side of the ridge, 

 into what we afterwards learned was the val- 

 ley of Alder Creek. 



We now made good time, and before 

 many minutes I again saw the mimic sky 

 glance through the trees. As we approached 

 the lake, a solitary woodchuck, the first wild 

 animal we had seen since entering the woods, 

 sat crouched upon the root of a tree a few 

 feet from the water, apparently completely 

 nonplussed by the unexpected appearance of 



