BIRCH BROWSINGS. 237 



quite as pleasing as the liveliest bird-song, 

 and was if anything more woodsy and wild. 

 As the yellow-bellied woodpecker was the 

 most abundant species in these woods, I at- 

 tributed it to him. It is the one sound that 

 still links itself with those scenes in my 

 mind. 



At sunset the grouse began to drum in all 

 parts of the woods about the lake. I could 

 hear five at one time, thump, thump, thump, 

 thump, thr-r-r-r-r-r-rr. It was a homely, 

 welcome sound. As I returned to camp at 

 twilight, along the shore of the lake, the 

 frogs also were in full chorus. The older 

 ones ripped out their responses to each other 

 with terrific force and volume. I know of 

 no other animal capable of giving forth so 

 much sound, in proportion to its size, as a 

 frog. Some of these seemed to bellow as 

 loud as a two-year-old bull. They were of 

 immense size, and very abundant. No frog- 

 eater had ever been there. Near the shore 

 we felled a tree which reached far out in the 

 lake. Upon the trunk and branches the 

 frogs had soon collected in large numbers, 

 and gambolled and splashed about the half- 

 submerged top like a parcel of school-boys, 

 making nearly as much noise. 



