A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



in the near and familiar woods, which is 

 directly contrary to observations I have 

 made in other parts of the State. So differ- 

 ent are the habits of birds in different 

 localities. 



As soon as it was fairly light we were up 

 and ready to resume our march. A small 

 bit of bread-and-butter and a swallow or 

 two of whiskey was all we had for breakfast 

 that morning. Our supply of each was 

 very limited, and we were anxious to save 

 a little of both, to relieve the diet of trout 

 to which we looked forward. 



At an early hour we reached the rock 

 where we had parted with the guide, and 

 looked around us into the dense, trackless 

 woods with many misgivings. To strike 

 out now on our own hook, where the way 

 was so blind and after the experience we 

 had just had, was a step not to be carelessly 

 taken. The tops of these mountains are 

 so broad, and a short distance in the woods 

 seems so far, that one is by no means mas- 

 ter of the situation after reaching the sum- 

 mit. And then there are so many spurs 

 and offshoots and changes of direction, 

 added to the impossibility of making any 

 generalization by the aid of the eye, that 



