FIELD AND STUDY 



1915 a similar cry was heard late at night on the 

 hills above the village. It set all the dogs in town 

 barking and people thrust their heads out of their 

 doors and windows to see or hear what had caused 

 the sudden rumpus. The following September, while 

 a young man whom I know was ploughing in a hill 

 field near the woods, a large, yellow, catlike animal 

 came down and lingered near him. His description 

 of it, including the fact that it had a short tail, con- 

 vinced me that he had seen a lynx and that this 

 was our mysterious night screamer. The young 

 farmer ran to the house to get his gun, but when he 

 returned he saw the big cat disappearing in the 

 woods. Yet no one has seen its track upon the snow, 

 and no poultry or lambs or pigs or calves in the 

 neighborhood have been killed by it. 



One need never expect to exhaust the natural 

 history of even his own farm. Every year sees a 

 new and enlarged edition of the book of nature, and 

 we may never hope to turn the final leaf. 



