OUTDOORS 



with faint red splotches that have not yet 

 turned to russet, and in the fields a red- 

 bird's wing painted among the drifted thick- 

 ets. There never has been a wind too chill 

 to drive the crow from the country, and an 

 occasional blue-jay still braves wintry days in 

 the woods. 



In the lanes and along and across the roads 

 and through the pastures and brush there are 

 innumerable rabbit-tracks on the snow, the 

 fresh ones clearly cut, the old tracks crumb- 

 ling away in the light of the sun. So, too, in 

 the heavier timber there are deep, rounded 

 spots in the snow at regular intervals, that 

 lead from tree to tree. These are where squir- 

 rels have jumped from one tree's base to an- 

 other with a succession of long leaps. 



The wily mink's " pad " is seen around the 

 bridges across the streams, and sometimes the 

 snow on the creek is brushed where the ruffed 

 grouse has stood. Early in the morning, es- 

 pecially if snow has fallen the day before, the 

 woods are marked in all directions with the 

 traces of animals and birds that have set 

 their sign-manuals on the glittering expanses 

 among the trees. White and black are the 

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