178 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [17:4— April, 1921 



cove and give the call of a young crow. Many times, the old 

 birds, in groups of four or five, would fly above us to investi- 

 gate. 



A sandbar, about a mile fj*om Camp, was usually the goal of 

 these morning trips. Here we had reason to expect the great blue 

 heron — and only a few tim.es did we fail to see him. We always 

 saw his tracks — as large as a man's hand — in the sand on the beach, 

 or under the water where he had walked or stood to fish. 



These trips, in the early morning, left on the young minds the 

 most lasting impressions of the summer. When we started, before 

 six o'clock, quiet was necessary, lest we disturb a sleeping camp; 

 and quiet was willingly m^aintained, as our canoe glided noiselessly 

 along, in order that nothing should be missed — ^neither sight nor 

 sound — during that peaceful hour that seemed to be Nature's 

 best. We always returned with some regrets to an awakened 

 camp, with its shrill voices, its movement and its discordant 

 sounds — even though the return meant — breakfast. 



Second to the early morning trips, were a few taken in the even- 

 ing, in the same way, with some of the Seniors, for the study of 

 the stars — reflected in the clear mirror of the lake as brilliantly 

 as they shone in the heavens above us. The stars we have always 

 with us ; and any clear evening we may call attention to a partic- 

 ular star or planet or constellation. The interest in camp always 

 centers about the Dipper and Cassiopea, on account of their rela- 

 tion to the North Star. When on camping trips, sleeping in the 

 "open", we go to bed, rolled comfortably in our blankets, seeing 

 these constellations in a certain position. We wake up in the early 

 morning and find them quite upside down, as they follow their 

 path around the North Star. The few enthusiasts who are deter- 

 mined to be awake to see their first sun rise, find some of the winter 

 groups, also, such as Orion and the Pleiades. 



So the summer goes. Something is always waiting for us — an 

 open-book, if we will but read. 



We have little opportunity to study animals at H. N. C, for 

 quadrupeds are not very numerous in our neighborhood. Porcu- 

 pines, squirrels, woodchucks and an occasional skunk or mink, 

 may, perhaps, be studied or only recognized. I once saw a mink 

 carry off a young catbird; and, on another occasion, saw two 

 little minks playing together like kittens. I was alone at the time, 

 in a canoe, in the very early morning. 



