278 UPLAND AND MEADOW. 



wood. It is no mean experience to end an October 

 raml)le with cool grapes, a cluster of hazel-nuts, and the 

 rosy cheek of a spicy apple. 



Leaving the hillside, on my return homeward, I 

 passed along the main meadow ditch, and was delighted 

 to find a star-nosed mole. Its branched snout and long 

 tail at once distinguished it from the other species found 

 here ; for we have three of them, and these are even 

 generically distinct — one a Scalops, another a /Scapanus, 

 and the one fonnd this morning a Condylura. These 

 moles cannot be confounded by the most careless observ- 

 er, although I once did hear a man say of one, " It's too 

 small for a rat and too big for a mouse. What is it, 

 any way?" 



The star-nosed mole that I had found had no appar- 

 ent business on the surface of the meadow, and no pry- 

 ing cur had dug him out of his subterranean home, for 

 the ground was everywhere intact. 



So closely do these moles keep to their burrows that 

 many people have never seen them,, even where they 

 are really abundant. In my meadows, I generally find 

 that the burrows open into the ditch banks below the 

 water-level, or but an inch or two above the water's usual 

 height. Into the water, therefore, with little or no dis- 

 turbance, these moles can plunge, on occasion, and swim 

 off without being noticed. It is probable, however, that 

 they seldom do take to the open water ; for when sur- 

 prised in their tunnels, they usually, I think, retreat to 

 that portion of the burrow most distant from the ditch 

 bank. Such, at least, has been my experience in observ- 



