Ma UPLAND AND MEADOW. 



meadows; the robins sought the wild grapes, and thg 

 thistle-finches went — well, they disappeared. 



The last rays of the sun to-day — a handful of golden 

 arrows — were shot through the tliree beeches at 5 p.m., 

 and the last of the roostward flying crows passed over 

 ten minutes later. An hour afterwards the night had 

 set in, breezy, cold, clear, and moonlit. Does an October 

 night need anything else? I walked up through the 

 cornfield to the lone oak in the upland clover, and, after 

 standing awhile, I was fortunate enough to see an old 

 grizzly opossum start on his nocturnal rounds. The 

 exit of an opossum from his home-tree is an artistic 

 proceeding. With only his head projecting beyond the 

 opening, he took a long observation. Just of what, is 

 not easy even to guess, but very possibly only of the 

 weather. Then, placing his fore-feet on the rim of the 

 hole, which was ten feet from the ground, the animal 

 looked downward and sidewise for fully ten minutes. 

 Wrapped in gray and hidden in tall weeds, I do not 

 think he saw me. Then slipping his fore-feet down the 

 trunk of the tree, the opossum held on by his hind-feet 

 and tail, and in this upside-down position again scanned 

 the neighborhood closely, or listened for suspicious 

 sounds, or both. This was but for a few moments, and 

 then the downward climb commenced. Once at the foot 

 of the tree, the opossum broke into a jog-trot and was 

 directly out of sight and hearing. 



We are all familiar with the fact that rattlesnakes, 

 prairie-dogs, and burrowing owls are sometimes found 

 in the same subterranean retreat. Such cases of associ- 



