WILDWOOD WAYS 



day on which the woodchuck is fabled to 

 appear at the mouth of his underground 

 retreat and look for weather signs, but 

 I don't know anyone who has ever seen 

 him do it. You may often find skunk 

 tracks in the snow or mud during a 

 good midwinter thaw, but I have never 

 seen those of the woodchuck then, and 

 I am quite confident that he stays 

 snugged down the winter through. 



Scattered here and there about the 

 borders of the field are groups of dwarf 

 goldenrod still in full leaf and flower, so 

 far as form goes. The crowded termi- 

 nal panicles of bloom bend gracefully 

 towards earth like stout ostrich plumes, 

 and I think they are more beautiful in 

 the feathery russet of crowded seed- 

 masses than they were in their Septem- 

 ber finery of golden yellow. Their stems 

 are lined with leaves still, but these have 

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