IN THE HEMLOCKS. 53 



The hermit-thrush'may be easily identified by his color ; 

 his back being a clear olive-brown becoming rufous on 

 his rump and tail. A quill from his wing placed be- 

 side one from his tail on a dark ground presents quite 

 a marked contrast. 



I walk along the old road, and note the tracks in 

 the thin layer of mud. When do these creatures 

 travel here ? I have never yet chanced to meet one. 

 Here a partridge has set its foot ; there, a woodcock ; 

 here, a squirrel or mink : there, a skunk ; there, a fox. 

 What a clear, nervous track reynard makes ! how easy 

 to distinguish it from that of a little dog, — it is so 

 sharply cut and defined ! A dog's track is coarse and 

 clumsy beside it. There is as much wildness in the 

 track of an animal as in its voice. Is a deer's track 

 like a sheep's or a goat's ? What winged-footed fleet- 

 ness and agility may be inferred from the sharp, 

 braided track of the gray squirrel upon the new snow ! 

 Ah ! in nature is the best discipline. How wood-life 

 sharpens the senses, giving a new power to the eye, 

 the ear, the nose ! And are not the rarest and most 

 exquisite songsters wood-birds ? 



Everywhere in these solitudes I am greeted with the 

 pensive, almost pathetic note of the wood-pewee. The 

 pewees are the true fly-catchers, and are easily identi- 

 • fied. They are very characteristic birds, have very 

 strong family traits, and very pugnacious dispositions. 

 They are the least attractive or elegant birds of our 

 fields or forest. Sharp-shouldered, big-headed, short- 



