THE UPLANDS IN WINTER 129 



in midwinter. I took pains at that time to walk 

 on snowshoes over the tops of some of my h)w 

 spreading apple-trees of twenty years growth 

 that were engulfed in a great drift in the lea of 

 a bushy stone wall, but I found that when I 

 stated this fact the following summer I was looked 

 on with incredulity. There are some observa- 

 tions made with exactitude that it is better not to 

 repeat if one wishes to preserve one's reputation 

 for veracity! The snow under these apple-trees 

 was covered with rabbit droppings, and, as it 

 melted, tunnels of tield-mice crossing each other 

 and branching in all directions were spread out 

 like a map. Not only were cultivated fruit- 

 trees girdled but many of the native wild trees: 

 wild black cherries, gray birch, sumachs and even 

 evergreens. Many of these leaved out and 

 blossomed as usual the next summer but the sum- 

 mer after that they were dead ! 



Another result of the severe winters is shown 

 in the creatures that have succumbed to cold and 

 starvation. Dead crows and black ducks I have 

 found, and twice I have picked up the frozen 

 bodies of myrtle warblers. These birds arc un- 



