68 The Effects of a Drought 



divide the meadows into three great trails ; 

 and it was noticeable during the evening that 

 bats and night-hawks were more abundant 

 over the meadows than the fields. Mice and 

 hares certainly were unusually scarce in the 

 uplands. Here, it should be remembered, 

 no observations were practicable that gave 

 positive results. No census could be taken 

 of the life in the two localities, and every 

 statement is one of general impressions 

 gained by almost daily visits to the more im- 

 portant points. One unquestionable facl: was 

 ascertained : there was an unusual abundance 

 of life of every kind in the lowlands, and a 

 quiet, desolate condition of the fields above, 

 wholly different from what obtains in ordi- 

 nary summers. As the weeks rolled by, the 

 smaller meadow streams failed entirely, and 

 hundreds of acres of land, usually more or less 

 wet the year through, became as dry, parched, 

 and desert-like as the sandiest field in the 

 higher ground. Aquatic and semi-aquatic 

 plants withered and died. The rose mallow 

 failed to bloom, arrow-leaf wilted, and the 

 pickerel weeds were soon as brown as sedges. 

 This condition necessitated a second migra- 

 tory movement of many forms of life, but 



