176 Windfalls 



are sometimes here at home ; the skunk, 

 mink, and weasel find it a convenient if not 

 congenial spot, the skunk being enough of a 

 climber to reach the entrance to a hollow 

 if the trunk of the tree was not perfectly 

 straight up and down ; and how seldom this 

 occurs, or, more correctly perhaps, how 

 frequently the other or leaning position is 

 found. I never saw an orchard where all 

 the tree-trunks were perpendicular, and I re- 

 call several trees that were but little removed 

 from a horizontal position. Mice naturally 

 abound, the apple-seeds affording abundance 

 of food, and bats will take their diurnal sleep 

 in a hollow trunk as comfortably as in a barn 

 or the attic of the farm-house. Indeed, un- 

 less the farmer keeps very alert dogs that are 

 disposed to hunting, the old orchard will 

 prove excellent hunting-ground for the natu- 

 ralist interested in fur-bearing animals. 



The ornithology of an orchard is, as 

 might be expected, that of the neighbor- 

 hood. There are no birds averse to clus- 

 tered apple-trees, and very many find it the 

 only attractive feature of the farm. This is 

 true all the year round, and never do snow- 

 birds and tree-sparrows, in winter, seem 



