BIRD PARADISE 167 



above, even if he finds no little difficulty in tracing 

 his lineage upward. The feat is also a difficult 

 one in other directions. 



It occurred to the parson that Monday morning 

 would be an ideal time for a large mushroom 

 harvest. Wind and weather seemed favorable, 

 and the inclination of the hunter set strongly in 

 the mushroom direction. With the first stroke 

 of light I found myself in the field, but did not 

 find the mushrooms. Wandering through the 

 tall weeds, in the dim light, I became conscious 

 that another fellow was wandering there also. 

 Just what it was I could not make out until we 

 both came out into an open space in the pasture. 

 Then I discovered that my companion was a large 

 and well-mannered skunk. I stopped and the 

 skunk stopped. I said nothing, so did the skunk. 

 It occurred to me that ten feet was not quite as 

 far from the fellow as I would really like to be. 

 Still, as he made no belligerent demonstrations, 

 I did not quite like the idea of beating a retreat 

 immediately. So I found myself doing the other 

 thing, shaking hands metaphorically, of course, 

 with my companion. I noted his suit of black, 

 nicely striped with white, the great bushy tail, 

 and the eyes, wary and watchful. I had heard a 



