88 FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



it, not far from water or moist places. The eggs 

 vary from seven to ten in number, and are less 

 warm in their ground tint than those of the wood- 

 grouse, but the spots and blotches on them are 

 brighter and larger. The length of the blackcock 

 from bill to end of the tail feathers is twenty-three 

 inches. The length of the grey hen is eighteen 

 inches. 



The human population was very thinly scat- 

 tered. Here and there the tops of chimneys 

 might be seen through the trees, with the thin 

 blue-grey smoke from the pinewood on the hearths 

 curling up and gently vanishing. Now and again 

 you might just see a bit of some tiled or thatched 

 roof, but not often. The forest -folks built their 

 houses in sheltered places to gain shade from the 

 heat of summer, and protection to a certain extent 

 from the fierce biting winds and the snowstorms 

 of winter. 



The people left home very early in the morning, 

 returning in the dusk of evening, their daily labour 

 being a long way from their dwellings ; and at that 

 time there were no roads, only forest-tracks, which 

 crossed and ran into each other most bewilderingly, 



