8» ON THE BIRDS' HIGHWAY 



sparrows ran along the walls or sprang 

 from under the horse's feet. Two wood- 

 pewees inhabited a piece of burnt ground 

 by the roadside and a mourning dove, 

 a little farther on, lit for an instant in 

 a dead apple-tree as I passed. The last 

 hill was finally reached before taking the 

 mountain road. Off in the valley lay 

 between wooded shores Lake Wachusett, 

 leaden under the gray clouds. Rounding 

 a sharp turn in the road I began to ascend 

 the mountain's timbered sides. Wild 

 raspberry was in bloom all along the 

 zigzag path. Robins flew out over the 

 valley. A scarlet tanager and a red-eye 

 were singing near timber line as, turning 

 the last curve, the summit and the moun- 

 tain house were reached. Two towhees 

 sang continually during my entire stay on 

 the bare rocky crest, and a junco, a breed- 

 ing bird on Wachusett's summit, 2,480 

 feet above sea-level, sang his simple trill. 

 A rift in the clouds transformed the 

 nearer misty hills, lakes and ponds, but 

 even Monadnock could not be seen on 

 account of the heavy clouds which shut 

 in and hung below the mountain around 

 its base. 



