54 THE FALL OF THE YEAR 



the world is so new, so fresh and strange, as to seem 

 like a different planet. And then the evening — 

 the hour of dusk and the deeper, darker night ! Go 

 once this autumn into the woods at night. 



And lastly, don't go into the woods as if they 

 were a kind of Noah's Ark ; for you cannot enter 

 the door and find all the animals standing in a row. 

 You will go a great many times before seeing them 

 all. Don't be disappointed if they are not so plenti- 

 ful there as they are in your books. Nature books 

 are like menageries — the animals are caught and 

 caged for you. The woods are better than books 

 and just as full of things, as soon as you learn to 



take a hint, to 

 read the signs, 

 to put two and 

 two together 

 and get — 

 four — four 

 paws — black 

 paws, with a long black snout, a big ringed and 

 bushy tail — a coon ! 



II 



Whether you live in the heart of a great city or in 

 the open country, you ought to begin this fall to learn 

 the names and habits of the birds and beasts (snakes, 

 lizards, turtles, toads ! ) that live wild in your region. 

 Even when all the summer birds have gone south 



