APRIL. 85 



warbler was seen and heard, but all so indistinctly as to 

 make it unsafe to guess the species. I listened frequently 

 for the scream of the blue jay, yet heard none. They had 

 wandered to fresh iields, but at times are here in force. 

 At least, to them is credited the planting of the acorns 

 that spring up so surely when the pines are felled. The 

 red squirrel, too, probably has a hand in this, as it is one 

 of the few mammals found in this region ; where, indeed, 

 bears and deer are still found, yet " small deer," like mice, 

 are almost wanting. , It is true I did not see a single squir- 

 rel, but the nibbled cones of the pine told clearly of their 

 presence. I saw no mice, and was told there were none. 

 My admiration for pine woods lessened when I heard this. 

 Why it should be, seems indeed strange, and I doubt not 

 they are iudeed rare. It was a new impression of wild life 

 that I had not suspected, to find that about my home, not 

 three miles from a large town, were always at least half a 

 hundred birds and a dozen mammals that, for some un- 

 known reason, shunned a forest miles in extent, and far 

 away from any considerable town. 



How I longed to mingle the botany of these barrens with 

 the wild life of the fields, hill-side, and meadows at home ! 



Time permitted of but a passing glance at the creek — 

 a pine- woods stream here, but the drain of a cedar swamp 

 somewhere above. As I stood upon its grassy bank the 

 waters appeared like ink, except where fretted by fallen 

 trees, when they became mantled with a delicate tracery 

 of silvery bead-like bubbles. 



I scanned the sunlit shallows for minnows, but could 

 find none ; the projecting stumps and logs for basking 

 turtles — ^there were none ; and I remembered that not a 

 frog leaped into the stream as I drew near. Yet, to my 

 ignorant eyes, there is no spot that seems better fitted for 

 a,ll these creatures. Such experiences chill one's enthu- 

 siasm through and through. 



