256 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



its weed-hidden followers in the marsh ; and a red-letter 

 day is that when an eagle deigns to spend a few hours on 

 the meadows, making the largest of those pin-oaks his 

 resting place. His presence is only submitted to under 

 I very audible protest by the resident birds. Particularly if 

 it be spring or early summer, the crows and king-birds are 

 not only very outspoken, but follow the words with blows. 

 I have seen a thoroughly organized band of crows attack 

 an eagle and cause him to retire. The dauntless king- 

 bird does not hesitate to rise above and pounce down upon 

 the eagle's back so long as the latter remains compara- 

 tively near the ground, but the fearless fly-catcher can 

 not follow when the eagle soars to any great elevation. 



Throughout October, unless storm-beaten, the leaves 

 and acorns drop but slowly, and there is often dense shade 

 beneath these pin-oaks during November's half-mythical 

 Indian summer. As yet, there is no change ; leaves and 

 fruit are still stem-bound, although the month is near its 

 close. But elsewhere, a mighty change has been effected, 

 and the richness of color scattered along the hill-side is 

 something marvelous. When the meadows, in Septem- 

 ber, were purple with Vernonia and the brookside golden 

 with Helenium, the limit of gorgeous display was sup- 

 posed to have been reached, but how it pales before Octo- 

 ber's tinted leaves ! If the meadows were grand in Sep- 

 tember the adjoining hill-side is fairly dazzling now. The 

 little forest has caught the trick of the sunset, and glows 

 at the season's setting with all the glory of the evening's 

 western sky. 



But the wind is rising. The robins chatter, the king- 

 lets scold, and many a warbler hurries from the oaks as if 

 it feared the shower of leaves and acorns that fills the air. 

 In such a shower, I am all eagerness to stand and catch at 

 the listless leaves that seem never ready to quite touch the 

 ground. The acorns that fall at such a time are really few 



