Preface 



ALTHOUGH practically all the observations 

 referred to in this book were made in New 

 Hampshire, they will, perhaps, on the whole apply 

 equally well to the wild creatures of eastern 

 Massachusetts, and in a more general way to the 

 whole of southern New England and New York. 

 The region which I have chiefly prowled over for 

 the last twenty years — a region^ I may add, which 

 two delightful books of New England tales have 

 made, in a way, almost classic — is restricted to the 

 very southeastern corner of the State, and in gen- 

 eral character is decidedly not typical of New 

 Hampshire, being simply a quiet rolling farming 

 country, beautiful at all times, but hardly to be called 

 striking or impressive. Its chief claim to beauty is, 

 perhaps, the clearly marked quality of the landscape 

 generally, divided as it is between open fields and 

 pastures, and groves and forests of white pine and 



