IN THE P AUG US WOODS . 
259 
fancied might be that of the fox. It suggested 
the smell of hamamelis. The swamp trees were 
draped with gray moss, one of the most striking 
of nature’s decorations in this latitude. Many 
of the trees were thickly grown with green 
lichens, which, being wet, were two or three 
times as bright in coloring as when dry. In 
spots where the snow had melted, showing 
patches of the swamp floor, mayflower, checker- 
berry, ranunculus, partridge-berry, ferns, and 
other leaves showed their vivid coloring, or 
were replaced in very damp ground by sphag¬ 
num. 
As we neared the slopes of Paugus the trees 
became larger and the forest clear of under¬ 
growth. Our road — a very old one —• was 
most clearly marked by being densely grown 
with weeds, and an inferior crop of trees and 
bushes. As compared with the clear forest, 
the road was a ribbon-like jungle. Its young 
growth was composed of viburnums, slender 
maples, and cherry - trees. Spots where the 
cattle had been fed could be picked out by 
means of the asters, clover, and other flowers 
and weeds which had sprung up from the seeds 
sown by the fodder. 
In the edge of the high growth we halted a 
second time, and called the birds together. 
They failed not to respond, and when their 
