y
disported themselves. It was a favorite feeding-ground, and late every
afternoon the fish rose all about it, making those big ripples the
angler delights to see. A trout, when he comes to the surface, starts a
ring about his own length in diameter; most of the rings in the pool,
when the eye caught them, were like barrel hoops, but the haughty trout
ignored all our best efforts; not one rise did we get. We were told of
this pool on our return to Quebec, and that other anglers had a similar
experience there. But occasionally some old fisherman, like a great
advocate who loves a difficult case, would set his wits to work and
bring into camp an enormous trout taken there.

I had been told in Quebec that I would not see a bird in the woods, not
a feather of any kind. But I knew I should, though they were not
numerous. I saw and heard a bird nearly every day, on the tops of the
trees about, that I think was one of the crossbills. The kingfisher was
there ahead of us with his loud clicking reel. The osprey was there,
too, and I saw him abusing the bald eagle, who had probably just robbed
him of a fish. The yellow-rumped warbler I saw, and one of the kinglets
was leading its lisping brood about through the spruces. In every
opening the white-throated sparrow abounded, striking up his clear
sweet whistle, at times so loud and sudden that one's momentary
impression was that some farm boy was approaching, or was secreted
there behind the logs. Many times, amid those primitive solitudes, I
was quite startled by the human tone and quality of this whistle. It is
little more than a beginning; the bird never seems to finish the strain
suggested. The Canada jay was there also, very busy about some
important private matter.

One lowery morning, as I was standing in camp, I saw a lot of ducks
borne swiftly down by the current around the bend in the river a few
rods above. They saw me at the same instant and turned toward the
shore. On hastening up there, I found the old bird rapidly leading her
nearly grown brood through the woods, as if to go around our camp. As I
pursued them they ran squawking with outstretched stubby wings,
scattering right and left, and seeking a hiding-place under the logs
and debris. I captured one and carried it into camp. It was just what
Joe wanted; it would make a valuable decoy. So he kept it in a box, fed
it upon oats, and took it out of the woods with him.

We found the camp we had appropriated was a f