Children, as a rule, especially those born and raised in the rural districts, have some favorite haunt where they especially delight to spend their time and where certain pleasant associations are formed, the memory of which is treasured in after years.

The writer was no exception to this rule, and he will endeavor to describe a certain "Deserted Limestone Quarry," which, in his case, was the favorite haunt of childhood. A perusal of the following will give my readers an idea of the general appearance of the locality. In the center was a large body of deep water, bounded on three sides by steep banks, interspersed with huge rocks and sandstone boulders. On the fourth side was a cart road leading to the double stone lime kiln, then out of use. The south bank was bordered by a piece of woodland, through which ran a little rippling brook, and the other three sides by pasture fields. Within the deep gulch, and extending around about two-thirds of the body of water, was a combined cart road and pathway, at the extreme end of which, lying under two large, overhanging rocks, was a spring of most delicious water. It was quite deep, but you could see the golden sand and white pebbles at the bottom very plainly. Hanging from the banks above mentioned were numerous sumach bushes and blackberry briars. Such were the natural surroundings of my favorite haunt. A charming place, indeed; quiet, retired, and a veritable paradise for the admirer of nature's beauties.

Now a few words regarding the many little friends with which I associated, and whose habits and daily lives I studied. Within the lime kiln a pair of Pewees built their nest; among the briars on the bank, the Song Sparrows reigned; in the piece of woodland referred to were the nests of a Green Heron, of Blue Jays, Crows, Cat Birds, Wood Thrushes, Crested Flycatchers, etc. I also observed Belted Kingfishers on many occasions, but never found a nest. Owing to the large number of insects around the water the quarry was a favorite feeding ground for King Birds, Pewees and Swallows, and they could be seen skimming over the surface of the water from early dawn to the twilight of evening.

Aside from this large bird population, there were land and water turtles, snapping turtles, frogs in all stages of transformation, sun and catfish, many beautiful butterflies, and a family of little gray rabbits. I had the pleasure of seeing the latter when they were scarcely larger than small kittens. Along the borders of the woods were gray squirrels, ground squirrels and ground hogs. Thus, in this one particular, opportunity was afforded for the study of a large number of natural history subjects. Here, too, was the pleasant odor of fresh green spearmint and the sweet scent of wild roses. In the early spring time a profusion of wild violets (blue and yellow), dog-tooth violets, blood roots, spring beauties, anemones, "jack-in-the-pulpit," belwort and hare-bell were to be found in the strip of woodland, and later in the season the pasture fields were covered with buttercups and daisies.

Were all details entered into, a volume could be written concerning this old quarry and the many happy hours spent there, but I will not burden my readers with further reminiscences of my favorite haunt.

Berton Mercer.