A QUAINT NEST. 51 



carefully watched them from day to day, and, 

 with the exception of an occasional scolding, 

 they took little heed of my presence. A hollow 

 place was first cleared under one of the cross- 

 timbers of an old sawpit ; then both worked hard, 

 bringing blades of dried grass, leaves, and moss. 

 I observed they carefully collected fragments of 

 rag, and pieces of paper left by the sawyers ; so, 

 to gratify this taste for the use of novel material, 

 I brought out continually small bundles, com- 

 posed of coloured threads, rags, paper, fragments 

 of scarlet cloth, and small portions of gold and 

 silver lace from my fishing-tackle stock. All these 

 were greedily seized on, and woven into the nest, 

 which, when completed, after about sixteen days' 

 work, presented the most extraordinary appear- 

 ance imaginable. Such a nuptial nest no squirrel 

 ever had before, or, perhaps, will ever have 

 again. I am sure they were proud of their 

 achievement, and deemed it a triumph of squirrel 

 architecture ! 



The family in due time came into the world; 

 but any attempt to approach the nest was re- 

 sented so furiously, yet combined with such 

 evident terror for the safety of their babies, that 

 I had not the heart to gratify my curiosity to see 

 how many there were, and what they were like. 



E 2 



