THE MUSEUM. 



247 



with loads of ha/el nuts, smilax se ds, 

 chestnuts or apple seeds in their re- 

 spective seasons, laying up a winter 

 store of provisions in his underground 

 storehouse with only the one incon- 

 spicuous entrance, upon which I often 

 looked and was reminded of the news- 

 paper story of some years ago. 



It seems that there was a social club 

 among whose rules were these two: 

 If any member asked a question no 

 one could answer they should pay him 

 a forfeit. If he asked a question he 

 could not answer himself he should 

 pay the forfeit. The question asked 

 was, how the little ground squirrel dug 

 his hole so deep in the ground without 

 throwing out any dirt at the entrance. 

 One ingenious member escaped the 

 penalty with the simple if not lucid ex- 

 planation that the squirrel begun dig- 

 ging at the other end and threw the 

 dirt behind him. The interlocutor 

 thought he saw a weak point in the 

 answer and immediately asked, "But 

 how did he get at the other end to be- 

 gin.'" "That," said the respondent, 

 "is your own question, answer it your- 

 self or pay the penalty for asking one 

 you cannot yourself answer." 



I had thought of those questions and 

 been puzzled over them as I looked 

 upon the little bare entrance' into the 

 depths below, but one day in passing 

 by I saw something going on unusual 

 and the secret was a secret no longer. 

 About five feet away from the entrance 

 of the sciuirrel's storehouse I had often 

 noticed a mound of fresh earth like a 

 mule-hill. It was always there and it 

 was always fresh. I had supposed it 

 to be one of the little mounds of earth 

 often seen ihro^vn up by the moles 

 from their underground passages, the 

 uses of which I never quite understood, 



though a matter of common observa- 

 tion. 



Passing by one day I saw the little 

 squirrel emerge from his underground 

 castle with distended cheeks evidently 

 bringing out something, and I paused 

 to see what was going on. The squir- 

 rel watched me for a few moments 

 from the entrance of his fortress, as I 

 stood passively observing him a short 

 distance away and finally ran to the 

 little mound of fresh earth before men- 

 tioned and immediately proceeded to 

 empty upon it the contents of his 

 cheeks and pouches which proved to 

 be fresh yellow loam brought up from 

 under the ground where his storehouse 

 was evidhntly undergoing extension or 

 repairs. He carefully removed all the 

 bits of earth, very deftly using his 

 paws, from his cheeks and mouth, 

 leaving them upon the little mound of 

 earth I had so often noticed before 

 without guessing its source. And that 

 was how the chipmunk excavated his 

 hole in the ground without throwing 

 up any earth at the entrance. He 

 simply carried it out in his cheek 

 pouches and deposited it in a heap a 

 short distance away. 



Notes on Nesting Habits of Some 



of our Feathered Friends on 



Vancouver Island. B. C. 



As a few notes on the above men- 

 tioned subject, may interest the read- 

 ers of your very interesting magazine, 

 I begin with Parkman's Wren, which 

 was noticed today, July 2, 1896, as 

 having taken possession of the lately 

 vacated nest of a Downy Woodpecker. 

 This nest was discoveied a few weeks 

 ago when the Downy Woodpecker was 

 busy feeding her young ones, and to- 

 day the wrens were feeding theirs, so 

 a very short period must have elapsed 



