The Birds’ Calendar 
fastidious as to the company he keeps. One 
morning, when the newly fallen snow had seri- 
ously limited the natural supplies of food, I 
found an incongruous but apparently happy 
family feeding most amicably at a spot where 
provision is regularly made—a gathering com- 
posed of peacocks, pigeons, several squirrels, 
English sparrows, ‘‘ white-throats,’’ cardinals, 
and a huge but famishing rat! While the 
rest of the company did not openly resent the 
intrusion of this base quadruped, and merely 
ignored him in the most distant and polite 
manner, it was evident that he felt an inde- 
scribable chill in the atmosphere, for he was 
plainly ill at ease amid so much beauty and 
elegance, and he soon made his own motion, 
and seconded it, to withdraw. 
The Park is a paradise for the squirrels. 
One morning in a walk I counted about thirty, 
chasing through the trees, swaying in sheer 
sportiveness on slender branches that threatened 
to break beneath their weight, or sunning 
themselves by lying prone against the trunks, 
heads downward, or ensconced under the can- 
opy of their bushy tails enjoying a lunch. 
They realize their immunity from danger, and 
often, with the freedom and shamelessness of pro- 
58 
