WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



lithe body tense and ready for a spring, one paw 

 held up like an eager terrier's, and wonder shown 

 in his whole pose. I suppose I made some involun- 

 tary movement, and he vanished into the shadow 

 of a thicket, out of which sprang like a rocket a 

 startled woodcock! 



Such inquisitiveness is characteristic of nearly 

 all animals, but especially of the squirrel kind. 

 Prairie-dogs and gophers will come out of their 

 holes when they hear an approaching footstep 

 and ''sit up" on their hillocks, barking with ex- 

 citement till the last minute they dare, to see what 

 the intruder into their domain is about. Red 

 squirrels will creep along a fence-rail or log to get 

 a nearer view of you as you sit eating your luncheon, 

 then scud away in a burst of panic and chatter 

 when you turn your head; and the curiosity of 

 the big gray is notorious. 



It is amusing to see this fellow slide down a tree, 

 with wide-spread legs and outstretched head, by 

 slower and slow^er advances, while some creature 

 — perhaps a sleepy dog, perhaps a poet weaving 

 his rhymes or a girl her daisy chain — rests quietly 

 at its roots. I have seen a brave old gray go almost 

 within touch of such a figure before some chance 

 motion would alarm it, and the next instant an 



8 



