SCIURUS CAROLINENSIS LEUCOTIS. 1 23 



is to be seen from where he walks, for each one, dineine to a verti- 

 cal branch or hmb, constantly shifts its position so that it always 

 keeps out of sight on the opposite side. Everything about this 

 breakfast is thoroughly enjoyed — the early journey to the butter- 

 nuts, the flying leaps from bough to bough amongst the summits of 

 the lofty elms, the meal itself, and the bit of excitemr^nt attending the 

 alarm and escape ; each contributes its part toward the pleasure of 

 the occasion. The repast over, the Squirrels do not linger here but 

 hurry to their homes within the grove. The slanting sunbeam has 

 pierced but not dispelled the drop of pearly dew upon the waving 

 grass, when they are already well upon the way. One auda- 

 cious adventurer, more courageous than the rest, steals down yonder 

 tottering cross-fence to the orchard, quickly picks an apple from an 

 overhanging branch, and rejoins his comrades ere they reach the 

 wood. This haven once attained all constraint is cast aside and the 

 cautious, silent, and circumspect Squirrels of a moment ago become 

 the heedless, noisy, rollicking fellows that they really are. While 

 chasing one another about the tree -tops they sometimes clear a dis- 

 tance of more than twenty feet (about 6 metres) in a single horizontal 

 leap. And when at full speed they often stop short, clinging head 

 downward to a smooth-barked beech, and utter their saucy, scolding 

 cry — qua-qua-qua-qua-a,qua-qua-qua-qua-a-a,qua-qua-qua-qua-qua- 

 a-a, qua-a-a-a, qua-a-a-a-a, — in an exasperating, impudent tone, 

 keeping time, the while, with spasmodic contortions of the body and 

 impertinent jerks and flourishes of the large and bushy tail. To 

 observe their utter recklessness durinof these eambols one would 

 suppose that nothing could be easier than to approach and shoot the 

 entire troop. Never was man more mistaken. Despite their bois- 

 terous manners their eyes are always open and they are ever on the 

 alert. Let some one try to get within gunshot and observe the 

 result. His very approach seems to render them invisible. Those 

 that were near their holes have disappeared within, and the others 

 are hiding behind the trees upon which they were sporting when the 



