188 BOULBEK REVERIES. 



there had been no snow, or if it had been upon 

 the ground for several days, he would probably 

 have laid low and relied upon my passing with- 

 out seeing him ; but he evidently knew that his 

 tracks of last night would betray him and so 

 was up and away before I had come within 

 danger distance. He evidently distinguished 

 the sound of my footsteps from that of the steps 

 of the cattle and hogs which frequent the 

 pasture. 



A white bellied nuthatch works its way by 

 short jumps up the trunk of an elm to the mouth 

 of a large hole and there stops and scolds at the 

 fox squirrel which has its den within. From 

 the actions of the bird and from the absence of 

 tracks leading from the tree I judge the squirrel 

 is at home, but not to callers. 



A mouse, after leaving one stump, has trav- 

 eled for several rods along the margin of the 

 brook and is now housed somewhere within the 

 rotten core of a large white oak stump, or is 

 safely ensconced beneath its roots. A bird, evi- 

 dently a song sparrow, or other species of sim- 

 ilar size, has hopped along the margin, stopping 



