252 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



and actions. On the highway he is a bit more re- 

 spectful and does not attempt to interfere with a 

 passing wheelman, but in the woods he swears 

 roundly at any base intruder. Somebody has lik- 

 ened his scolding to the winding of a clock a not 

 far-fetched simile ; but what an outrageously asth- 

 matic clock, and what a dreadful need of grease on 

 the mainspring ! When we enter the wood in nom- 

 inal possession of the red squirrel this is about the 

 kind of greeting we may expect : " Wretches ! 

 wretches both, chuck which, chuck which, chuck 

 which, chuck 'em out ! quick, quick, quick ! Chuck 

 which-which-chuck- which, chuck-which, chuck which, 

 chuck 'em both out quick, quick, quick, chuck 

 and with a whistle of alarm he disappears around 

 the other side of the tree just as a pebble has been 

 sent within a yard of his saucy chin! The red 

 squirrel's voice is threatening ; there is no mistaking 

 the fury of his wrath which visibly quakes his whole 

 body to the very tip of his tail. 



The large gray squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis) I 

 do not find as plentiful in Campton as the other two 

 species ; for several seasons past, very few have ap- 

 peared in the wood or on the roadside. In Roxbury, 

 a part of Boston, they are quite common among the 

 trees on some of the old estates, and they are often 

 seen in the hemlock grove in the Arnold arboretum. 



