A Woodland Walk. 165 



There is slight cover for him now among the rock- 

 ing tops, but he is a master of woodcraft, and, like the 

 woodpecker, knows well that cardinal rule of keeping 

 cool and quiet. Nine times out of ten you may pass 

 him by unnoticed, although the bright black eyes may 

 be but a few feet overhead. He is often discovered 

 more by sound than sight ; for if you keep still for a 

 few minutes in the wood you may often hear the 

 noise of the fir-cone chips that he drops from his 

 dinner-table ; and by following the sound you may at 

 last distinguish among the branches his bushy tail and 

 his rich brown coat. 



He may take fright if you approach too near, and, 

 scurrying up the trunk, will pause perhaps on a higher 

 level to stamp his little feet or bark with comical 

 gestures of indignation at your intrusion on his privacy. 

 Then from bough to bough he leaps, with marvellous 

 ease and grace, disappearing at last in his snug home 

 in the depths of a sheltering fir. 



Seen from below, his nest might well pass for that 

 of a magpie, but it is built more of moss than of 

 sticks, and sometimes seems to have no visible entrance 

 whatever. 



Here for more than half the year the young squirrels 

 stay with their parents, until the time when they have 

 gained sufficient confidence to set up housekeeping 

 for themselves. 



The squirrel is a vegetarian as a general rule, but 

 was observed by Darwin to feed on the grubs of oak- 



