234 



THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA 



return to his chosen seat near the trunk. But 

 the immense size of the cones of the Sugar Pine 

 from fifteen to twenty inches in length and those 

 of the Jeffrey variety of the Yellow Pine compel 

 him to adopt a quite different method. He cuts 

 them off without attempting to hold them, then 

 goes down and drags them from where they have 

 chanced to fall up to the bare, swelling ground 

 around the instep of the tree, where he demol 

 ishes them in the same methodical way, begin 

 ning at the bottom and following the scale-spirals 

 to the top. 



From a single Sugar Pine cone he gets from two 

 to four hundred seeds about half the size of a hazel- 

 nut, so that in a few 

 minutes he can procure 

 enough to last a week. He 

 seems, however, to prefer 

 those of the two Silver 

 First above all others ; 

 perhaps because they are 

 most easily obtained, as 

 the scales drop off when 

 ripe without needing to 

 be cut. Both species are 

 filled with an exceedingly 

 pungent, aromatic oil, 

 which spices all his flesh, 

 and is of itself sufficient 

 to account for his lightning energy. 



You may easily know this little workman by his 

 chips. On sunny hillsides around the principal 

 trees they lie in big piles, bushels and basketf uls 



SJSKDS, WINGS, AND SCALE OF 

 SUGAR PINE. (NAT. SIZE.) 



