AUTUMN TIDES 109 



a " bee " to get it done, but carried it all himself, 

 occupying several days, and making a trip about 

 every ten minutes. 



The red and gray squirrels do not lay by winter 

 stores; their cheeks are made without pockets, and 

 whatever they transport is carried in the teeth. 

 They are more or less active all winter, but October 

 and November are their festal months. Invade 

 some butternut or hickory-nut grove on a frosty 

 October morning, and hear the red squirrel beat the 

 "juba" on a horizontal branch. It is a most lively 

 jig, what the boys call a "regular break-down," 

 interspersed with squeals and snickers and derisive 

 laughter. The most noticeable peculiarity about the 

 vocal part of it is the fact that it is a kind of duet. 

 In other words, by some ventriloquial tricks, he ap 

 pears, to accompany himself, as if his voice split up, 

 a part forming a low guttural sound, and a part a 

 shrill nasal sound. 



The distant bark of the more wary gray squirrel 

 may be heard about the same time. There is a 

 teasing and ironical tone in it also, but the gray 

 squirrel is not the Puck the red is. 



Insects also go into winter-quarters by or before 

 this time; the bumble-bee, hornet, and wasp. But 

 here only royalty escapes; the queen-mother alone 

 foresees the night of winter coming and the morning 

 of spring beyond. The rest of the tribe try gypsy- 

 ing for a while, but perish in the first frosts. The 

 present October I surprised the queen of the yellow- 

 jackets in the woods looking out a suitable retreat. 



