THE SUMMIT OF THE YEARS 



had had some experience with this squirrel as a nest- 

 robber. When I first saw them, the bird was chasing 

 the squirrel around the trunk of an oak-tree, his 

 bright colors of black and white and red making his 

 every movement conspicuous. The squirrel avoided 

 him by darting quickly to the other side of the 

 tree. 



Then the woodpecker took up his stand on the 

 trunk of a tree a few yards distant, and every time 

 the squirrel ventured timidly around where he could 

 be seen the woodpecker would swoop down at him, 

 making another loop of bright color. The squirrel 

 seemed to enjoy the fun and to tempt the bird to 

 make this ineffectual swoop. Time and again he 

 would poke his head round the tree and draw the 

 fire of his red-headed enemy. Occasionally the 

 bird made it pretty hot for him, and pressed him 

 closely, but he could escape because he had the 

 inside ring, and was so artful a dodger. As often as 

 he showed himself on the woodpecker's side, the 

 bird would make a vicious pass at him; and there 

 would follow a moment of lively skurrying around 

 the trunk of the old oak; then all would be quiet 

 again. 



Finally the squirrel seemed to get tired of the 

 sport, and ran swiftly to the top and off through the 

 branches into the neighboring trees. As this was 

 probably all the woodpecker was fighting for, he did 

 not give chase. 



252 

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