BIRDS-NESTING 183 



While loitering about here we were much amused 

 by three chipmunks, who seemed to be engaged in 

 some kind of game. It looked very much as if they 

 were playing tag. Eound and round they would 

 go, first one taking the lead, then another, all good- 

 natured and gleeful as schoolboys. There is one 

 thing about a chipmunk that is peculiar : he is never 

 more than one jump from home. Make a dive at 

 him anywhere and in he goes. He knows where 

 the hole is, even when it is covered up with leaves. 

 There is no doubt, also, that he has his own sense 

 of humor and fun, as what squirrel has not? I 

 have watched two red squirrels for a half hour cours- 

 ing through the large trees by the roadside where 

 branches interlocked, and engaged in a game of tag 

 as obviously as two boys. As soon as the pursuer 

 had come up with the pursued, and actually touched 

 him, the palm was his, and away he would go, tax- 

 ing his wits and his speed to the utmost to elude 

 his fellow. 



Despairing of finding either of the nests of the 

 two males, we pushed on through the woods to try 

 our luck elsewhere. Before long, just as we were 

 about to plunge down a hill into a dense, swampy 

 part of the woods, we discovered a pair of the birds 

 we were in quest of. They had food in their beaks, 

 and, as we paused, showed great signs of alarm, in- 

 dicating that the nest was in the immediate vicinity. 

 This was enough. We would pause here and find 

 this nest, anyhow. To make a sure thing of it, we 

 determined to watch the parent birds till we had 



