174 NOTES BY THE WAY. 



their galleries. Our white-footed mouse has been 

 known to take up his abode in a hornet's nest, fur- 

 nishing the interior to suit his taste. A few of our 

 birds also avail themselves of the work of others, as 

 the titmouse, the brown creeper, the bluebird, and 

 the house wren. But in every case they refurnish 

 the tenement : the wren carries feathers into the cav- 

 ity excavated by the woodpeckers, the bluebird car 

 ries in fine straws, and the chickadee lays down a 

 fine wool mat upon the floors. When the high-hole 

 occupies the same cavity another year, he deepens 

 and enlarges it ; the phoebe-bird in taking up her old 

 nest puts in a new lining; so does the robin; but 

 cases of reoccupancy of an old nest by the last named 

 birds are rare. 



A BOLD LEAPER. 



ONE reason, doubtless, why squirrels are so bold 

 and reckless in leaping through the trees is, that if 

 they miss their hold and fall they sustain no injury. 

 Every species of tree-squirrel seems to be capable of 

 a sort of rudimentary flying, at least of making 

 itself into a parachute, so as to ease or break a fall 

 or a leap from a great height. The so-called flying- 

 squirrel does this the most perfectly. It opens its 

 furry vestments, leaps into the air, and sails down 

 the steep incline from the top of one tree to the foot 

 -)f the next as lightly as a bird. But other squirrels 



