NOTES BY THE WAY 131 



off a great many of the nuts before they fall; then, 

 after the wind has rattled out what remain, there 

 are the mice, the chipmunks, the red squirrels, the 

 raccoons, the grouse, to say nothing of the boys and 

 the pigs, to come in for their share ; so I will fore- 

 stall events a little: I will cut off the burrs when 

 they have matured, and a few days of this dry Octo- 

 ber weather will cause every one of them to open 

 on the ground; I shall be on hand in the nick 

 of time to gather up my nuts." The squirrel, of 

 course, had to take the chances of a prowler like 

 myself coming along, but he had fairly stolen a 

 march on his neighbors. As I proceeded to collect 

 and open the burrs, I was half prepared to hear an 

 audible protest from the trees about, for I constantly 

 fancied myself watched by shy but jealous eyes. 

 It is an interesting inquiry how the squirrel knew 

 the burrs would open if left to lie on the ground a 

 few days. Perhaps he did not know, but thought 

 the experiment worth trying. 



The gray squirrel is peculiarly an American pro- 

 duct, and might serve very well as a national 

 emblem. The Old World can beat us on rats and 

 mice, but we are far ahead on squirrels, having five 

 or six species to Europe's one. 



THE SKYLARK ON THE HUDSON 



My note-book of the past season is enriched with 

 the unusual incident of an English skylark in full 

 song above an Esopus meadow. I was poking 

 about a marshy place in a low field one morning in 



