OUR COUNTRY HOME 



judging by the amount of provender he has stowed there this 

 season, and I hope he has a dry and well drained storehouse, or 

 some of his food will spoil. He formed the habit of cracking the 

 peanuts and extracting their kernels on the spot, which enabled 

 him to carry sixteen or eighteen at a time. I never saw the others 

 crack a nut except to eat it at once. 



We buy our corn by the sack and our peanuts by the barrel 

 now, and if the entire quantity Avere placed where the chipmunk 

 could get at it, he would not stop, I am sure, until every bit was 

 safely stored in his underground burrow. He is untiring, quick, 

 and single-minded. When there are no nuts out, he climbs up 

 the back of the porch chair, places his small paws piteously upon 

 his stomach and peers into the dining-room as if to ask: "Is 

 there nobody at home ? Are we to be neglected ? " Must I con- 

 fess that on warm summer noons, when I am alone, I have my 

 luncheon in the dog-trot with only a screen to separate me from 

 the table spread for the squirrels and the chipmunks ? The robins, 

 the catbirds, and the red-headed woodpeckers help themselves 

 to the cherries so temptingly displayed, and there is no more 

 quarrelling than there would be among the same number of young 

 children if left to themselves. 



By mid-November, it gets pretty cold for Mr. Chipmunk. Hav- 

 ing a home fully stocked with provisions, why should he go forth ? 

 But the big gray squirrel with his thick winter coat, every hair 



tipped with white, comes waggling in bow-legged fashion to the 



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