UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 



took it out, held it in his paws a moment and looked 

 at it, and returned it to his pocket. Three times he 

 did this before rejecting it. Evidently his sense of 

 taste discredited his sense of smell. 



On my return at the end of the week, the enthusi- 

 asm of the chipmunk had greatly abated. He was 

 seldom out of his den. A nut or two plaxied at its 

 entrance disappeared, but he visited me no more in 

 my camp. Other chipmunks were active on all sides, 

 but his solicitude about the winter had passed, or 

 rather his hoarding instinct had been sated. His 

 cellar was full. The rumor that right here was a 

 land of plenty seemed to have gone abroad upon the 

 air, and other chipmunks appeared upon the scene. 

 Red squirrels and gray squirrels came, but we 

 wasted no nuts upon them. A female chipmunk 

 that came and occupied an old den at my doorstep 

 was encouraged, however. She soon became as 

 familiar as my first acquaintance, climbing to my 

 table, taking nuts from my hand, and nipping my 

 fingers spitefully when I held on to the nuts. Her 

 behavior was as nearly like that of the other as two 

 peas are alike. I gave her a fair supply of winter 

 stores, but did not put her greed to the test. 



So far as I have observed, the two sexes do not 

 winter together, and there seems to be no sort of 

 camaraderie between them. One day, earlier in this 

 history, I saw my male neighbor chase a smaller 

 chipmunk, which I have little doubt was this female, 



23 



