CHAPTER XIX 



WHITE PINE GROVES 



A tiny brown wing brushed my cheek this 

 morning, flitting madly southeastward on the 

 wings of the November gale. It was a belated 

 one of many that have scattered from the pine 

 tops this autumn, for it was the single wing of a 

 white pine seed and the cone harvest has been 

 good. Ever since August the squirrels have 

 known this and the stripped spindles lie by the 

 score under the big pasture pines where these 

 have left them after eating the seeds. It seems 

 much work for small pay for the squirrel. He 

 must climb venturesomely to the very tip of the 

 slippery limb, gnaw the cone from its hold, then 

 run down the tree and gnaw it to pieces for the 

 tiny seeds within. So light are these seeds, wing 

 and all, that it takes twenty to thirty thousand of 

 them to weigh a pound and it is probably for- 

 tunate that squirrels do not live by pine seed 

 alone. However, the gnawing means as much to 

 the squirrel as the eating, for the squirrel's teeth 



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