MY WOODLAND INTIMATES 



table d'hote, I am inclined to attribute the pres- 

 ent chastened demeanor and humble behavior of 

 the latter feathered folk. Even the chippies 

 who, by the way, have appeared in full force 

 seem to know that they may safely assert them- 

 selves in the presence of any little Briton of the 

 neighborhood. 



To return to the mention of the brush-heaps. 

 Welcome as their shelter is to the little people of 

 the wood in general, by none is it more appre- 

 ciated than by the defenceless cottontails. At 

 the slightest alarm the startled creatures will 

 make for the protecting mounds, one white-lined 

 tail after another disappearing in the intricacies of 

 the brush tangle, until not a trace of the silent 

 little creatures remains. 



But even as I say silent there comes to my re- 

 membrance the words of the prophet of the Wild 

 Things regarding this very matter. 



" Truly rabbits have no speech as we under- 

 stand it, but they have a way of conveying ideas 

 by a system of sounds, signs, scents, whisker 

 touches, movements, and examples that answer 

 the purpose of speech." * 



*Mr. Ernest Seton-Thompson, in Wild Animals I Have 

 Known. 



[154] 



