THE CHIPMUNK 61 



puzzles me even now, when I think of it, to imagine 

 when this family of eight chatter-boxes took any rest 

 or kept moderately quiet. Yery frequently during that 

 summer (very seldom since) I was astir at sunrise, and I 

 always found that these chipmunks were already on the 

 go, and throughout July they appeared to do little but 

 play in a very animated sort of way. They seemed to 

 be playing at what children know as " tag " i. e., they 

 chased each other to and fro in a wild, madcap fashion, 

 and tried to touch or catch one another, and sometimes 

 to bite one another's tails. Occasionally the tail of some 

 laggard gets a nip, and he gives a pitiful squeal, which 

 starts them all to chattering. The way in which they 

 scamper along the tapering points of a paling fence is 

 simply astonishing ; but, however mad may be their gal- 

 loping, let a hawk swoop down, or even pass over, and 

 in a moment every one is motionless. If on a fence, 

 they simply squat where they are, and trust to luck to 

 escape being seen. If on the ground, when an nemy is 

 discovered, and not too far from their underground nests, 

 which is not often the case, unless foraging, they will 

 dart to these nests with incredible swiftness, and going, I 

 think, the whole length of the passage-way to the nest 

 proper, they turn about immediately and retrace their 

 steps to the entrance, from which they will peer out, and, 

 when the danger is over, cautiously reappear and recom- 

 mence their sports. These creatures, during the sum- 

 mer, play merely for play's sake, and seem to have no 

 more important object in view than amusement. Indeed, 

 so far as I have studied animal life, this indulgence in 

 play, just as children play, and for the same reasons, is 

 common to all animals. I have often seen most animated 

 movements on the part of fishes that could, I think, be 

 only referred to this cause. Frogs, perhaps, in this re- 



