84 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



self biting the snake through the neck. A moment 

 later the little chipmunk was sitting on its haunches 

 holding 



THE SERPENT'S HEAD IN ITS DAINTY PAWS 



calmly eating it as it would an acorn or a hickory- 

 nut. After that my snakes were put in a box by 

 themselves. 



A ROBIN HAD ITS NEST IN THE CHESTNUT TREE 



near the stone chimney of the log cabin. Under- 

 neath the spreading branches of this tree, and 

 directly under the robin's nest, a load of sand had 

 been dumped for our little baby daughter's play- 

 ground. It rained hard one day and packed the 

 sand so firmly that when one of the young robins 

 lost its balance and fell on the hard sand, it was 

 instantly killed, to the great grief of little Barbara, 

 who witnessed the accident. I took the young 

 robin and tossed it to the chipmunks and they 

 fought over it as savagely as two dogs over a 

 bone. All of which leads me to believe that 

 while a chipmunk does not make a regular prac- 

 tice of 



ROBBING BIRDS' NESTS 



and probably does not disturb the eggs as do 

 some other four-legged scamps, still, I do think 

 that in its occasional excursions to the tree tops it 

 would not pass by a nest of young birds without 

 helping itself. If the truth were known, I believe 



