48 THE LOG OF THE SUN 



sense of locality would be a more probable solu- 

 tion of this feat than the sense of smell, however 

 keenly developed, when we consider that dozens 

 of nuts may be hidden or buried in close proximity 

 to the one sought by the squirrel. 



Even though the birds seem to have vanished 

 from the earth, and every mammal be deeply 

 buried in its long sleep, no winter's walk need be 

 barren of interest. A suggestion worth trying 

 would be to choose a certain area of saplings and 

 underbrush and proceed systematically to fathom 

 every cause which has prevented the few stray 

 leaves still upon their stalks from falling with 

 their many brethren now buried beneath the snow. 



The encircling silken bonds of Promethea and 

 Cynthia cocoons will account for some ; others will 

 puzzle us until we have found the traces of some 

 insect foe, whose girdling has killed the twig and 

 thus prevented the leaf from falling at the usual 

 time; some may be simply mechanical causes, 

 where a broken twig crotch has fallen athwart 

 another stem in the course of its downward fall. 

 Then there is the pitiful remnant of a last sum- 

 mer's bird's-nest, with a mere skeleton of a floor 

 all but disintegrated. 



But occasionally a substantial ball of dead 

 leaves will be noticed, swung amid a tangle of 

 brier. No accident lodged these, nor did any 

 insect have aught to do with their position. 

 Examine carefully the mass of leaves and you 



