Travels in a Tree-top 47 



ever was abroad so early that the squirrels 

 were not before him, and in the fading light 

 of the stars he will hear the crows cawing 

 and the blue-jays chattering in the woods. 

 To the naturalist, of course, such time of 

 day is full of suggestiveness ; but the general 

 belief that it is a proper time to sleep will 

 never be given up. Indeed, judging others 

 by myself, as the boy gets well on in his teens 

 there is a growing disposition to let the traps 

 go until broad daylight and even until after 

 breakfast. This is unfortunate in two ways : 

 there is a likelihood of seeing animal life in 

 the full flush of activity in the pre-sunlit hours 

 that is unknown as the day advances; the 

 night-prowlers are all gone to their dens, and 

 the birds that roost in colonies have dispersed 

 for the day. One seldom overtakes a raccoon 

 or a weasel at or near noontide, and in the 

 woods where a thousand robins have roosted 

 there may now not be one. Then, again, 

 your visit to the traps may be anticipated 

 if you are too deliberate in starting on your 

 rounds. This is an experience that no boy 

 of spirit can calmly undergo, and no wonder. 

 The rude box-trap was not easy to make, con- 

 sidering the usual condition of tools upon a 



