THE SQUIRREL'S HARVEST. 



a trick of atavism. Your squirrel sleeps 

 away the worst months in his cosy nest, 

 with his bushy tail wrapped like a blanket 

 or a martial cloak around him. Thus, that 

 pretty adjunct serves a double purpose : in 

 summer squirrels employ it as a balance, 

 like the rope-dancer's pole ; in winter they 

 use it as a convenient coverlet. Now and 

 then, in February, if a warm day turns up, 

 they wake from their doze for a short spell, 

 and visit one of the granaries where their 

 nuts are stored. But, like prudent beasts 

 that they are, they never lay by their 

 treasure in their own nests, because their 

 too frequent going and coming while hoard- 

 ing nuts might attract attention, and so 

 betray them unawares to the too observant 

 stoat or the inquisitive weasel. They even 

 take the precaution to spread their invest- 

 ments widely, so to speak, by garnering 

 nuts and acorns in several holes at once 

 among the trees that surround their own 

 family residence. 



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