62 OUT OF DOORS. 



pedes, they swarm under the bark, especially the wood- 

 lice, whose dried and whitened skeletons can be seen 

 by hundreds, showing at once their crustaceous descent. 

 Earwigs also are sure to appear in great force, and, as 

 is their wont, do not lose their presence of mind when 

 disturbed, but make their way instinctively for the 

 nearest crevice, and wriggle their lithe bodies out of 

 reach almost before they have been seen. 



Under the bark are also the relics of other creatures. 

 For example, in one willow tree, the nuthatch and the 

 squirrel have both left their marks in the shape of 

 sundry hazel nuts. There is no difficulty in distin- 

 guishing the work of these two creatures. The nut- 

 hatch wedges the nut firmly into a crevice of the bark, 

 and hammers rapidly and perseveringly at the point 

 until the nut is split in two as neatly as a boy could 

 do it with his knife. The bird then goes off with the 

 kernel and leaves the halves of the shell where they 

 happen to lie, some of them being still fixed in the 

 bark, some lying on the ground, and some having 

 slipped between the bark and the wood. In this place 

 the nuthatch abounds, so that there is every oppor- 

 tunity for watching its habits. The squirrel treats its 

 nuts in a different manner, first gnawing off the tip 

 and then splitting the shell with its chisel-shaped 

 teeth. Sometimes it gets hold of a bad nut, and after 

 nibbling at th- lip throws it away. In the same tree 

 that has just i^en mentioned were several bad nuts, 



