THE SNOW- WALKERS. 65 



very beautiful creature, nocturnal in his habits, with 

 large ears, and large, fine eyes, full of a wild, harm- 

 less look. He is daintily marked, with white feet 

 and a white belly. When disturbed by day he is 

 very easily captured, having none of the cunning 

 or viciousness of the common Old World mouse. 



It is he who, high in the hollow trunk of some tree, 

 lays by a store of beech-nuts for winter use. Every 

 nut is carefully shelled, and the cavity that serves as 

 storehouse lined with grass and leaves. The wood- 

 chopper frequently squanders this precious store. I 

 have seen half a peck taken from one tree, as clean 

 and white as if put up by the most delicate hands, 

 as they were. How long it must have taken the little 

 creature to collect this quantity, to hull them one by 

 one, and convey them up to his fifth-story chamber ! 

 He is not confined to the woods, but is quite as com- 

 mon in the fields, particularly in the fall, amid the 

 corn and potatoes. When routed by the plow, I 

 have seen the old one take flight with half a dozen 

 young hanging to her teats, and with such reckless 

 speed that some of the young would lose their hold 

 and fly off amid the weeds. Taking refuge in a 

 stump with the rest of her family, the anxious mother 

 would presently come back and hunt up the missing 

 ones. 



The snow-walkers are mostly night-walkers also, 



and the record they leave upon the snow is the main 



clew one has to their life and doings. The hare is 



nocturnal in its habits, and though a very lively creat- 



5 



