but so narrow was the passage that he 

 could not push his way in; his wings 

 were too prominent. He backed away 

 a few steps and looked at the crack a 

 moment with his head cocked on one 

 side. Then quickly stepping up to it, 

 he stood on one leg, turned his body 

 up edgewise, and squeezed through. 



Perhaps as good an example as I can 

 give of Wrensie's fearlessness is to de- 

 scribe his behavior one day when I had 

 some work to do on the outside of a 

 window. I stood on a staging just in 

 front of the window, and was engaged 

 in driving nails in the window casing. 

 This hammering made a great noise, 

 shaking the loose sash sharply. Wren- 

 sie was busily engaged catching flies on 

 the inside of the window, standing on 

 the top of the lower sash; that is, at the 

 middle of the w^indow. All my motions, 

 all the noise and the jar failed to 

 frighten him away, although at times 

 he looked at me pretty sharply. 



While so courageous in most ways, 

 still Wrensie had his ideas of caution. 

 Upon my return to the house after a 

 short absence he would usually leave 

 the room abruptly, either going out of 

 doors or up into the attic. Even if I 

 came in very quietly, taking precau- 



tions not to disturb him, the result was 

 the same. This conduct always seemed 

 to me a curious fact, and an inconsis- 

 tency which I could not explain. 



Clever and interesting as he was, 

 Wrensie had his shortcomings. His dis- 

 position was not that of the typical 

 bird: "Sweetness and light" were not 

 his. In his spirit was none of the ex- 

 uberent joy of the great songsters, nor 

 any of the bonhommie of happy-go- 

 lucky sparrows. During the whole 

 term of our acquaintance not a sound 

 left his throat! In complete silence 

 did he pursue his vocation, A perfect 

 helpmate, but a faulty companion. A 

 very practical sort of bird he was, full 

 of activity, but without vivacity. Can 

 it be that the spirit of our industrial age 

 is so pervasive that even the birds are 

 unable to escape its influence? It 

 would seem that evolution has produced 

 the utilitarian and "strictly business" 

 type of character among them. 



One day there was a noisy flutter of 

 wings at the door, and the harsh cry of 

 the butcher-bird was heard. On step- 

 ping out I saw feathers floating in the 

 air. I concluded that I would see no 

 more of my little companion and helper. 

 The blue-bottle fly was avenged. 



THE SQUIRREUS USE OF HIS TAIL. 



BY JAMES NEWTON BASKETT, MEXICO, MO. 



OF COURSE every one who has 

 had a pet squirrel has noticed 

 what an important thing his 

 tail seems to be to him. When 

 he makes his toilet he usually ends by 

 bringing the hairy brush around and 

 apparently wiping his face with it, as 

 though it were his towel. But I sus- 

 pect that he is as much concerned, even 

 here, about the care of his tail as about 

 the cleanliness of his features, for 

 Bunny's beauty, like that of some, 

 others, lies as much in his train as in 

 his countenance. One use, therefore, 

 of the squirrel's tail is to make him 

 look pretty. I think, at least, no one 

 can see him put it into such graceful 

 curves along with his delightful pos- 

 tures without feeling that he is posing 

 for esthetic effect. 



Still, a little study of his ways may 



make us think that there is a more prac- 

 tical purpose even in this feature of his 

 tail's use. We had a pet squirrel in the 

 house recently — one of the western 

 fox species or variety. He had be- 

 come quite tame in his cage before he 

 was released in my study. At inter- 

 vals I had him brought in, and we 

 usually romped together at least once 

 a day. 



At first everything was so new and 

 strange to him that he was very shy 

 and must go about investigating. I 

 noticed that, as he approached any- 

 thing which he feared might prove 

 dangerous, he always projected his tail 

 over his back far forward — sometimes 

 feeling the object with the extreme 

 hairs before touching it with his nose. 

 He annoyed me greatly by tearing the 

 wall paper from a certain angle. One 



