72 CHIPPING SQUIRREL. 



pole on a fence rail, the second or third from the bottom, along which the 

 Ground Squirrel is expected to pass ; a few yards behind him is another 

 youngster, ready with his stick on another rail, in case the Chip Muck 

 escapes the first enemy. One of the juveniles now makes a circuit, gets 

 behind the little Hackee, and gives a blow on the fence to drive him to- 

 ward the others, who are eagerly expecting him. The unsuspecting little 

 creature, with a sweep of his half-erected tail, quickly descends from the 

 top of the fence, along a stake, and betaking himself to some of the lo^'er 

 rails, makes a rapid retreat. If no stone-heaps or burrows are at hand, 

 it runs along the winding fence, and as it is passing the place where the 

 young sportsmen are lying in wait ; they brush the stick along the raU 

 with the celerity of thought, hitting the little creature on the nose, and 

 knocking it six yards off. " He is ours," is the exulting shout, and the whole 

 party noAv hurry to the spot. Perhaps the little animal is not dead, only 

 stunned ; and is carried home to be made a pet. It is put into a calabash, 

 a stocking, or a small bag, prepared for the occasion by some fond little 

 sister, who ^vhilst sewing it for her brother, half longed to enjoy the romp 

 and the sport herself. Reader, don't smile at this group of juvenile sports- 

 men ; older and bigger " boys " are often engaged in amusements not 

 more rational, and not half so innocent. 



Several species of hawks are successful in capturing the Chipping 

 Squirrel. It furnishes also many a meal for the hungry fox, the wild cat, 

 and the mink ; but it possesses an enemy in the common weasel or ermine, 

 (mustela erminea) more formidable than all the rest combined. This blood- 

 thirsty little animal pursues it into its dwelling, and following it to the 

 farthest extremity, strikes its teeth into its skull, and like a cruel savage 

 of the wilderness, does not satiate its thirst for blood, untU it has destroyed 

 every inhabitant of the burrow, old and j'oung, although it seldom devours 

 one fifth of the animals it so w^antonly kUls. We once observed one pur- 

 sue a Chipping Squirrel into its burrow. After an interval of ten mi- 

 nutes it reappeared, licking its mouth, and stroking its fur with its head, 

 by the aid of its long neck. We watched it as it pursued its way through 

 a buckwheat field, in which many roots and stumps were yet remaining, 

 evidently in quest of additional \'ictims. On the follovnng day we were 

 impelled by ciuiosity to open the burrow we had seen it enter. There 

 we found an old female ground squirrel, and five young, half-grovm, lying 

 dead, with the marks of the weasels' teeth in their skulls. 



GEOGRAPHICAl. DISTRIBUTION. 



The Chipping Squirrel has a pretty wide geographical range. It is 

 common on the northern shores of Lakes Huron and Superior ; and has 



