THE DRAWBRIDGE. 297 



reared its young, appears in great numbers, waiting for 

 the nuts of the Beech, Chinkapin, and Chestnut to feed 

 upon when ripe, and to store them up in its winter quar- 

 ters." "Who of late years has seen a jay's magazine of 

 nuts, carefully stored for winter use? I take it this is 

 a fancy on the part of the author, or a common impres- 

 sion then rife, but none the less erroneous. These birds, 

 with all their cunning, are not so provident as this im- 

 plies. Could they have been seen in winter, foraging 

 on the supplies laid up by mammals, and so got the 

 credit of storing for themselves ? This is not improba- 

 ble. 



All this while I have been sitting in the boat, and 

 quite unmindful of the world beneath me ; but a loud 

 splashing recalled the fact that the waters teemed with 

 life, and looking in the direction of the noise, I saw a 

 great number of small fishes rippling the water from 

 shore to shore. It was a brood or hatching of young 

 shad, wandering here to their certain destruction rather 

 than making a seaward course down the river. Every 

 perch and rockfish was aware of their presence, and on 

 the alert to snap them up. They soon passed by, bound 

 up the creek, and the waters were again undisturbed. 

 Looking down into the stream near the pier, I could see 

 small sunfish darting at, to me, unseen objects directly 

 in front of them ; and when I moved, they quickly dart- 

 ed into crevices among the large stones of the pier. 

 Their vision serves them well, so far as seeing enemies, 

 supposed or real, above the water. How fishes with 

 eyes placed on the sides of their heads can see directly 

 13* 



