252 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



and actions. On the highway he is a bit more re- 

 spectful and does not attempt to interfere with a 

 passing wheehnan, but in the woods he swears 

 I'oundlj at any base intruder. Somebody has hk- 

 ened his scolding to the winding of a clock — a not 

 far-fetched simile ; but what an outrageously asth- 

 matic clock, and what a dreadful need of grease on 

 the mainspring ! When we enter the wood in nom- 

 inal possession of the red squirrel this is about the 

 kind of greeting we may expect : " Wretches ! 

 wretches — both, chuck which, chuck which, chuck 

 which, chuck 'em out ! quick, quick, quick ! Chuck 

 which-which-chuck-which, chuck-which, chuck which, 



chuck 'em both out quick, quick, quick, chuck " 



and with a wliistle of alarm he disappears around 

 tlie other side of the tree just as a j^ebble has Ijeen 

 sent within a yard of his saucy chin ! The red 

 squirrel's voice is threatening ; there is no mistaking 

 the fury of his wrath which visibly quakes his whole 

 body to the very tip of his tail. 



Tlie large gray squirrel (Seiurug Carol uw/isis) I 

 do not find as plentiful in Campton as the other two 

 species ; for several seasons past, very few have ap- 

 peared in the wood or on the roadside. In Roxbury, 

 a part of Boston, they are quite common among the 

 trees on some of the old estates, and they are often 

 seen in the hemlock grove in the Arnold arboretum. 



