132 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER PUR-BEARERS 



dispose of, the chuck, when we first got him, was 

 often placed in the nest with the kitten, and 

 was regarded by the cat as tenderly as her own, 

 and allowed to nurse freely. Thus a friendship 

 sprang up between the kitten and the woodchuck, 

 which lasted as long as the latter lived. They 

 would play together precisely like two kittens, 

 — clinch and tumble about and roll upon the 

 grass in a very amusing way. Finally the wood- 

 chuck took up his abode under the floor of the 

 kitchen, and gradually relapsed into a half-wild 

 state. He would permit no familiarities from 

 any one save the kitten, but each day they would 

 have a turn or two at their old games of rough- 

 and-tumble. The chuck was now over half 

 grown, and procured his own living. One day 

 the dog, who had all along looked upon him 

 with a jealous eye, encountered him too far from 

 cover, and his career ended then and there. 



In July the woodchuck was forgotten in our 

 interest in a little gray rabbit which we found 

 nearly famished. It was so small that it could 

 sit in the hollow of one's hand. Some acci- 

 dent had probably befallen its mother. The 

 tiny creature looked spiritless and forlorn. We 

 had to force the milk into its mouth. But in a 

 day or two it began to revive, and would lap the 

 milk eagerly. Soon it took to grass and clover, 



