LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



They begin work late in July, while the cones 

 are still green and solid with the milky seeds 

 embedded near the centre and hard to distin- 

 guish when the cone is cut open. In the hot 

 July sunshine they hurry about their work, cut- 

 ting off the cones and tossing them over their 

 shoulders well out beyond the surrounding 

 branches to the ground. Whenever the cone or 

 the twig that supports it is cut or scarred, a drop 

 of glistening, transparent_sa£_ oozes forth, turning 

 on exposure to the air to the most tenacious kind 

 of pitch ; and it is truly wonderful that the 

 squirrels can manage to keep themselves so clean 

 while engaged in their harvesting. But the 

 majority of them show hardly a trace of pitch any- 

 where about their persons, though now and then 

 you will run across one with little wisps of fur 

 stuck together, especially about his face and neck 

 and in the longer hairs of his tail, evidently having 

 been particularly unfortunate or careless in his 

 work. Every little while they descend to the 



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