A PINE- WOOD STUDY. 179 



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wander in the wildest reticulation over the 

 orey rocks. The lichened trunk towers high 

 up to its umbrageous canopy, and adds its 

 picturesqueness to the wild scene. 



The light of day reveals new life, and dispels 

 the gloom. There are open spots in the forest 

 which are as oases in the desert. Sunflashes 

 come -to the glades, and the glossy-plumaged 

 Wood-doves coo in them. In the pine tops they 

 have their platform nests — wicker-like — each 

 containing two white eggs. The Wood-pigeons 

 not only nest here, but have their regular 

 roosts through the greater part of the year. 

 The red-furred Squirrels look for you, hide 

 from you, though always with a branch inter- 

 vening ; they have their " dreys " in the angles 

 of the boughs. Squirrels have two nests. The 

 summer one is a slight structure, swaying far 

 out on the frailest twigs ; in this the young are 

 produced, and its aerial site acts as a protec- 

 tion. The winter nest is against the trunk of 

 the tree, and is thickly lined with hay and soft 

 needles. 



Through the paths and rides of the forest 

 the pronged Eoe deer wanders in spring and 

 summer, feeding upon the succulent vegetation 



