THE SNOW-WALKERS. 



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a very beautiful creature, nocturnal in his habits, with 

 large ears, and large, fine eyes, full of a wild, harmless 

 look. He leaps like a rabbit, and is daintily marked, 

 with white feet and a white belly. 



It is he who, high in the hollow trunk of some tree, 

 lays by a store of beech-nuts for winter use. Every 

 nut is carefully shelled, and the cavity that serves as 

 storehouse lined with grass and leaves. The wood- 

 chopper frequently squanders this precious store. I 

 have seen half a peck taken from one tree, as clean 

 and white as if put up by the most delicate hands, — as 

 they were. How long it must have taken the little 

 creature to collect this quantity, to hull them one by 

 one, and convey them up to his fifth-story chamber ! 

 He is not confined to the woods, but is quite as com- 

 mon in the fields, particularly in the fall, amid the corn 

 and potatoes. When routed by the plough, I have 

 seen the old one take flight with half a dozen young 

 hanging to her teats, and with such reckless speed that 

 some of the young would lose their hold and fly off 

 amid the weeds. Taking refuge in a stump with the 

 rest of her family, the anxious mother would presently 

 come back and hunt up the missing ones. 



The snow-walkers are mostly night-walkers also, and 

 the record they leave upon the snow is the main clew 

 one has to their life and doings. The hare is noctur- 

 nal in its habits, and though a very lively creature at 

 night, with regular courses and run-ways through the 

 wood, is entirely quiet by day. Timid as he is, he 



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