68 



THE SNOW-WALKERS. 



His home is in the trunk of some old birch ormapJe, 

 with an entrance far up amid the branches. In the 

 spring he builds himself a summer-house of small leafy 

 twigs in the top of a neighboring beech, where the 

 young are reared and much of the time passed. But 

 the safer retreat in the maple is not abandoned, and 

 both old and young resort thither in the fall, or when 

 danger threatens. Whether this temporary residence 

 amid the branches is for elegance or pleasure, or for 

 sanitary reasons or domestic convenience, the natural- 

 ist has forgotten to mention. 



The elegant creature, so cleanly in its habits, so 

 graceful in its carriage, so nimble and daring in its 

 movements, excites feelings of admiration akin to those 

 awakened by the birds and the fairer forms of nature. 

 His passage through the trees is almost a flight. In- 

 deed, the flying-squirrel has little or no advantage over 

 him, and in speed and nimbleness cannot compare with 

 him at all. If he miss his footing and fall, he is sure 

 to catch on the next branch ; if the connection be 

 broken, he leaps recklessly for the nearest spray or 

 limb, and secures his hold, even if it be by the aid of 

 his teeth. 



His career of frolic and festivity begins in the fall, 

 after the birds have left us and the holiday spirit of 

 nature has commenced to subside. How absorbing 

 the pastime of the sportsman, who goes to the woods 

 in the still October morning in quest of him ! You 

 step lightly across the threshold of the forest, and sit 



