THE SNOW-WALKERS. 



69 



down upon the first log or rock to await the signals. 

 It is so still that the ear suddenly seems to have ac- 

 quired new powers, and there is no movement to con- 

 fuse the eye. Presently you hear the rustling of a 

 branch, and see it sway or spring as the squirrel leaps 

 from or to it ; or else you hear a disturbance in the 

 dry leaves, and mark one running upon the ground. 

 He has probably seen the intruder, and, not liking his 

 stealthy movements, desires to avoid a nearer acquain- 

 tance. Now he mounts a stump to see if the way is 



* clear, then pauses a moment at the foot of a tree to 

 take his bearings, his tail, as he skims along, undulat- 

 ing behind him, and adding to the easy grace and dig- 

 nity of his movements. Or else you are first advised 

 of his proximity by the dropping of a false nut, or the 

 fragments of the shucks rattling upon the leaves. Or, 

 again, after contemplating you awhile unobserved, and 

 making up his mind that you are not dangerous, he 

 strikes an attitude on a branch, and commences to 



. quack and bark, with an accompanying movement of 

 his tail. Late in the afternoon, when the same still- 

 ness reigns, the same scenes are repeated. There is a 

 black variety, quite rare, but mating freely with the 

 gray, from which he seems to be distinguished only in 

 color. 



The track of the red squirrel may be known by its 

 smaller size. He is more common and less dignified 

 than the gray, and oftener guilty of petty larceny about 

 the barns and grain-fields. He is most abundant in 



