126 EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
thinking but you are within a foot of the 
ground, then suddenly descend four or five feet, 
and find, to your surprise, that you had been 
traversing the broad back of a drift. 
March 12, 1857. P. M. To Hill. Observe 
the waxwork twining about the smooth sumach. 
It winds against the sun. It is at first loose 
about the stem, but this ere long expands and 
overgrows it. 
Observed the track of a squirrel in the snow 
under one of the apple trees on the southeast 
side of the hill, and looking up saw a red squir¬ 
rel with a nut or piece of frozen apple (?) in 
his mouth within six feet, sitting in a con¬ 
strained position, partly crosswise, on a limb 
over my head, perfectly still, and looking not 
at me, but off into the air, evidently expecting 
to escape my attention by this trick. I stood, 
and watched and chirruped to him about five 
minutes, so near, and yet he did not once turn 
his head to look at me, or move a foot, or wink. 
The only motion was that of his tail curled 
over his back in the wind. At length he did 
change his attitude a little and look at me a 
moment. Evidently this is a trick they often 
practice. If I had been farther off, he might 
have scolded at me. 
March 12, 1859. P. m. In rain to Minis¬ 
terial Swamp.As I passed the J—— 
