OF SQUIRRELS, ROOKS, AND NUTHATCHES E . C . GREEN RED SQUIRRELS, from the neighbouring pine plantation, hav'e been regulär visitors to the garden and hazel copse for many years. Within five miles of the centre of Ipswich, this Valley remains quite unspoiled. The quiet and seclusion of trees, copse, and meadowland support a high and varied wild-life population.
From their dreys in the pine trees the red squirrels pass down the far side of the rough meadow keeping to the middle levels of the oak and ash trees. At the tall poplar by the brook they change direction. Presently they are seen approaching the hawthorn hedge through the tops of the elm saplings. There is a commotion in the long herbaceous border, a pause for reconnaisance, then a scamper across the lawn over the last lap to the hazels. From September onwards, until the Coming of the frosts, many a nut cache is made beneath the hazels, in the flowerbeds, and even on the lawns, where they do not appear to bury more than one nut in any given spot. As winter sets in you can often watch them, during open weather, digging for the liidden nuts. The indications are that this is done by sense of smell rather than by any exercise of memory. Much of the stored treasure is missed altogether, and removal of the hazel seedlings from every conceivable part of the small estate is a regulär spring task. The notion of winter hibernation is, of course, a fallacy. Birdtables are fixed beneath the kitchen window, and to the trunk of an old pear tree on the lawn. With the onset of cold weather these are replenished daily with breadcrusts and birdfood, and with a ration of hazelnuts collected during the autumn for this purpose. As time goes on the squirrels become bolder, and in the case of certain individuals, remarkably tarne. You can move about your business in the kitchen, with a squirrel on the tray just outside the window, only a few feet away, and he will carry on attending to his nuts provided no sudden movement is made. The trays are never occupied by more than one individual at a time. Often there are several about, in the surrounding trees, but they do not hunt in couples—each takes his turn. Our windows are seldom shut, and provided all is quiet, exploration to the kitchen table, and even further, is not uncommon. Toby, the dog, however, classes all rodents together and acts according to his lights. Happily, his desires outstrip his agility, and the squirrels remain unharmed. Sometimes, after a good meal, the visitor will sit up in conventional attitude, with his tail over his back, tapping with his forepaws at the window pane. The nature of glass remains a mystery to wild creatures, and it seems