"That's surely a rabbit, Polly. See him jump along. He is nearly as white as the snow. He did not wait for us to call, did he?"
"What big jumps," said Polly. "I think he could beat Wag-wag."
"I am sure that he could, Polly. His hind legs are very long. They are made for jumping. He can take twice as big jumps as he is taking now. But he will not, unless we frighten him."
"Why doesn't he go into a hole in the winter? Why doesn't he sleep until spring comes? The woodchuck does. Why doesn't he?" asked Polly.
"He is not made so that he can. Some animals store up fat on themselves. In the winter they go to sleep.
"Then they seem to live on that fat. For, in the spring, they are always thin and hungry looking.
"You couldn't do that, you know. And the rabbit cannot do it. What are those birds, Peter?"
"Chickadees," said Peter. "I always know them. They cannot fool me. They never say anything but 'chick-a-dee.'"
"Oh, yes, they do, my son. Listen! What is that? There it is again."
"Some one is whistling," said Polly. "Isn't it a pretty whistle?"