Nay! start not at that sparkling light,
’Tis but the moon that shines so bright
On the window pane bedropped with rain;
Then, little darling! sleep again,
And wake when it is day.
Squirrels.
[For Merry’s Museum.]
The Chip Squirrel or Ground Squirrel is the most common and familiar of all the squirrels. “He is most commonly,” says Godman, “seen scudding along the lower rails of the common or ‘Virginia’ fences, which afford him at once a pleasant and secure path, as, in a few turns, he finds a safe hiding place behind the projecting angles, or enters his burrow undiscovered. When no fence is near, or his retreat is cut off, after having been out in search of food, he becomes exceedingly alarmed, and runs up the nearest tree, uttering a very shrill cry or whistle, indicative of his distress; and it is in this situation that he is most frequently made captive by his persecuting enemies, the mischievous school-boys.” I shall presently mention a much better mode of treatment of them by children, than the one here alluded to, and which is far too common.