[Illustration:  The rabbit.]

Some of Frank’s school fellows, however, were more skilled in hunting.  They knew how to set snares for the poor rabbits, and were very often successful in catching them.  By means of an elastic branch, or sapling, bent over, and furnished with a snare of strong twine, they contrived to catch the poor rabbit by the neck, and string him up in the air, like a criminal convicted of murder.  It was no misfortune to Frank to be ignorant of this hunting craft.

[Illustration:  Boys snaring rabbits.]

Another curious animal, which the children sometimes saw, and which may be seen occasionally in the pastures and pine forests, in all parts of our country, from Maine to Carolina, was the woodchuck, or ground-hog, as it is sometimes called.  It feeds, generally, upon clover and other succulent vegetables, and hence it is often injurious to the farmer.  It is said to bring forth four or five young at a litter.  Its gait is awkward, and not rapid; but its extreme vigilance, and acute sense of hearing, prevent it from being often captured.  It forms deep and long burrows in the earth, to which it flies upon the least alarm.  It appears to be sociable in its habits; for upon one occasion, we noticed some thirty or forty burrows in a field of about five acres.  These burrows contain large excavations, in which they deposit stores of provisions.  It hybernates during the winter, having first carefully closed the entrance of its burrow from within.  It is susceptible of domestication, and is remarkable for its cleanly habits.  Its cheeks are susceptible of great dilatation, and are used as receptacles for the food which it thus transports to its burrow.  The capture of the woodchuck, forms one of the most exciting sports of boys, and it is very easily domesticated.

[Illustration:  The woodchuck.]

The woods abounded in other wild animals, all small and harmless, but extremely interesting to the children.  In their frequent visits to the woods, it was their delight to watch the animals and birds, and observe their motions, habits, and modes of life.  But they were not fond of disturbing them; and when they deviated from their rule in this respect, on one remarkable occasion, as we shall now relate, it gave them occasion for much sorrow.

CHAPTER II.

The young chickadee.

One Saturday afternoon, the children found in the woods, a grape vine, larger than any that they had before discovered.  One end clasped a decayed tree, and as they bore their weight upon the vine, to try its strength, they were startled by a hoarse cry above them.  Looking up, they saw two brown birds, beating the air with their wings, and screaming, “tshe daigh, daigh, daigh; tshe daigh, daigh, daigh!” At the same time, from amidst the green foliage which twined about the dead tree, they heard