2l8 MAMMALIA. 



of these birds is discovered perching on a limb near his home he 

 invariably pesters it till it is glad to fly to some more congenial place. 



He is sometimes caged and makes an intelligent but unruly and 

 destructive pet. 



In the choice of a site for his nest he does not limit himself 

 to any fixed conditions, usually placing it' in a hollow limb, some- 

 times in a hole in the ground, and occasionally in a hollow log. 

 The young are generally born about the first of April, four to six 

 constituting an average litter. 



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Where the climate is milder than it is in the Adirondack region 



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the Red Squirrel often builds outside nests. Dr. A. K. Fisher 

 writes me that he has found them about the southern end of Lake 

 George, in Warren County ; and that they are so common in 

 Westchester County, New York, that "half a dozen may be in 

 sight at one time in favorable localities. The nest is usually situ- 

 ated near the top of some evergreen, in the midst of a tangled 

 grape-vine. Preference is given to the red cedar (Junipcrns Vir- 

 giniana), for the reason, probably, that this tree furnishes most of 

 the material for the nest. It may occasionally be found in a 

 deciduous tree. The nest, which is globular in shape, varies 

 from two to three hundred millimetres in diameter. As a rule, the 

 cavity is situated nearer the top than the bottom, thus making the 

 roof thinner than the floor. At a little distance the entrance can- 

 not be seen, for its borders fall together after the entrance or exit 

 of the animal. The material generally used for the nest is the 

 soft, silky bark of the red cedar. Sometimes that of the grape- 

 vine, or the inner bark of the chestnut, is intermixed." Mr. W. L. 

 Scott, of Ottawa, Canada, tells me that outside nests of the Red 

 Squirrel are common as far north as that place ; but it must be 

 borne in mind that lower Ontario is Alleghanian in fauna, while 

 the Adirondacks is Canadian. 



