94 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



were destroyed and the subsequent au- 

 tumn brought them no nuts. No doubt 

 many squirrels perished of starvation 

 during the severe winter which followed, 

 but our picture shows one of a pair of 

 fine gray squirrels which fared other- 

 wise. 



The nut-famine drove them from the 

 forest, and they made their way to a 



THE WILD GREY SQUIRREL. 



corn-field near our house, where they 

 found an ample supply of food in its 

 golden kernels. When the crop was 

 harvested, however, this supply was cut 

 off, and, with surprising boldness for 

 animals so shy as the gray squirrel ordi- 

 narily is, they ventured into the trees of 

 our door-yard. Realizing that they 



must have been driven to us by scarcity 

 of food we were very glad to supply it 

 to them, and also comfortable quarters 

 for the winter. We filled a box with 

 warm bedding and a lot of butternuts 

 and corn, and fastened it in a large 

 sugar maple tree near our kitchen win- 



dow. To introduce them to their pros- 

 pective home we fastened ears of corn at 

 intervals along up the trunk to the box, 

 and one ear was left protruding out of 

 the entrance. To be doubly sure that 

 the squirrels would go into the box and 

 see what nice accommodations we had 

 for them there the ear was fastened 

 in the entrance so that they could not 

 pull it out, and they would have to go 

 in in order to get the corn on the farther 

 end of the ear. 



The plan worked admirably, and ere 

 many days it was evident that the visi- 

 tors had resolved to search no further 

 for a winter home. This just suited and 

 during the cold days which followed the 

 handsome fellows were often seen sport- 

 ing about the tree or digging in the snow 

 about it for the extra nuts which we sup- 

 plied from time to time. We would often 

 wire ears of corn to the trunk for them, 

 and these they visited regularly for their 

 morning meals. It was while one of 

 them was about to partake of its break- 

 fast one day that we made the negative 

 used for our picture. 



Note the fine fur of the wild squir- 

 rel as compared with that of the tame 

 ones of our city parks. Unfortunately 

 the very large and bushy tail of our 

 subject was in such a position that it 

 shows only in part. It was even larger 

 than the squirrel's body. 



We very much hoped that these squir- 

 rels would make their permanent home 

 with us, but all the inducement we could 

 offer seemed of no avail, for on the 

 advent of the warm days of spring they 

 betook themselves to the woods and we 

 have not seen them here since. 



Romeyn B. Hough. 



ANIMATED LEAVES. 



Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania. 

 To the Editor : — 



All tourists in Southern California 

 have admired the pepper tree, with its 

 large clusters of rose-carmine berries 

 and its dark green, fern-like leaves ; but 

 few have ever discovered the curious 

 phenomenon attending the latter. 



If a leaflet is broken transversely into 

 about three pieces and these placed on 

 the surface of a shallow plate of water 

 there will usuallv follow, in a few mo- 



