1248 



Rural School Leaflet 



Gray squirrel 



The gray squirrels are larger than the red, being nineteen and three- 

 quarters inches in length. Their V)acks are a clear silvery gray in winter, 



tinged with yellow in summer; 

 the under parts are white, oc- 

 casionally blotched with rust 

 color; the ears are whitish. 

 A Ijlack phase of this animal 

 is rather common, both colors 

 being found in one litter. Oc- 

 casionally white forms are 

 recorded, as is true also of 

 the red squirrel. The gray 

 squirrels are not fond of ever- 

 green forests, as their smaller 

 brother is, Ijut prefer the hard- 

 wood groves, especially the 

 beeches, which supply them 

 both nuts and favorable sites 



Gray squirrel 



for their outside nests. These water-tight apartments are built wherever 

 the weather is not too severe, and whenever a convenient wood- 

 pecker's hole or a hollow tree or limb is not found. From below, 

 these structures look like crows' nests, as they are built on platforms 

 of twigs. They arc so well covered that they shed the rain. Leaves 

 are used to a consideraVjle extent in the construction of all the nests. 

 Nuts are the principal food of these squirrels, and they begin to eat these 

 long before they are ripe; and they store large quantities for winter and 

 spring. They do not gather these together in one place, but prefer to 

 hide a few in one spot. To find them again, they must be largely dependent 

 on their acute sense of smell. They have a saucy cry of qua-qita-qua — 

 qua-a-a. These alert squirrels usually escape capture by clinging to 

 the side of the branch or tn.ml<: of the tree opposite the enemy, whether 

 hawk or boy; but in captivity they are easily tamed and make very in- 

 telligent petS". 



Fox squirrel 

 The largest of the squirrels found in New York are the fox squirrels, 

 which are twenty-tliree inches long. They are very scarce in this State 

 except in the lower part. Their backs are always tinged with rust color; 

 the under parts are never pure white, varying from bright rust color to 

 rusty white; and the ears are rust-colored. Black and semiblack individ- 

 uals are found also in this species. 



