THE RED SQUIRREL — KLUGH 503 



between 1.30 and 3 o'clock. I have seen other squirrels in various 

 parts of the country thus resting in the early afternoon, and the 

 squirrel's reputation for " constant activity " is probably based on 

 the fact that they are readily seen when they are active, and have 

 not been noticed when they are not. 



The resting attitudes are various, but there are two chief ones. 

 In one of these the animal spreads itself out on a limb, with the tail 

 lying out behind (PI. 3, Fig. 1) and the chin resting on the limb; in 

 the other, the squirrel squats down, rests the chin on the limb and 

 folds the tail close over its back (PL 3, Fig. 2). Variants of these 

 positions are that the tail may be folded down over the back in the 

 first position and that it may be stretched out behind, or hanging 

 to one side, in the second. A less usual resting position, the animal 

 fitted into a fork with the front of the head resting on the limb, is 

 shown in plate 3, figure 3. Sometimes, but as far as I have observed 

 very rarely, the squirrel may go sound asleep in any of these positions. 

 As a rule it closes its eyes only for a few minufes at a time, but on 

 the other hand it may remain for half an hour or more without open- 

 ing the eyes widely. 



After resting, the squirrel almost invariably stretches, first one 

 hind leg and then the other, and yawns widely, curling the tongue 

 upward like a dog. 



SUNNING 



In the winter and early spring the red squirrel often selects a more 

 or less sheltered spot and basks in the sun, sometimes for an hour 

 or more at a stretch. 



ACTIVITY IN THE TREES 



The agility of the red squirrel on the trunk, limbs, and the finest 

 twigs of the trees is remarkable. Sometimes it bounces about among 

 the branches like an animated rubber ball, moving at such a rate that 

 it becomes a mere blur. It travels about in the trees at such a 

 speed, in such an apparently reckless manner, and in«places where its 

 hold seems so precarious, that the wonder is not that it falls occa- 

 sionally, as it does, but that it does not fall a dozen times a day. I 

 have seen a squirrel sitting apparently entirely unconcerned on one 

 of the topmost twigs of a 70-foot elm, when a stiff wind was swaying 

 the upper branches through an arc of about four feet, eating an elm 

 bud held up in its forepaws. It travels with ease on the underside 

 of limbs, both large and small. 



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