508 ANNUAL KEPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 2 8 



The two staple articles of diet of the red squirrel, taking the whole 

 of its range into consideration, are undoubtedly the seeds of conif- 

 erous trees, and nuts. By far the greater part of the red squirrel's 

 range lies in the Canadian and Hudsonian zones, which are vast 

 areas of spruce and fir forests, and there are unquestionably more 

 squirrels which feed most extensively and for a longer period each 

 year on the seeds of these conifers than upon any other kind of food. 

 In the typically Canadian zone country in New Brunswick this spe- 

 cies feeds very largely on the seeds of white spruce {Picea canadensis) 

 and red spruce {P. onibra) from the middle of August until May, 

 and some idea of the immense quantities consumed may be obtained 

 from the huge piles of scales to be found in the spruce forest and 

 the large areas which are covered with these scales. Osgood (1900) 

 speaking of Alaska, says, " The ground is often strewn for some 

 distance with the scales of spruce cones which they have stripped. 

 Near Lake Marsh I found one such place 20 feet square which was 

 covered 6 inches deep with scales." Bell (1898) says, " The seeds 

 of the black and white spruce constitute their grand staple in the 

 North." The seeds of practically all the other conifers, in their re- 

 spective regions, furnish the red sqi^irrel with a large part of its 

 sustenance. The seeds of the cedar {Thuja occklentalls) are eaten 

 extensively in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, and the seeds 

 of the hemlock {Tsuga caTmdensis) , which remain in the cones on the 

 trees all winter, are eaten throughout the winter in northeastern 

 North America. Seton (1909) states that "In the country about 

 Kenora (northern Ontario) the principal autumn (and therefore 

 winter and spring) food of the squirrel is the seeds of the jack pine." 

 The seeds of the white pine {Pinus strohus) are consumed extensively 

 throughout the range of this tree, and Cram (1901) says, "The 

 white pine is usuallj" rather sparing in its yield; but once in every 

 10 or 15 years, perhaps oftener, nearly every tree in the forest bears 

 enormously, even the younger ones show.ing scattered clusters here 

 and there, while those that have stood for generations present a 

 roughened, shaggy aspect from the thickly crowded cones at their 

 summits. At such times the red squirrels seem determined to gather 

 every cone before it opens and scatters its seeds to the winds." 

 Bailey (1918) mentions the lodgepole pine, Douglas spruce, Engel- 

 mann spruce, mountain white pine, white-barked pine, western tama- 

 I'ack, and western balsam as furnishing the chief food supply of IS. 

 hudsonicus Hchardsoni in the mountains of northwestern Montana. 



Farther south all kinds of nuts, within their respective ranges, con 

 stitute the main food of the red squirrel, since they are not only 

 eaten at the time of their ripening, but are hoarded for consumption 

 during the winter and spring. But nuts never bulk as largely in 

 the menu of the southern squirrels as do the seeds of conifers in the 



