136 The Gray Squirrel 
Toward autumn, the nut crop being a failure in 
this district, the squirrels migrated into regions round 
about where food might be found. 
The home of the gray squirrel is usually to be 
found in a hollow in a maple, birch, or beech, with 
the entrance among the branches forty to sixty feet from 
the ground. This is the real home, although often 
in the spring a summer house is constructed. This 
is generally located in the same tree with the other 
home, so that if the squirrels become frightened, they 
may run for shelter to the more secure dwelling in 
the hole of the tree. This second home may be 
for convenience during the time that the young are 
being reared; perhaps it is built for sanitary reasons; 
the temperature may be very much less during the 
hot weather; or it may be a pleasure house to them, a 
sort of tenting-out period that is so much enjoyed by 
some of the higher animals. Who knows? The ma- 
terial of the summer house varies considerably, but 
it consists chiefly of sticks, bark, leaves, with a lining 
of grasses or some other material. The entrance is 
on the side, the nest from below resembling that of 
a Crow. 
The gray squirrels do not lay up for winter use 
quantities of nuts or other food, as do the chipmunks, 
for they do not hibernate; but when the weather is not 
