ise The Red Squirrel 
But the food question is not settled for the chick- 
aree even after his stock is gathered—there are 
unprincipled neighbors watching to take advantage 
of his thrift. He has little trouble from his own kind 
in this respect, for each red squirrel is supposed to 
have a certain territory that belongs to him, and 
trespassers upon another’s preserves are promptly 
chased off; but there are other hungry wood folk not 
so easily disposed of, such as the thieving bluejays, 
which know neither bounds nor limits and which 
are ever on the alert for a free lunch. Consequently 
the squirrel needs to have various storehouses for his 
food. Knowing that the jays do not care for mush- 
rooms he places them conveniently on a limb of a neigh- 
boring tree: but the careful little provider would 
never think of leaving his corn and nuts in such an 
exposed place; these he hides in a cavity of a tree or 
in a hole in the ground, the latter being by far the 
safer place. 
Annoying as the bluejay often is, he sometimes 
serves as a friend to the squirrels and to other wood 
dwellers as well. The red squirrels, being a constant 
target for the gunners, are very shy, and the jay often 
sounds an alarm-note when the hunter is some dis- 
tance away, thus warning the chickaree in time to 
scamper away and hide himself until the danger is 
