66 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



a secure grip. When dead it can be hung on to the edge 

 of a table by its hind feet. Squirrels are very tond of 

 eggs, and the writer knows of a case in which a number 

 of traps baited with Thrush's eggs to catch Jays were 

 found to capture more Squirrels than Jays. They also 

 sometimes kill and eat small birds, but this seems to be 

 a depraved and unnatural taste. The nest is a large 

 structure of moss, twigs and leaves woven together with 

 fibrous roots and grass, and is placed often in the fork 

 of a beech tree, or on the larger boughs of a fir, close 

 to the trunk : sometimes in a hole in a tree trunk. An 

 interesting feature of the nest is that the entrance on 

 one side near the top is elastic and self-closing. The 

 Squirrel often builds more of these " cages " or " dreys " 

 than it uses, and the empty ones are utilized by various 

 birds, such as the Stock Dove, who are too lazy to 

 build a nest for themselves. The young, three or four 

 in number, are born in June or July. The Squirrel lays \ 

 up winter stores of nuts, etc., in various holes in the 

 ground and in hollow trees, and it does not hibernate, 

 though in very cold weather it dozes a day or two at a 

 time in its nest. The colour of the fur varies a good 

 deal, but as a rule it is bright red in summer, while in 

 winter the tips of the hairs are grey, and the red, con- 

 sequently, obscured by that tint. Individuals are 

 frequently seen with cream-coloured tails, but this is 

 merely a passing phase, for it has been found by keep- 

 ing these in confinement that at the following moult the 

 tail reverts to the normal red hue. The tufts of hair on 

 the ears also vary considerably in length at different 

 seasons, and towards autumn are almost absent. Total 

 length, including hair on the tail, 15 inches, of which 

 the tail is nearly half. 



