232 RED SQUIRREL. 



unshed until June. In the northern regions of 

 Europe, the grey colour in winter is more decided, 

 and the fur of denser and finer texture. 



The agility of the Squirrel, its lively disposition, 

 and beautiful form, render it a general favourite. 

 It is amusing to watch it in its arboreal excursions, 

 when you see it ascending the trunk and branches 

 with surprising speed, running out even on slender 

 twigs, always when in motion keeping its tail de- 

 pressed, occasionally performing leaps from one 

 branch to another, and when alarmed, scampering 

 away at such a rate that you almost expect to see 

 it miss its footing and fall down headlong. It feeds 

 on nuts, beech-mast, acorns, buds, and the bark of 

 young branches; generally, while eating, sitting on 

 its haunches, with its tail elevated, holding the 

 object between its paws, and dexterously unshelling 

 the kernel, from which it even removes the outer 

 pellicle before munching it. It does not reside en- 

 tirely on trees, but frequently resorts to the ground, 

 where it moves with nearly equal agility, leaping 

 like a rabbit. The female produces three or four 

 young ones about midsummer, which are deposited 

 in a nest, formed of moss, fibrous roots, grass and 

 leaves, curiously interwoven, and placed in a hole, 

 or in the fork between two large branches. 



In autumn it lays up a store of provisions for 

 winter, but usually in an irregular manner, deposit- 

 ing nuts in different places in the ground, and in 

 holes of trees. When the cold weather commences, 

 it becomes less active, and often dozes for days in 



