ITS NEST AND FOOD. 191 



always makes the best of its way toward the nearest tree-trunk. Its 

 gait is a kind of semi-gallop, and even when ascending a perpendicular 

 tree-stem it maintains the same galloping movements, and ascends to a 

 considerable height in a very small space of time. 



During the hotter hours of the day the Squirrel is never seen, being 

 quietly asleep in its lofty nest ; but in the early morning, or in the 

 cooler hours of the afternoon, it comes from its retreat, and may be 

 seen leaping about the branches in search of the various fruits on 

 which it feeds. 



The nest of the Squirrel is an admirable specimen of natural arch- 

 itecture, and is almost invariably placed in the fork of some lofty 

 branch, where it is concealed from the view of any one passing under 

 the tree, and is out of the reach of any ordinary foe, even if its 

 situation were discovered. Sometimes it is built in the hollow of a 

 decayed bough, but it is always admirably concealed from sight. In 

 form it is nearly spherical, and is made of leaves, moss, grass, and 

 other substances, woven together in so artistic a manner that it is 

 impermeable to rain, and cannot be dislodged from its resting-place by 

 the most violent wind. A single pair of Squirrels inhabit the same 

 nest, and seem to consider some particular tree as their home, remaining 

 in it year after year. 



The female Squirrel produces about three or four young at a lit- 

 ter, the little ones being born in the middle of summer, and remaining 

 under the care of their parents until the spring of the succeeding year, 

 wlien they separate and shift for themselves. 



The food of the Squirrel is usually of a vegetable nature, and consists 

 of nuts, acorns, wheat, and other fruits and seeds. Being a hibernating 

 animal, the Squirrel is in the habit of laying up a winter store of 

 provisions, and toward the end of autumn, while acorns and nuts are 

 in their prime, becomes very busy in gathering certain little treasures, 

 which it hides in all kinds of nooks, crevices, and holes, near the tree 

 in which it lodges. The creature must be endowed with a very accu- 

 rate memory, for it always remembers the spots where it has deposited 

 its store of food, and even when the snow lies thickly upon the earth, 

 and has covered the ground with a uniform white mantle, the Squirrel 

 betrays no parplexity, but whenever it requires nourishment goes 

 straight to the hidden storehouse, scratches away the snow, and dis- 

 inters its hidden treasures. 



Sometimes the food of the Squirrel is not limited to vegetable 

 substances, as the animal possesses something of the carnivorous nature, 

 and has been often found guilty of killing and eating sundry animated 

 things. Young birds, eggs, and various insects are eaten by the Squirrel, 

 who has been detected in the very act of plundering a nest and carrying 

 off one of the young birds. 



