368 



one scarcely knuws in what, light to regard him. His iiKjulsi- 

 tlveness, audacity, inordinate assurance, and exasperating inso- 

 lence, together with his insatiable love of mischief and shame- 

 less disregard of all the ordinary customs and civili- 

 ties of life, would lead one to suppose that he was 

 little entitled to respect; and yet his intelligence, his 

 untiring perseverance, and genuine industry, the cunning clev- 

 erness displayed in many of his actions, and the irresistible hu- 

 mor with which he does everything, command for him a certain 

 degree of admiration. He is arrogant, impetuous and conceited 

 to an extreme degree, his confidence in his own superior capa- 

 bilities not infrequently costing him his life. In fact, these con- 

 tradictions in character and idiosyncrasies in disposition render 

 him a psychological problem of no easy solution. 



"From earliest dawn till the setting sun has disappeared be- 

 hind the distant hill, the Red Squirrel enlivens the silent soli- 

 tude of the forest with his merry ways and saucy chatterings; 

 and he may sometimes be discovered in the darkest hours of 

 the night stealing softly over the ground — bent, doubtless, on 

 some errand of dubious propriety. 



SOMETIMES ACTIVE AT NIGHT. 



"Moonlight evenings he is often as active, though not so noisy, 

 as 'luring the day, and in early autumn he vies with the Flying 

 Squirrel in nocturnal nut-husking exploits. 



"Though an expert climber, delighting in long leaps from 

 bough to bough, which he executes with grace and precision, 

 he spends far more time on the ground than other arboreal 

 Squirrels, sometimes even making his home in holes in the 

 earth. 



HE SEEKS THE FENCE RAILS. 



"Old logs, stumps, wood-piles and brush-heaps are favorite- 

 places of resort, and by excavating burrows beneath, he con- 

 verts them into the securest of retreats. Our fences serve as 

 highways upon which he travels from wood to wood, and the 

 zig-zig rail fence in particular is one of the boons of his exis- 

 tence. It is his most frequented path, his playground, his race- 

 course, and when pursued, his readiest means of escape. It is 

 the step-ladder from which he leaps into the branches of neigh- 

 boring trees, and the place where he meets his friends at all 

 hours of the day. He frequently follows it to the farm-house 

 and takes up his abode in the woodshed or other outbuilding, 

 placing his nest between the ceiling and roof, or in some other 



