I OUR GRAY SQUIRRELS 3 



nearest like the natural cavities in decayed tree- 

 trunks chosen (in cold latitudes) by the squirrels 

 as their home ; but as none of our pets had been 

 forest bred, this preference seems to have been 

 dictated by an inherited taste. By midsummer 

 these tenements become so hot and vermin-infested 

 that the squirrels leave them and construct bowers 

 of leaves, as my friends in the oak were doing 

 when they attracted my attention ; and they occa- 

 sionally inhabit them all winter, when the family 

 nestles into the fluffy mass of loose leaves and 

 grass forming the centre of the ball, and thus 

 keeps warm. 



Though their nests and burrows become more 

 or less infected with vermin, all our squirrels are 

 exceedingly cleanly animals, and spend much time 

 in rubbing their faces and cleansing their own fur 

 and that of their young ones. " When they acci- 

 dentally step into the water," writes Godman, "they 

 make use of their bushy tail for the purpose of 

 drying themselves, passing it several times through 

 their hands." 



This squirrel is the one which in the older books 

 is called the Northern gray squirrel, Sciurns migra- 

 torius, in contrast with the Southern gray squirrel. 

 Several other closely related species have been 

 described from the interior and the Pacific coast, 

 besides the very distinct "fox," "red," "flying," 

 and other sharply distinguished members of the 

 family. Certain differences of size and coat notice- 



