THE SQUIIIREL. 277 



overshadowed by trees, or in a ruined wall. When 

 the nest is so placed, there is always a branch 

 handy on to which the animal can spring should 

 it be disturbed. 



DISPOSITION. 



In disposition the squirrel is erratic, impulsive, 

 and prettily impudent. In most of the forests of 

 Canada squirrels team in countless thousands, and 

 from sunrise till sunset their scolding chatter greets 

 the woodsman. On Nighthawk Lake, Northern 

 Ontario, I caught one in the act of swimming a 

 bay at least a hundred yards from the nearest land. 

 Probably he had been chased by a fisher or a 

 pine-marten, and had taken to the water as a last 

 resort, for no squirrel in its senses would voluntarily 

 have essayed such a crossing. When I held out a 

 paddle, the little creature at once took hold, and 

 allowed me to deposit him inside the canoe, where 

 he leapt from thwart to thwart, finally flattening 

 himself against the gunwale, imagining himself 

 entirely invisible. There he remained till we 

 bumped the shore, where he leapt for the timber, 

 and sat just out of reach, hurling abuse. 



On another occasion I witnessed an amusing 

 incident in which a red squirrel figured prominently. 

 A number of boys surprised the little fellow in the 

 centre of an open road, whereupon the squirrel 

 scrambled for the nearest tree. But the tree, alas ! 

 turned out to be a telegraph-post, not more than 

 twelve feet in height, and there he clung, too 

 frightened to descend, unable to climb higher, 

 while the party of juvenile warriors gathered round 

 with shouts of triumph. The squirrel, quite panic- 

 stricken, and probably not knowing what he did, 

 leapt straight and true for the ringleader of the 



