136 The Gray Squirrel 



Toward autumn, the nut crop being a failure in 

 this district, the squirrels migrated into regions round 

 about where food might be found. 



The home of the gray squirrel is usually to be 

 found in a hollow in a maple, birch, or beech, with 

 the entrance among the branches forty to sixty feet from 

 the ground. This is the real home, although often 

 in the spring a summer house is constructed. This 

 is generally located in the same tree with the other 

 home, so that if the squirrels become frightened, they 

 may run for shelter to the more secure dwelling in 

 the hole of the tree. This second home may be 

 for convenience during the time that the young are 

 being reared ; perhaps it is built for sanitary reasons ; 

 the temperature may be very much less during the 

 hot weather ; or it may be a pleasure house to them, a 

 sort of tenting-out period that is so much enjoyed by 

 some of the higher animals. Who knows? The ma- 

 terial of the summer house varies considerably, but 

 it consists chiefly of sticks, bark, leaves, with a lining 

 of grasses or some other material. The entrance is 

 on the side, the nest from below resembling that of 

 a crow. 



The gray squirrels do not lay up for winter use 

 quantities of nuts or other food, as do the chipmunks, 

 for they do not hibernate ; but when the weather is not 



