The Gray Squirrel 147 



Before daybreak you must cross the threshold of 

 their forest home, and resting upon some log or 

 mossy knoll near their exit, await their coming. Your 

 ears will serve you better than your eyes. At the 

 first rosy dawn in the east, the squirrels from the 

 outlying districts mount into the tree tops and begin 

 their travel toward you. Their coming is first made 

 known by a slight noise on the ground, but if you 

 try to locate them by ear, you may be misled; for 

 where everything is so still, a slight sound may be 

 heard many rods away, through the large timbered 

 forest. Before you have determined the cause of the 

 first sound, or before you have fairly located it, another 

 is heard in a different direction. You are all attention! 

 A regular tattoo of these sounds is now heard on 

 the forest floor, caused by the tiny showers of dew 

 shaken from the leaves, as the squirrels leap from 

 the end of one slender branch to the next. Soon 

 your eyes begin to take part in the scene, as the grace- 

 ful forms scurry through the leafy arches overhead. 

 In a little while the gray troop have passed on their 

 way to the orchard. 



If our homes are conveniently situated, the gray 

 squirrels will visit us during the winter and spring. 

 If we tempt them with a little food, they will come 

 both morning and afternoon, when the weather is not 



