n 



commenced to harvest cones, which were abund- 

 ant on the spruce trees around them. I often 

 wondered if they made a preliminary trip and 

 located a food-supply before moving, or if they 

 simply started forth and stopped at the first 

 favorable place. 



The following summer they returned to their 

 old quarters in the grove. The first time that I 

 saw them they were sitting upon a log daintily 

 making a breakfast of fresh mushrooms. They 

 often ate the inner bark of pine twigs, and once I 

 saw one of them eating wild raspberries. I never 

 saw these, or any Fremont squirrel, robbing or 

 trying to rob a bird's nest, and as I have never 

 noticed a bird disturbed by their presence, I 

 believe they are not guilty of this serious offense, 

 as are most kinds of squirrels. 



Through eleven years I occasionally fed them. 

 Apparently full-grown at the time of our first 

 meeting, they were active and agile to the last. 

 After eleven years they showed but few and 

 minor signs of aging. 



One was shot by a gun-carrying visitor. 

 While I was dismissing the gunner, my atten- 



333 



