THE RED SQUIRREL. 119 



ments wherewith to feed the seedling pine at 

 the outset of life. Had the squirrels waited till 

 the seed ripened the opportunity to get any 

 would have been lost, for then the protecting 

 scales dry and curl up, allowing the seeds to 

 escape ; and each one is provided with a wing, 

 and as it falls the winds drift it away from the 

 parent tree, where, perchance, some better con- 

 dition of light or soil awaits its coming. So it 

 turns out that the cone has been cut in the very 

 nick of time, if it is to be had at all when the 

 seeds in it are good. Not only that, but to 

 store it in damp places is the right thing to do, 

 for it never shrivels up there. The turpentine 

 in it and on it prevents decay, and the seed 

 hardens and will remain sound and sweet during 

 more than one season. When the snow covers 

 all the land these squirrels almost entirely live 

 on the stores of cones. They will burrow down 

 through two or three feet of snow to their treas- 

 ures and come up with their breakfasts in their 

 mouths. The cutting of these unripe cones 

 and they do the same by spruce and fir and 

 storing them in proper damp places for a winter 

 that many of them have never experienced is a 

 very interesting example of what is called " in- 

 stinct," and by that word we generally mean an 

 implanted sense, a natural mechanical disposi- 



