THE SQUIRREL FAMILY 391 
usual color is a rusty brown washed with black on the upper 
parts, and bright brown on the under side. The head and 
body measure about twelve 
inches in length and the bushy 
tail, eleven inches. 
The Gray Squirrel of the 
eastern part of the country 
ranges westward into Minne- 
sota. Its usual color is iron 
gray above and white beneath, 
and we may see all intermedi- 
ate stages between this and 
black. It is much smaller than 
the Fox Squirrel. It is a beau- 
tiful and very graceful little 
Gray SQUIRREL 
animal and easily becomes quite tame, making an attractive 
pet and park animal. 
The Red Squirrel, or Chickaree, is our smallest tree squirrel, 
and is found in all the wooded parts of Minnesota and thence 
ify 
RED SQUIRREL 
eastward. It also occurs in 
many of the wooded areas in 
the eastern part of the Da- 
kotas. Its colors vary with the 
seasons, but normally they are 
brown or red above and white 
beneath. Its merry chir-r-r-r-r 
is a note of pleasant surprise 
that we like to hear as we 
approach its vicinity, but we cannot help thinking of its rep- 
utation as a little marauder, for it is said to drive all the gray _ 
squirrels out of its neighborhood, and to commit depredations 
upon the nests of birds, eating the eggs as well as the young. 
