HAPPY INDEPENDENCE OF THE SQUIRRELS. 



in hollow trees, or ball- 

 shaped nests among the 

 branches, where they can h'nd 

 good protection from the weath- 

 er when it is at its worst, if the}' x 

 choose to avail themselves of it, which is » \ 

 not as often or as continuously as one ~"\\ 



would expect of them. The flying- -_ 

 squirrel seems to lay up the least provision 

 in the cupboards of the decayed tree when 

 he and his many companions take up their 

 winter-quarters. Hence he is often abroad for- 

 aging, and one of his favorite tricks is to enter 

 the garrets of granaries and houses in search of 

 corn and small nuts. 



The red squirrel, or "chickaree," on the 

 other hand, is the most provident of the whole 

 race, collecting in its favorite hollow tree - -- ( ~ 

 arge hoards of nuts, acorns, corn, seeds, and ' 

 so on, "wherewith to console it and sustain 

 itself in the uncomfortable season of frost and 

 snow." Sometimes, according to Ken- 

 nicott, these larders are made under 

 fallen logs, or even in holes in 

 the ground; but it must be 

 remembered that Kennicott 

 ■was writing of the 

 prairies of Illinois; 



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