I OUR GRAY SQUIRRELS 3 
nearest like the natural cavities in decayed tree- 
trunks chosen (in cold latitudes) by the squirrels 
as their home; but as none of our pets had been 
forest bred, this preference seems to have been 
dictated by an inherited taste. By midsummer 
these tenements become so hot and vermin-infested 
that the squirrels leave them and construct bowers 
of leaves, as my friends in the oak were doing 
when they attracted my attention; and they occa- 
sionally inhabit them all winter, when the family 
nestles into the fluffy mass of loose leaves and 
grass forming the centre of the ball, and thus 
keeps warm. 
Though their nests and burrows become more 
or less infected with vermin, all our squirrels are 
exceedingly cleanly animals, and spend much time 
in rubbing their faces and cleansing their own fur 
and that of their young ones. “ When they acci- 
dentally step into the water,” writes Godman, “they 
make use of their bushy tail for the purpose of 
drying themselves, passing it several times through 
their hands.” 
This squirrel is the one which in the older books 
is called the Northern gray squirrel, Sccurus migra- 
torius, in contrast with the Southern gray squirrel. 
Several other closely related species have been 
described from the interior and the Pacific coast, 
besides the very distinct “fox,” “red,” “flying,” 
and other sharply distinguished members of the 
family. Certain differences of size and coat notice- 
