CHAP. I OUR GRAY SQUIRRELS 23 
known as an incorrigible nest-robber and _ bird- 
catcher, killing fledglings as well as sucking eggs: 
sometimes, no doubt, his misdeeds have been laid 
at the door of the innocent gray; and wise robins 
take no chances. The flying-squirrel is likewise 
overfond of birds’ eggs. 
In another point my observations were at vari- 
ance with the books, which credit this squirrel 
with somewhat nocturnal habits. Ours were often 
abroad late into the dusk, and were out with the 
dawn: but certainly they were never outside their 
houses during the night, even in bright moonlight. 
Merely wet weather does not daunt them, but a 
heavy downpour of rain naturally drives them to 
cover. They never take a water-bath, so far as 
I know; but they are fond of rubbing and rolling 
in loose sand, by way, I suppose, of ridding their 
fur of vermin. 
In winter they are more active, if possible, than 
in summer, racing about the trees at a furious rate, 
as if invigorated to fresh activity by the keen air. 
Yet the book-writers insist that their habit is other- 
wise, and have described extensively their alleged 
hibernation. Certainly our Connecticut squirrels 
neither hibernate nor become torpid. During the 
twenty-five years they have been under close ob- 
servation here in New Haven there has never been 
a day—excepting very sleety ones, perhaps — 
when they did not appear. 
The same denial must be made in respect to the 
