6 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS 



them for two or three successive years had their 

 nest behind the blinds of an upper window of a 

 large, unoccupied country-house near me. You 

 could stand in the room inside and observe the 

 happy family through the window pane against 

 which their nest pressed. There on the window 

 sill lay a pile of large, shining chestnuts, which 

 they were evidently holding against a time of 

 scarcity, as the pile did not diminish while I ob- 

 served them. The nest was composed of cotton 

 and wool which they filched from a bed in one of 

 the chambers, and it was always a mystery how 

 they got into the room to obtain it. There seemed 

 to be no other avenue but the chimney flue. 



Red and gray squirrels are more or less active 

 all winter, though very shy, and, I am inclined 

 to think, partially nocturnal in their habits. Here 

 a gray one has just passed, — came down that 

 tree and went up this ; there he dug for a beech- 

 nut, and left the burr on the snow. How did 

 he know where to dig ? During an unusually 

 severe winter I have known him to make long 

 journeys to a barn, in a remote field, where 

 wheat was stored. How did he know there was 

 wheat there ? In attempting to return, the ad- 

 venturous creature was frequently run down and 

 caught in the deep snow. 



