4S0 MAMMALIA. 



it eats the seeds of the pines and fir-trees, which it expertly 

 extracts from the cone. So great are the strength and sharp- 

 ness of its teeth that it readily perforates the hardest nutshell 

 to extract the kernel ; and in doing so it usually sits up and holds 

 the food to its mouth with the fore-paws. 



Among other qualities, it has the instinct of forethought, and 

 stores provisions in summer, so that it may not suffer from 

 hunger in winter. It even takes further precautions, and, in- 

 dependent of its principal storehouse, conceals food in various 

 places, that it may not be left destitute should intruders dis- 

 cover the principal magazine. It usually accumulates these 

 ]-eserves in the trunks of trees, occasionally in the ground ; and 

 its memory is so good that it remembers perfectly where they are 

 situated. 



It scarceljr ever leaves its lurking place during midday, par- 

 ticularly if the sun is bright, but enjoj^s a siesta in its nest — a real 

 nest, comfortably lined, placed in a crevice between two branches, 

 or in a hole in the trunk of a tree. This dormitory is made of 

 little bits of dry wood, solidly interlaced with moss, and is almost 

 spherical in form ; it is large enough to lodge the father, mother, 

 and three or four young ones. At the upper part is a narrow 

 opening, only just sufficient for entrance and exit ; but as the 

 rain would find access through this aperture, the .Squirrel places 

 above it an oblique shelf, which carries ofi" the water, and pre- 

 serves the dwelling; from becoming wet. 



These graceful, fascinating Rodents live in couples. Their 

 union is not temporary, as with so many other Mammals, for 

 the male continues to live with its mate during life. The 

 mother manifests tenderness for her young, and this causes her 

 to resort to various stratagems to shield them from surrounding 

 perils. Thus, before bringing forth, she constructs several nests, 

 at certain distances from each other ; and it frequently happens, 

 even without any appearance of danger, but as a measure of 

 precaution, she takes her progeny in her mouth, and effects a 

 change of residence. In the morning, with the first indications 

 of dawn, she descends with her family to take exercise, but if any 

 intruder appears, she carries them off to a place of safety with 

 surprising rapidity. The better to conceal her movements, she 

 adopts a device truly effective. She remains concealed behind 



