LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



you come to consider the number that are brought 

 up each summer in every pine grove or thicket 

 where these squirrels are abundant. Occasionally 

 you may see a family of them playing timidly 

 about among the branches, but without display- 

 ing any of the self-confident recklessness of their 

 elders, quick to take alarm at the slightest hint of 

 danger and skurry back into concealment, appar- 

 ently possessing less courage than either the 

 chipmunks or gray squirrels of a similar age. 



In March the red squirrels tap the maple-trees 

 for their sap, by gnawing through the bark on 

 the upper sides of horizontal branches. The 

 little cavities so made quickly fill to overflowing, 

 and, stretched at ease, the squirrels regale them- 

 selves to their satisfaction. They also drink the 

 sap that flows from such branches as have been 

 broken or cracked by ice or snow during the pre- 

 ceding winter. But their lives are far too busy 

 to allow them to spend their entire time in this 

 manner, and during their absence the sap is apt 



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