MORE SQUIRRELS 



looked promising, but they invariably proved to 

 be uninhabited at the time, although we tried it 

 at all seasons and at all hours of the day. On 

 one occasion, however, I found a nest that con- 

 tained inmates. It was a little before noon, of a 

 cold brilliant windy day about the first of Janu- 

 ary. I had jammed a shell of number four shot 

 in my gun and was unable to extract it. Wishing 

 to substitute a smaller size, I fired at the nearest 

 squirrel's nest, and was surprised at the rumpus 

 that followed my shot. After a few seconds a 

 gray squirrel backed out of the entrance, ran 

 along the branch for a few yards, and dropped 

 dead into the snow. I climbed to the nest and 

 found another squirrel inside, which, 1 think, es- 

 caped uninjured. 



The barking of the gray squirrel is a decidedly 

 striking sound, audible in calm weather for an 

 eighth of a mile or more, and usually expressive 

 of anger, alarm, and warning. It consists first of 

 a succession of flat, rasping quacks, finally drawn 



23s 



