53 
ON THE HABITS OF THE RED SQUIRREL AS 
OBSERVED AT LIVERPOOL. 
ERIC HARDY. 
For the last ten years I have kept regular observations on a 
colony of some twelve breeding pairs of the British Red 
Squirrel (Sciurus leucorous) near my home. The area is park- 
land, deciduous trees in small woods and plantations, with a 
few conifers in two or three small groups, covering some 270 
acres. The squirrels are perfectly wild, afforded no protection 
in the way of nesting boxes, though two pet pairs were released 
about ten years ago when the colony was getting less. It 
has since much increased. 
Appearance of Specimens. — The winter-coat is complete 
by early November, though the grey hairs are prominent by 
October. The summer coat is assumed in May and complete 
by June. Occasional specimens show a tendency to lightness 
in the tail in autumn, but I have never known an albino or 
a dark melanic form in the local colony, though my uncle, 
E. T. Turner, has watched a pure albino red squirrel in 
Gumley Woods, Leicestershire, at the end of the last century, 
and a black squirrel was shot at Watford in October, 1865. 
Breeding Habits. — In no case have I found any definite 
proof of the use of extra summer dreys, often alluded to in 
literature on the subject, to which the young are transported 
when the original drey is in danger. In many pairs in the 
colony the same drey was used for summer and winter, though 
seldom two summers in succession, for the squirrels usually 
shift their quarters each breeding season. The pair mate 
for life, but do not always breed in the same locality each 
summer, and never Have I found two pairs breeding closer 
than about fifty yards. There are marked territory rights 
which are vigorously enforced in the breeding season, though 
not so much in winter, when considerable intrusion occurs. 
The young do not stay with their parents long after leaving 
the drey, being independent by November. Young leave 
the drey early in June, though they are in the drey in May 
and often as early as April. Very often the old nest of a 
magpie ( Pica pica pica, Linn.), very common in the area, is 
used for a winter drey, while I have known an old rook or 
crow nest to be similarly used elsewhere. The pair keep 
together during the winter and the young may or may not 
breed the first season after birth. They occasionally rear 
two broods. Trouble is experienced with stoats elsewhere, 
but these do not occur here, while rats, which take heavy toll 
of young birds, do not affect the squirrels. 
There is a definite nuptial display, though the full courtship 
1933 March 1 
