I I 2 
MAMMALIA. 
everything, command for him a certain degree of admiration. He 
is arrogant, impetuous, and conceited to an extreme degree, his con- 
fidence in his own superior capabilities not infrequently costing him 
his life. In fact, these contradictions in character and idiosyncrasies 
in disposition render him a psychological problem of no easy 
solution. 
From earliest dawn till the setting sun has disappeared behind the 
distant hills, the Red Squirrel enlivens the silent solitude of the forest 
with his merry ways and saucy chatterings ; and he may sometimes 
be discovered in the darkest hours of the night, stealing softly over 
the ground — bent, doubtless, on some errand of dubious propriety. 
Moonlight evenings he is often as active, though not so noisy, as 
during the day, and in early autumn he vies with the flying squirrel 
in nocturnal nut-husking exploits. Though an expert climber, 
delighting in long leaps from bough to bough, which he executes 
with grace and precision, he spends far more time on the ground than 
the other arboreal squirrels, sometimes even making his home in 
holes in the earth. Old logs, stumps, wood-piles, and brush-heaps 
are favorite places of resort, and, by excavating burrows beneath, he 
converts them into the securest of retreats. Our fences serve as 
highways upon which he travels from wood to wood, and the zig-zag 
rail fence in particular is one of the boons of his existence. It is his 
most frequented path, his playground, his race-course, and when 
pursued, his readiest means of escape. It is the step-ladder from 
which he leaps into the branches of neighboring trees, and the place 
where he meets his friends at all hours of the day. He frequently 
follows it to the farm-house and takes up his abode in the woodshed 
or other outbuilding, placing his nest between the ceiling and roof, 
or in some other equally out-of-the-way spot, whence he is with great 
difficulty dislodged. 
He is the least wary of the squirrels, rarely taking the trouble to 
hide himself at the approach of man. In fact, on such occasions he 
usually assumes an aggressive attitude, chippers, shakes his tail in an 
