136 
FOX SQUIRREL. 
that scarcely bears any resemblance to the barking which they utter on 
other occasions. The young are produced from the beginning of March, 
and sometimes earlier, to April. The nests containing them, which we 
have had opportunities of examining, were always in hollow trees. They 
receive the nourishment of the mother for four or five weeks, when they 
are left to shift for themselves, but continue to reside in the vicinity of, and 
even to occupy the same nests with, their parents till autumn. It has been 
asserted by several planters of Carolina, that this species has two broods 
during the season. 
The food of the Fox Squirrel is various ; besides acorns, and differ- 
ent kinds of nuts, its principal subsistence for many Weeks in autumn 
is the fruit extracted from the cones of the pine, especially the 
long-leaved pitch pine, {Pinus palustris.) Whilst the green corn is 
yet in its milky state, this Squirrel makes long journeys to visit 
the fields, and for the sake of convenience frequently builds a tempo- 
rary summer-house in the vicinity, in order to share with the little Caro- 
lina squirrel and the crow a portion of the delicacies and treasures of 
the husbandman ; where he is also exposed to the risks incurred by the 
thief and plunderer : for these fields are usually guarded by a gunner, and 
in this way thousands of squirrels are destroyed during the green corn 
season. The Fox Squirrel does not appear to lay up any winter stores — 
there appears to be no food in any of his nests, nor does he, like the red 
squirrel, {Sciurus hudsonius), resort to any hoai’ds which in the season of 
abundance were buried in the earth, or concealed under logs and leaves. 
During the winter season he leaves his retreat but seldom, and then only for 
a little while and in fine weather in the middle of the day. He has evidently 
the power, like the marmot and racoon, of being sustained for a consider- 
able length of time without much suffering in the absence of food. When 
this animal makes his appearance in winter, he is seen searching 
among the leaves where the wild turkey has been busy at woi-k, and 
gleaning the refuse acorns which have escaped its search ; at such times, 
also, this squirrel does not reject worms and insects which he may detect 
beneath the bark of fallen or decayed trees. Towards spring, he feeds on 
the buds of hickory, oak, and various other trees, as well as on several 
kinds of roots, especially the wild potato, {Ajnos tuberosa.) As the spring 
advances farther, he is a constant visitor to the black mulberry tree, 
(Morus rubra,) where he finds a supply for several weeks. From this 
time till winter, the fruits of the field and forest enable him to revel in 
abundance. 
Most other species of this genus when alarmed in the woods immediately 
betake themselves to the first convenient tree that presents itself, — not so 
