IN FEATHERS AND FUR. 
15 
y neat door under the roots of some tree or a fallen trunk. I 
lk it will trouble you to get in, for the door is about as big as an 
auger-hole. However, if you could go in, you'd go down slanting a 
little way, and then come into about the cosiest room you ever saw. 
It is carpeted and 
lined all over with 
moss or dry leaves, 
and is as warm, and 
soft and nice as the 
daintiest squirrel 
could wish. H i s 
store-room is just out 
of his parlor, and has 
a sort of earthen 
shelf, where he packs 
away his winter food. 
In the picture the 
ground is cut away 
to show you the lit- 
tle home, its long 
halls, its store-rooms 
and the nursery full 
of babies. While in 
the fore-ground Mr. 
and Mrs. Tamias are 
out after their dinner. 
Some squirrels 
sleep all winter, and 
need no food, but this little fellow is too lively for that. When the 
winds and snow of winter make it unpleasant to go out, Mr. 
Squirrel and his wife and babies — if his children haven't all set up 
house-keeping for themselves — retire to the cozy home, and spend 
a quiet winter, with plenty to eat. You may think such a life 
would be rather dull, without books and other amusements, but you 
know the highest delight of an animal is plenty of food and a com- 
fortable bed. In the country, where beech-nuts grow, these little 
fellows often lay up their whole store of them. When T was a 
child, I had a present from a country boy of half a bushel of beech- 
nuts, all beautifully shelled, ready to eat, that were taken from one 
of the storekeepers' nests. 
