For a cheery companion give me the red squirrel! I enter the woods and there the little fellow is, ready to welcome me. "What a fine day it is for gathering nuts!" he seems to say, and straightway, as I listen to his merry chatter, I think it is a fine day for any sport that includes him and the brown November woods. Young naturalists may think it is a difficult thing to become acquainted with red squirrels, but you will often find them willing to be sociable if you show them a little kindness. I have many times watched two or three squirrels playing about a friend as she sat in her garden. They seemed to find her nearly as interesting as the old pine tree near by. They are inquisitive animals. "How did you tame them?" I asked. "I fed them occasionally," she replied. "At first I put some nuts on the grass several feet away from me. Then I gradually placed a tempting meal nearer and nearer until the little fellows seemed to lose all fear of me." If we care to, you and I, we can learn a great deal about red squirrels before another year has passed. If you live on a farm you should know the habits of all the wild creatures about you. You can then be just to them, and decide whether or not you can afford to let them continue to be tenants on your farm. You will find that all of them have interesting lives. THE RED SQUIRREL. A. B. C. Just a tawny glimmer, A dash of red and gray,-- Is it a flitting shadow, Or a sunbeam gone astray? [Illustration: _Fig. 322. In the haunts of the red squirrel._] It glances up a tree trunk, And from some branch, I know A little spy in ambush Is measuring his foe. I hear his mocking chuckle; In wrath he waxes bold, And stays his pressing business To scold and scold and scold. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RED SQUIRREL. 1. What is the color of the red squirrel? Is he really red? Is his entire coat of one color? Does he wear different colors in winter and summer? 2. Did you ever see a red squirrel's nest? If so, describe it. 3. Does the red squirrel hibernate; that is, does he sleep all winter as the chipmunk does? 4. What does a red squirrel eat? Did you ever see him getting the winged seeds out of a pitch pine cone? 5. Do you believe a squirrel ever planted an oak? Give a reason. 6. If you live in the country, you have seen red squirrels running on the rail fences. Why do they like rail fences? Do you see them so often on other kinds of fences? 7. Notice the tracks made in the snow in winter woods. Try to find whether the red squirrel's is among them. 8. If you know any other kinds of squirrels, tell how they differ from the red squirrel. LEAFLET LXIV. ROBIN.[82] BY L. H. BAILEY. [82] Introduction printed in Junior Naturalist Monthly, March, 1901. [Illustration]