The Burgess Animal Book for Children

himself. Peter was quite out of breath because he had hurried s

ght Peter had suddenly gone crazy. "What are you talking about,

Squirrel family. Old Mother Nature says so, and if she says so, it is so. You'd b

Peter were telling the truth as to what Old Mother Nature had said, it must be true that he was m

family, and all the surprising things Old Mother Nature had told them about the Squirrel family, and he

say. Peter didn't waste much time arguing for he was afraid he would be late and miss something. When he reached the Green Forest he found his cousin, Jumper

may tell us all you know ab

Chipmunk, and that means that he is less than half as big as myself. His coat is red and his waistcoat white; his tai

e in the trees than I do," continued Happy Jack, "and is especially fond of pine trees and other cone-bearing trees. He likes the deeper parts of the Green F

m the trees just before they are ripe. Then they ripen and open on the ground, where he can get at the seeds easily. He often has a number of store-houses and stores up cone seeds, acorns, nuts, and corn when he can get it. He builds a nest of leaves and strips o

en you have the chance, which i

dent fellow of the Green Forest, and never so happy as when he is making trouble for others. He sauces and scolds everybody he meets, and every time he opens his mouth he jerks his tail. He's quarrelsome. Worse than that

Peter Rabbit almost expected to see him break it right off. He called Happy Jack names, all the bad names he cou

ck has said about you is true. In many ways you are a disgrace to the Green Forest. Still I don't know how the Green Forest could get along without you. Happy Jack forgot to menti

did not dare disobey Old Mother Nature. "I

bad about me either," ret

rning hand. "That will do," sa

it is to keep them warm in cold weather. He builds a nest very much like mine. Sometimes it is in a hollow tree, but quite as often it is in the branches of a tree. He is a good traveler in the tree-tops, but he spends a good deal of his time on the ground. He likes open woodland best, especially where there are many nut trees. He has a storehouse where he stores up nuts for wi

, and I don't take them unless I am very hungry and can't find anything else. I don't make a business of robbing birds the way you do, and you know it. If

ousins never have agreed and I am afraid never will. As long as you are neighbors, I

ce of this. "What you have told us is good as far as it goes," said she. "You said that Happy Jack is all gray excepting underneath

up with astonishment. "How can a Gr

embers of Happy Jack's family. Just remember this. It is the same way in the family of Rusty the Fox Squirrel. Some members are rusty red, some are a mixture of red and gray, and some are as gray as Happy Jack himself. Way down in the Sunny South Fox Squirrels always have white noses and ears. In the North they never have white noses and ears. Rusty the Fox Squirrel is just a little bigger than Happy Jack and has just such a handsome tail. He is the strong

not dig up sprout in the spring and grow. In that way they plant ever so many trees without knowing it. Just remember that, Chatterer, the next time you are tempted to

true Red Squirrel and whose habits are very much like your own. Some folks call him the Pine Squirrel.

didn't know it. "Certainly I can swim," said Chatterer. "I don't

he fact that a cousin of his own was a good swimmer, and

Tree Squirrels?" as

e is called the Abert Squirrel and the other the Kaibab Squirrel. They are about the size of Happy Jack and Rusty but have broader, handsomer tails and their ears have long tufts of hair. The Abert Squirrel has

er Nature dismissed