35 



this family live mostly on trees, their long flexible toes with acute 

 nais enabling them to leap from tree to tree, and tliey very rarely miss 

 their licld. They feed principally on vegetable productions, such as 

 nuts, seed, grain, etc. We cannot but know from the above descrip- 

 tion that our little rodent is a member of the Sciuridtz or Squirrel 

 family. 



The family of Squirrels is widely disseminated, Australia, Mada- 

 gascar, New Zealand and the West India Islands being almost the only 

 places where they are not found. According to Bachman about forty 

 different species have been desct'ibed, eighteen of which are natives of 

 North America. Other Naturalists put the number of species at a 

 much higher figure. Jordan, in his '-'Vertebrates of North America," 

 states that the number of species is not so great as was at first sup- 

 posed, many of the so called species being simply varieties. The Black 

 and Gray Squirrels are now considered to be the same species. 



In the neighborhood of Ottawa five different kinds of Squirrels 

 have been seen ; only two of these are very common, namely, the 

 Common Red Squirrel {Sciurus Hudsonius) and the Chipmunk or 

 Ground Squirrel {T'amias striatus). 



The Red Squirrel is of a dark brownish red along the back 

 gradually turning lighter as we approach the sides ; the cheeks 

 are grey and all beneath is white. In some individua's a black 

 line runs from the shoulders along the flank immediately above the 

 white, the tail is of a rusty brown with black hairs on the borders, on 

 the under side it is lighter in color along the middle and grows darker 

 on the outer edges. The length of the head and body is about eight 

 inches and the bony part of the tail about five inches, and including the 

 fur it is between six and seven inches. 



The Red Squirrel is a noisy little animal, and makes several 

 distinct sounds expressive of its likes and dislikes. When hunted, so 

 long as it feels that there is danger, it keeps veiy quiet, but the moment it 

 feels that a place of safety has been reached it makes a quick, short and 

 squeaky bark as much as to say the danger is past. If the supposed place 

 of safety should be a tree it will ascend liigh enough to be faiidy out of 

 the reach of its pursuers, and perching itself upon a branch with its tail 



