SHUFELDT 



COMMOX FORMS OF ANIMAL LIFE 



59 



where one's home is. There may be upwards of a thousand differ- 

 ent species and subspecies of squirrels in the world's fauna; 

 but the young student, living in Maine, Florida, Utah, or 

 Oregon — there are different kinds of squirrels in all of these 

 States — will be doing very well if perfectly familiar with the 

 general characters of the family, with the special ones, and with the 



Fig. io — California Quail 



names of the animals of that group in his or her own particular 

 neighborhood. 



We may take our much-beloved little red squirrel of the eastern 

 temperate region of the country as an example (Fig. 9) . It belongs 

 among the true squirrels; that is, it is a rodent of the family 

 Sciuridcr, and of the genus Sciurus. It is well to know that, 

 associated in the same family, in the United States, we have many 

 more true squirrels like it, as well as a perfect host of ground 

 squirrels, more or less nearly allied to our common chipmunk. 



