224 MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS SCIURUS. 



cribing to the squirrel a higher degree of physical and surgi- 

 cal knowledge than is possessed by any other quadruped. — 

 From the observations I have been enabled to make, I have 

 been led to believe that the error has originated from the fact 

 that those parts in the male which in one season are greatly 

 enlarged, are in the other equally diminished, and that in 

 young males especially, they are drawn into the pelvis by the 

 contraction of the muscle. As a proof of this, a friend, who 

 was a strenuous believ r er in this spiteful propensity ascribed 

 to the squirrel, was induced to test the inquiry by an exami- 

 nation of a suitable number of specimens. He obtained in a 

 few weeks upwards of thirty males ; —in none of these had 

 this mutilation taken place. Two however out of this num- 

 ber were triumphantly brought forward as evidences of the 

 truth of the doctrine ; on examination it appeared that these 

 were young animals, with the organs perfect, but concealed in 

 the manner above stated. 



It is generally believed that this species lays up a great 

 hoard of food as a winter supply ; it may however be reason- 

 ably doubted whether they are so provident in this respect. 

 The trees in which they conceal themselves in winter are fre- 

 quently cut down, and no supply of provisions is ever found 

 in their nests. In following their tracks in the snow they can- 

 not be traced to any hoards buried in the ground. I have 

 moreover observed them during a warm day in winter coming 

 from great distances into the open fields, in search of a few 

 dry hickory nuts which were still left suspended on the trees ; 

 if provisions had been laid up nearer home, they would hardly 

 have undertaken these long journeys, or exposed themselves 

 to so much danger in procuring a precarious supply. In fact 

 this species, in cold climates, seldom leaves its nest in win- 

 ter, except in a warm sunny day ; and in this state of inacti- 

 vity and partial torpidity, it requires but little food. 



This squirrel feeds upon the various nuts, seeds, and grain 

 which are periodically sought for by all the species of this 

 genus, but it seems to prefer the shell-bark (Carya alba) and 

 the several species of hickory, to any other kind of food. — 

 Even when the nuts are so green as to afford scarcely any 

 nourishment, the northern grey squirrel is seen gnawing off 

 the thick epidermis, which drops to the ground like rain, and 

 then, with its lower incisors, makes a small linear opening in 

 the thinnest part of the shell, immediately over the kernel. — 

 When this part has been extracted it proceeds to another, 

 till in an incredibly short space of time, the nut is cut longi- 

 tudinally on its four sides, and the whole kernel secured, leav- 

 ing the portions of the hard shell untouched. Were, however, 



