52 The Irish Naturalist, May, 



Squirrel caused when it first showed itself at Fassaroe, near 

 Bray, in 1861, and when it was mistaken for a Weasel. 

 Although it is now common all about the Enniskerry 

 and Bray districts, many people still persist in calling it 

 a " Weasel." Only a short while ago I was told by a local 

 Wicklow farmer that he had noticed a Weasel running across 

 the road. When I said to him " Are you sure you know 

 a Weasel when you see one ? " he replied, " Don't I know^ 

 the bushy tail of him." Mr. Barrington was aware that 

 Rutty^ stated in 1772 that the Squirrel was said to occur 

 in Luttrelstown in the County Dublin, and that O 'Flaherty^ 

 in 1684 mentioned it as inhabiting WesX Connaught, but 

 he regarded these statements as erroneous. 



In the last issue of Barrett -Hamilton and Hinton's 

 excellent monograph on the British mammals, "^ the Squirrel 

 is very fully dealt with. The authors look upon the British 

 Squirrel as distinct from the continental form and apply 

 to it the term " Light-tailed Squirrel " [Sciiiriis lencurus). 

 The Irish Squirrel is not believed to be distinct from the 

 British, but this matter to my knowledge has not yet been 

 thoroughly investigated. It is possible that there may 

 be two distinct races or varieties of Squirrels in Ireland, 

 one being the descendants of the introductions referred to 

 and the other a survival of the ancient Irish Squirrel. For 

 it must be mentioned at once that there can no longer 

 be any reasonable doubt about the Squirrel having been 

 a native of Ireland long before the modern introductions 

 took place. 



The authors of the work mentioned give ample historical 

 references to the former occurrence of the Squirrel in this 

 country and most of these w^ere apparently supplied by 

 the well-known Irish archaeologist, Mr. T. J. Westropp. 

 In the thirteenth century a tax on Squirrel skins was levied, 

 and there are records of such taxes from the whole island 

 except the north and north-west. The fur of the Squirrel 



2 Rutty, John; "Natural History of the County Dublin." 2 vols., 

 1772. 



3 O' Flaherty : H'lar Connaught. 1684. 



^ Barrett-Hamilton and Hinton : "A History of British Mammals." 

 London, 19 10 and onward. 



