34 The Irish Naturalist. April, 



accident) in any of the other woods with which the neigh- 

 bourhood is fairly well stocked. 



The trees of this old wood are of the species that probably 

 compose nearly all the old natural forests of Ireland — 

 chiefly Oak and Birch, with some Aspens, and a flourishing 

 undergrowth of Hazel, Holly, Blackthorn and Guelder- 

 Rose, with Willow {Salix cinerea) and Alder in the damper 

 parts. Ash is almost, though not entirely absent ; the 

 Mountain-Ash turns up here and there, and this probably 

 completes the list. There are, of course, no conifers ; the 

 Beech is also a conspicuous absentee. 



Squirrels first made their appearance at Ballyhyland 

 (which is less than a mile distant from Killoughrim) in the 

 summer of 1890, and within a very few years became so 

 abundant that one could scarcely pass through a plantation 

 anywhere in the neighbourhood without seeing or hearing 

 several, while the marks of their feeding were still more 

 constantly in evidence. I rem.ember on one occasion 

 (November 4th, 1901) counting forty in sight together 

 all on the ground, apparently seeking fungi. 



There was only one wood in all the surrounding country 

 in which I never saw them ; and that was the old Forest 

 of Killoughrim, of which they steadfastly refused to take 

 possession. 



It must be admitted that the forest contained plenty 

 of feeding tlmt might have been thought attractive enough 

 to Squirrels. It was almost the only w^ood in the neigh- 

 bourhood in which hazel-nuts wxre abundant ; acorns 

 were nowhere else to be had in anything like the same 

 quantity, and toadstools of many kinds were as plentiful 

 as Squirrels could wish, while of such minor dainties as 

 berries and oak-galls, readily eaten in most of the other 

 woods, there was no lack. But the absence of Pine, Fir, 

 Larch and Beech would seem to have decided the Squirrels 

 to have absolutely nothing to do with the one bit of real 

 old Irish woodland that presented itself to their choice. 

 Every other grove — almost every bit of timbered ground — 

 had its attractions ; but Killoughrim the^^ would not enter. 

 And yet it is in woods almost identical in character with 

 Killoughrim that the old Irish Squirrels must be presumed 



