1 884-8 5-] Edinburgh Naturalists' Field Club. 259 



remember to have seen one jump from tlie summit of a tree to the 

 ground, a height of about forty feet. It was not in the least 

 stunned, as might have been expected, but ran off at once along 

 the ground. 



A very pleasing exhibition of parental affection and instinct of 

 the Squirrel on behalf of its young came under my notice a few 

 years ago. While proceeding along a footpath wliich led through 

 a wood, I observed one coming along the ground towards the path 

 a short distance in front of me. By its peculiar motion and slow 

 pace, I saw that there was an interruption to its progress, which 

 became manifest when it emerged from the grass and crossed the 

 path. It was carrying a young Squirrel in its mouth. Arriving 

 at the base of a good-sized tree, it began to ascend ; but to do so 

 while thus encumbered proved to be no easy matter. The diffi- 

 culty was, however, surmounted ; for when I got up to the tree and 

 obtained a near view of the pair, the old Squirrel had quitted its 

 hold, and the young one, with its fore-legs round its parent's neck, 

 clung closely to its breast. Thus relieved, the heroic creature very 

 soon reached the summit of the tree, crossed by leaps to several 

 others, and finally settled in a large Spruce Fir. A high wind, 

 which was blowing at the time, had most probably shaken the 

 young Squirrel from its nest. On another occasion, after a gale 

 in winter, a nest was found one morning on the ground, blown 

 from a tree, and on its being overturned a Squirrel bolted from it. 

 It may be imagined that the poor Squirrel was greatly dismayed 

 at the downfall of his habitation, but he showed commendable 

 coolness in retaining the benefit of its shelter as long as he could. 



Enjoying comparative immunity from attacks of predatory birds 

 and animals, having generally at all times a supply of food at hand 

 to meet his wants, and possessing powers which enable him to roam 

 and gambol at ease in his own peculiar haunts, the Squirrel seems 

 to pass a happy, joyous existence. Each creature has been provi- 

 dentially and benevolently endowed with instincts which are in 

 sympathy with its mode of life, but all have not capabilities alike 

 to enjoy the latter. In this respect the Squirrel seems to stand on 

 a higher pinnacle than many others. 



At this meeting Mr Grieve made a few extempore remarks on 

 the occurrence of the Pine-marten in Scotland. 



