1 88 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



heard rustling about in the interior as they make 

 and remake their bed. When making their toilet, 

 these animals groom the tail by passing it quickly 

 through the paws, the mouth working on it at the 

 same time. Provost's squirrel, in spite of its charming 

 exterior, is a sad bully, A large well-grown indi- 

 vidual, which was kept with a pair of smaller ones 

 subsequently purchased, used to tease the. new arri- 

 vals most unmercifully, seizing hold of their tails and 

 biting them about the lips and head. These tiresome 

 animals also tormented a small mouse-deer, or chev- 

 rotain, that shared the same cage. A day or two 

 after its arrival, the unfortunate chevrotain was found 

 with its ears bitten and bleeding; it was also paralysed 

 in the hind legs. Although this is an injury to 

 which these little creatures are particularly subject in 

 confinement, in the present instance the animal had 

 doubtless been terrified by the squirrels, and, dashing 

 violently about the cage, had received injuries which 

 a few days later terminated in death. 



A single pair of prevosti kept together without 

 any cagemates are affectionate enough, smoothing 

 each other's fur just as tiny foreign finches dress 

 each other's plumage. At meal times, however, this 

 mutual regard may undergo a severe strain. If both 

 seize the same banana they wrest it from each 

 other's jaws, gripping it firmly and squealing in shrill 

 cadence. Provost's squirrel soon becomes tame 

 enough to eat from its owner's hand, and if allowed 



