M onthly B ull e tin 7 



OUR GRAY SQUIRREL IN ENGLAND. 



That our gray squirrel, imported, is not liked in England may be 

 gathered from letters written to various papers there concerning the animal. 

 Its tendency to drive away or destroy other small animals, particularly 

 birds, not always marked here, seems to be accentuated there. The Royal 

 Society for the Protection of Birds thus refers to it: 



The doom of the gray North American squirrel has been pronounced 

 by Sir Frederick Treves in the Observer, backed by Sir Harry Johnston in 

 the Weekly Despatch, and also by Mr. W. H. Hudson in the Devon and 

 Exeter Gazette. It is undoubtedly an attractive little creature to the multi- 

 tude owing to its tameness, and when first liberated in London parks it 

 became a speedy favorite. But unhappily it soon spread to places like Kew 

 Gardens and Richmond Park, where our fascinating native red squirrel has 

 its rightful home, and the small native disappeared before the bigger and 

 stronger alien. "Where he establishes himself," writes Mr. Hudson, who 

 found the gray species liberated in the Rougemont Gardens at Exeter, "he 

 exterminates the small wild bird life in the woods and hedges, as he greedily 

 devours the eggs and fledglings and tears down the nests." "It may be a 

 pretty thing to see him taking peanuts from the hands of little children," 

 adds Mr. Hudson; "and it may be amusing to see him chase off the robins 

 that (in spite of Lord Devonport) try for their expected share of visitors' 

 crumbs in the Park; but his misdemeanors among bird and plant life, as 

 well as his mastery of his daintier cousin, have brought upon him notice 

 to quit." 



The English red squirrel is a gentle, friendly little chap and should 

 not be confused with our American red squirrel, which is a weasel-like 

 creature, far more destructive to the lives of birds and other small creatures 

 than the gray. 



WAR AND THE OSTRICH. 



The stringent laws prohibiting the use of the plumage of certain wild 

 birds as ornaments resulted a few years ago in a great revival of interest 

 in ostrich plumes and the industry of ostrich raising soon assumed import- 

 ance, especially in South Africa, where abundant pasturage for the big 

 birds was available. So great was the demand for ostrich feathers that 

 breeding ostriches sold for as much as S500 per pair, and white feathers 

 brought as much as $120 to $140 per pound in the market at Cape Town. 

 Now, according to consular reports, the industry is sadly waning. The most 

 perfect, selected white feathers are a drug in the market at from $30 to $60 

 per pound. As the result, many of the great South African ostrich farmers 

 will be ruined. But this is only the result of the changing fashions, which, 

 in this instance, are probably largely influenced by the war. 



