146 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
the hawk. Nothing, in our native ornithology, can 
be more beautiful than the plumage of the jay: 
while its very wildness and discordance is in har- 
mony with the loneliness of the tangled woods it 
loves to frequent. The sudden and sharp cry of the 
green woodpecker is of a similar character ; and the 
sound of its bill “ tapping the hollow beech tree” is 
interesting and poetical. The squirrel, again, is the 
gayest and the prettiest enlivener of our woodland 
scenery ; and, in its amazing leaps, shows us an ex- 
ample —unrivalled among our native quadrupeds — 
of agility and gracefulness. Yet these peaceful 
denizens of our woods are destroyed and exter- 
minated, from sheer ignorance of the most unques- 
tionable facts in their history. The jay, indeed, is 
said to suck eggs ; but this is never done except in 
a scarcity of insect food, which rarely, if ever, hap- 
pens. The woodpecker lives entirely upon those 
insects which destroy trees, and is, therefore, one of 
the most efficient preservers of our plantations; 
while the squirrel feeds exclusively on fruits and 
nuts. To suppose that either of these are prejudicial 
to the eggs or the young of partridges and pheasants, 
would be just as reasonable as to believe that goat- 
suckers milked cows, or that hedgehogs devoured 
poultry. It is surely desirable that right notions 
should be had on such things, and that by an ac- 
quaintance with the most common facts of natural 
history, our few remaining native animals should be 
preserved from wanton and useless destruction. « If 
natural history can teach us nothing more than hu- 
manity towards such inoffensive creatures, a little 
attention to it would not be misplaced. 
