CATALOGUE OF VERTEBRATES. 499 



" Not at all abundant. Prefers moist land, and is more fre- 

 quently found burrowing in the banks of streams than elsewhere. 

 Does not differ materially in its habits from the more common 

 species. Is more frequently met with in the central than the 

 northern or southern sections of the State." 



Order RODENTIA. 



Family SCIURID^. 



Squirrels. 



" ' The true squirrel is arboreal. His home is in the trees, and his 

 legitimate food their fruits and buds. Should he go to the ground, 

 it is only in search of food ; and this obtained, he returns to his airy 

 dwelling-place. Here in summer he builds him a nest of leaves, 

 taken from the branches at hand, and in a hole in the same tree, or 

 in one that he can attain by springing from branch to branch without 

 going to the ground, he has a more secure retreat, to which he can 

 retire during inclement weather, or escape the attacks of an enemy, 

 and in which the young are generally reared. 



" ' This class of squirrels possesses a muscular but light and graceful 

 form, with the toes long and the nails strong and sharp, by which 

 they are enabled to climb trees and take long leaps among the 

 branches with wonderful ease. In these leaps, they are also aided by 

 their large and bushy tails, which serve as rudders to steer by. They 

 use their fore feet as hands, seizing their food with them, and stand 

 upon their hind feet when eating. Oa the ground they either run or 

 move by springs made mainly by the hind legs. Unlike most of the 

 order, they move about by day, and keep in their retreats at night, to 

 which they also retire for a few hours during the middle of the day. 

 Though their food is properly vegetable, squirrels are known to eat 

 insects. By a slighter departure from their natural food, they exhibit 

 a fondness for corn, and more rarely wheat and other grains, which is 

 highly prejudicial to their good standing in a community of farmers. 

 In fact, these animals are much more injurious than is generally 

 known.' — Kennicott. So far as the latter clauses of the above 



