The Red Squirrel £5 
past. This bird has caused the hunters to lose many 
a good shot, not only at small game, but more par- 
ticularly at members of the deer family. 
But to go back to the chickaree. He is an expert 
on the subject of nuts, not only in selecting sound and 
good ones, but also in the manner and certainty with 
which he gets at the kernel. Concerning this accom- 
plishment John Burroughs writes as follows: “There 
is one thing that the red squirrel knows unerringly 
that I do not (there are probably several things); 
that is, on which side of the butternut the meat lies. 
He always gnaws through the shell so as to strike the 
kernel broadside, and thus easily extract it; while to 
my eyes there is no external mark or indication, in 
the form or appearance of the nut, as there is in the 
hickory-nut, by which I can tell whether the edge or 
the side of the meat is toward me. But examine any 
number of nuts that the squirrels have rifled, and, as 
a rule, you will find they always drill through the 
shell at the one spot where the meat will be most ex- 
posed. Occasionally one makes a mistake, but not 
often. It stands them in hand to know, and they 
do know. Doubtless, if butternuts were a main 
source of my food, and I were compelled to gnaw into 
them, I should learn, too, on which side my bread 
was buttered.” 
