sciuRUs mnsoxirs. 117 



about to fall, but I never knew even one of the )ounL^sters to lose 

 his hold. On these occasions they were always silent. I have 

 also seen them, in June, in the act of eating" the leaf-stems of the 

 sugar niaple (/leer saeeharinuui), to which habit ni)- attention was 

 directed by observing- the frecjuent dropping- of green leaves to the 

 ground.* 



The propensity to suck the eggs and destroy the young of our 

 smaller birds is the worst trait of the Red Squirrel, and is in itself 

 sufficient reason for his extermination, at least about the habitations 

 of man. I have myself known him to rob the nests of the red-eyed 

 vireo, chipping sparrow, robin, Wilson's thrush, and ruffed grouse, 

 and doubt not that thousands of eggs are annually sacrificed, in 

 the Adirondack region alone, to gratif)' this appetite. Therefore, 

 when abundant, as he always is during the springs that follow good 

 nut years, his influence in checking the increase of our insectivorous 

 birds can hardly be overestimated. 



Dr. A. K. Fisher informs me that on three occasions he has 

 known these Squirrels to destroy young robins. In the first 

 instance he heard the old birds making a great outcry near his 

 home at Sing Sing, and on going to ascertain the reason found a 

 Red Squirrel in the act of devouring a young robin. /\ well- 

 directed stone caused him to drop the bird, which was found with 

 its head cut into and the brains eaten. One wing and both feet 

 had also been eaten. The details of the other cases are much the 

 same. In one instance the Squirrel returned several times to the 

 nest and carried off all the young.f . 



* Mr. E. P. Bicknell writes me from his home at Riverdale, New York : "On our place they 

 feed through the winter and early spring on the flower-buds of the white maple {^Aci'r dasycarpin/i). 

 Often several are to be seen perched among the leafless and bud-besprinkled branches about the 

 top of one of these trees, scattering the snow below with fragments of the red buds and even entire 

 twigs whicli later would have become sprays of blossoms and fruit." 



f Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, in his valuable paper upon the Birds of the Hudson Highlands, states : 

 " Among the Robin's worst enemies may be ranked the Red Squirrels {Sdurus Hudsomus), for, 

 though their young are subject to the attacks of Crows, Jays, and particularly to the ravages of the 

 Hlack Snake (Bascanioit coiistricfor), yet none of these enemies inflict as much injury as the 

 Sijuirrels, because, not only do ihev seek out and devour the eggs, but the young are also eaten," 



