SCIURUS CAROLINENSIS LEUCOTIS. 121 



SCIURUS CAROLINENSIS LEUCOTIS (Cimdm) Alien. 

 Gray Squirrel ; Black Squirrel. 



The Gray Squirrel has no hking- for forests of coniferous ever- 

 greens, and is, conse(|uently, of extremely rare occurrence in the 

 central area of the Adirondacks. He is common enough, however, 

 in the hardwood groves along the boi:ders of the region, varying in 

 numbers from year to year according to the ab'mdance or scarcity of 

 the nut supply/'' 



The immortal Humboldt, in his AnsicJitcu dcr Natur, asks : " Who 

 is there that does not feel himself differently affected beneath the 

 embowering shade of the beechen grove, or on hills crowned with a 

 few scattering pines, or in the tiowering meadow where the breeze 

 murmurs through the trembling foliage of the birch ? A feeling of 

 melancholy, or of solemnity, or of light buoyant animation is in turn 

 awakened by the contemplation of our native trees. This influence 

 of the physical on the moral world — this mysterious reaction of the 

 sensuous on the ideal, gives to the study of nature, when considered 

 from a higher point of view, a peculiar charm which has not hitherto 

 been sufficiently recognized." f 



This meditation of Humboldt's leads me to suggest that causes 

 which have exerted so marked an influence upon the dispersion, 

 mental culture, and disposition of the various races of mankind have 



* For more than forty miles the valley of the Black River extends along, and parallel to, the 

 western border of the Adirondack region, and the fact is of local interest that this river valley con- 

 stitutes, throughout a great part of its course, the dividing line between the area inhabited and that 

 uninhabited by the Gray Squirrel. While this animal is abundant in the hardwood groves west of 

 the river, it is of rare or casual occurrence on the eastern side. Many hunters and guides who have 

 spent almost their whole lives in the Wilderness tell me that they have never seen a Gray Squirrel 

 in the interior of the Adirondacks. In the course of their irregular migrations, however, isolated 

 stragglers do sometimes occur there. James Higby informs me that he saw one near Copper Lake 

 many years ago, and another near the old Arnold clearing. In September and early October, 1882, 

 they invaded the region in unusual numbers. About the middle of September, of that year, 

 E. L. Sheppard caught one that was swimming across 2d Lake, Fulton Chain, and a few days later 

 one was seen in the water near the head of Big Moose Lake. Garrie Riggs caught one swimming 

 in 4th Lake, Fulton Chain, about Sept. 25th ; C. Wood saw one on the outlet of this lake, Wayne 

 Bissell another on 2d Lake, and Ned. Ball killed one between Moose River and the Forge. 



f Hohn's translation, 1850, p. 2ig. 



