12 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. 



waged against it. In Pennsylvania an old law existed 

 offering threepence a head for every squirrel destroyed, 

 and in 1749 the enormous sum of 8000/, was paid out of 

 the treasury for the destruction of these depredators. 

 The extensive migrations which are undertaken by this 

 sj)ecies, either from a scarcity of food or from some other 

 inexplicable cause, have often excited not only wonder, 

 but apprehension. They generally take place in autumn, 

 but by no means with regularity. It would appear that 

 in the far north-west multitudes congregate in different 

 districts, forming scattered troops, which all bend their 

 way instinctively in an eastern direction, collecting into 

 larger bodies as they proceed ; neither mountains nor 

 rivers stop their progress : onward they come, a devour- 

 ing army, laying waste the corn and wheat fields of the 

 farmer ; and as their numbers are thinned by the gun, 

 others fill up the ranks : few, perhaps none, ever return 

 westvk-ardly ; those that escape the carnage take up their 

 abode in the forests of their newly-explored country. 

 The gray squirrel has many enemies ; the fox, the lynx, 

 the weasel, hawks, and owls arc all eager to seize it : 

 when attacked by the red-tailed hawk, its most formid- 

 able foe, it is amusing to see the skill and dexterity ex- 

 ercised by both, in the attack, and in the defence; often, 

 indeed, the squirrel, by dodging and twisting round the 

 branches and large limbs of the tree, foils and wears out 

 his antagonist ; when, however, a pair of hawks combine, 

 the squirrel has no chance. 



The Malabar Squirrel (^Sciurus maximus). 



Of the Indian squirrels, one of the finest is the Ma- 

 labar squirrel, measuring fourteen or fifteen inches in the 

 length of the head and body, and somewhat more in that 

 of its full bushy tail. (Fig. 2.) This species is found 

 in Malabar, and also in Ceylon. Like the rest of its 

 tribe, it is eminently arboreal, tenanting the summits of 

 palm-trees, and feeding to a great extent upon the cocoa- 

 nut, to the milk of which it is said to be very partial. 

 We have seen several specimens in captivity. They 



