Monograph of the Genus Sciurus, 309 



in the counties of Rensselaer and Queen's, New York. I have seen it 

 on the borders of Lake Champlain, at Ogdensburgh, and on the eastern 

 shores of Lake Erie ; also near Niagara, on the Canada side. The in- 

 dividual described by Dr. Richardson, and which may be clearly referred 

 to this species, was obtained by Capt. Bayfield at Fort William," on Lake 

 Superior. Black squirrels exist througli all our western wilds, and to the 

 northward of the great lakes; but whether they are of this species, or 

 the black variety of the grey squirrel, I have not had the means of de- 

 cidinor. 



r 



^* Habits. — An opportunity was afforded me many years since of noti- 

 cing the habits of this species in the northern parts of the state of New 

 York. A scat under the shadow of a rock, and near a stream of water, 

 was, for several successive summers, a favorite resort for retirement and 

 readmg. In the imnicdiule vicinity were several large trees, in which 

 were a number of holes, and from which, at almost every hour of the 

 day, were seen issuing this species of black squirrel. There seemed to 

 be a dozen of them; they were all of the same glossy black color; and 

 although the northern grey squirrel and its black variety were not rare in 

 that neighborhood, yet, during a period of five or six years T never wit- 

 nessed any other than the present species in that locality ; and recently, 

 after the lapse of twenty years, a specimen, from which the above de- 

 scription was in part drawn up, was sent to me, which had been procured 

 on that identical spot. They appeared to possess all the sprightliness of 

 the northern grey squirrel; — appearing to prefer valleys and swamps to 

 drier and more elevated situations : and I observed that one of their fa- 

 vorite trees, to which they retreated on hearing the slightest noise, was a 

 large white pine {Pinus Strobus), in the immediate vicinity. I was sur- 

 prised at sometimes seeing a red squirrel {Sciurus Hudsonius), which 

 seemed also to have given a preference to this tree, pursuing the black 

 squirrel, seeming to quarrel with and scold it vociferously, till the latter 

 was obliged to make its retreat. When the squirrels approached the 

 stream which ran within a few feet of my seat, they often stopped to 

 drink, and instead of lapping the water like the dog and cat, they pro- 

 truded their mouths a considerable distance into the stream, and drank 

 greedily ; they would afterwards sit upright, supported by the tarsus, and, 

 with tail erect, busy themselves for a quarter of an hour in wiping their 

 faces with their paws, the latter being also occasionally dipped in the 

 water. Their barking and other habits did not seem to differ from those 

 of the northern grey squirrel. 



" General Remarks, — I have admitted this as a true species, not so 

 much in accordance with my own positive conviction, as partly in defer- 

 ence to the opinions of all our naturalists, and principally from the con- 

 sideration that if it be no more than a variety, it has, by time and sue- 



