THE TRUE SQUIRRELS 1247 



Italy. In the south of the latter country, and likewise in the Caucasus and the 

 Crimea, the squirrel is, however, quite unknown. 



Like other members of the genus, this species of squirrels is mainly 

 diurnal and arboreal in its habits, but seldom descending to the 

 ground, and when aloft leaping from bough to bough with surprising agility. The 

 extent of these flying leaps shows that the ' ' flight ' ' of the flying squirrels is but an 

 ultradevelopment of this mode of progression. Its chief food consists of nuts, beech 

 mast, bark, buds, and young shoots of trees; but there is evidence that it is also not 

 averse to a diet of birds' eggs, and perhaps insects. In feeding, all squirrels sit up 

 on their hind-quarters, and hold their food to their mouths with the fore-paws. The 

 shells of nuts are pierced by the sharp front teeth, and every fragment removed be- 

 fore the kernel is consumed. Stores of food are laid up by the common squirrel 

 for winter use, but instead of being deposited in a single place they are hidden in 

 several repositories. In England, and the whole of its more northerly habitat, the 

 squirrel partially hibernates during the winter, but it wakes up at intervals to feed 

 when the weather is mild, and again retires to slumber. Probably in more south- 

 ern regions it is active throughout the year, as are the species inhabiting the warmer 

 parts of the globe. Squirrels associate in pairs, apparently for life, and generally 

 frequent the same tree or clump of trees from year to year. The nest, or " drey," 

 in which the young are produced, is built either in the fork of a branch, or in some 

 hole of the stem of a tree, and is composed of leaves, moss, and fibres, carefully in- 

 tertwined. When placed in a fork, it so closely resembles the boughs in color that 

 its detection from below is difficult. In England, the blind and naked young are 

 born in June, and are usually three or four in number. They remain with their par- 

 ents till the following spring, and if captured at a sufficiently early age form docile and 

 affectionate pets. The squirrel can swim well, and its flesh is said to be good eating. 

 Squirrel fur is extensively used for boas, linings, and trimmings. The quan- 

 tity formerly exported to England was very great, the total number of skins in 

 1839 reaching 2,730,826; but of late years the exports have declined, the chief seat 

 of the industry in this fur being now in Germany. The darker bluish-gray skins 

 are the most valued, most of these being obtained from Okhotsk by the Alaska 

 Company, the number exported by that company to London being, according to 

 Mr. Poland, 43,235 in 1891, but it is sometimes double as many. 



In North America the place of the European species is taken by the 

 North- re( j S qui r rel, or chickari (S. hudsoniamii) , and the gray squirrel (S. 



mencan caro n nens i s \. the former frequenting forests of all kinds, while the lat- 

 Squirrels 



ter is chiefly restricted to those composed of deciduous trees. Dr. 



Hart Merriam, describing the habits of the red squirrel in the Adirondack moun- 

 tains, near New York, says that this species exhibits but little fear of man, and is 

 the least wary of all its tribe. It is on the alert from dawn to sunset, and some- 

 times, especially when there is a moon, continues its rambles throughout the night; 

 while whenever abroad it enlivens the solitudes of the forests with its continual 

 chatterings. " Though an expert climber, delighting in long leaps from bough to 

 bough, which he executes with grace and precision, he spends far more time on the 

 ground than the other arboreal squirrels, sometimes even making his home in holes 



