110 CARE OF THE YOUNG. 



inconvenient. One in the possession of Sir John 

 Jameson, used to slip into the dining-parlour, when- 

 ever the door was a-jar, and gravely take his station 

 behind his master's chair, or that of a guest, giving 

 the individual whom he thus honoured, an admoni- 

 tory kick every now and then, if he failed to help 

 him when requested. 



Persons who have been accustomed to observe the 

 wonderful adaptation of birds and animals to the 

 sites they occupy, would readily assign the kanguroo 

 to an open and champaign, or to an hilly and un- 

 wooded country, where he could bound at will. For 

 the creature rather leaps than runs, and would con- 

 sequently require a free and open path- way. Squir- 

 rels, on the contrary, are generally found in woods; 

 they bound from branch to branch, and run nimbly 

 up the smooth and slippery trunks of lofty trees. 

 The forests are their home, and they often travel on 

 the branches over a great extent of country without 

 descending to the ground. Moles and armadilloes 

 burrow in the earth ; the one is found in meadows 

 where the ground is easily excavated ; the other on 

 sandy plains, where no resistance is presented to 

 their subterraneous labours. These are a few among 

 innumerable instances of remarkable assignment to 

 different localities ; others, which might be traced 

 in our daily walks, would surely furnish many in- 

 teresting subjects for thought and conversation, were 

 we accustomed to observe attentively the objects by 

 which we are surrounded. 



"We are unacquainted with any particulars rela- 

 tive to the general habits of the Phaseolomys and 

 the Koola, excepting that the first is clumsy in her 



