1 38 SQUIRREL. 



There is, perhaps, no class of animals, with which 

 so many pleasing associations are connected as the 

 Squirrel, that glad-hearted and rejoicing creature, 

 which lives on trees, and seems an emblem of 

 sprightliness and innocence. The sight of him re- 

 calls to mind the beauty and repose of woodland 

 scenery, the rivulet that leaps sparkling from some 

 broken crag, the trees that droop and bend across 

 the stream, and that wild voice which comes mel- 

 lowed, as it breaks upon the traveller's ear, from 

 amid innumerable leaves and branches. Such is 

 the Squirrel's favourite haunt, in our own green 

 woods; and such, also, in every part of the known 

 world. Wherever the forest boughs are thick, and 

 the waters flash and sparkle, there is he seen to 

 roam free and unrestrained with his kindred. We 

 have spoken elsewhere of the European species, and 

 now those of the Transatlantic States must detain 

 us a few moments. But who that has not watched 

 and waited, in their own beautiful retreats, may 

 reckon the vast numbers that extend from the 

 remotest boundaries of South America, to the 

 furthest north, or tell them in order by their names? 

 There is the Masked Squirrel and the Black, the 

 Red-bellied, Side-marked, and River, Large- tailed, 

 Flying, Mexican, and Georgian, the Petaurus, and 

 Guerlinquet, with innumerable others, concerning 

 which no particulars have reached us. f 



The Gray, or Carolina (Sciurus cinereus), differs 

 little, if at all, in his specific character, from his 

 playful relatives of the ancient world. Gay and 

 vivacious, he has all the customs of the common 

 European Squirrel. While running at the utmost 



