229 



THE RED OR COMMON SQUIRREL. 



Sciurus vulgaris. LINN. 



PLATE XXI. 



Brownish-red, minutely mottled with grey above, white 

 beneath ; ears tufted ; tail very bushy, brownish-red, the 

 hairs distichous beneath ; feet light-red. 



Sciurus vulgaris. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. &6 ; Desmar. Mammal, 

 330 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. Anim. 29; Bell, Brit. Quadr. 291. 



THE Red Squirrel, the only species of this ex- 

 tensive genus found in Britain, is one of the most 

 beautiful and lively of our indigenous quadrupeds. 

 Its form is compact, its body being of moderate 

 length, rather full, with the back usually arched ; 

 the neck short and thick; the head of moderate 

 size, with the fore part flattened, the nose promi- 

 nent, the lips broad ; the ears of moderate size ; the 

 eyes large and prominent ; the anterior limbs of 

 ordinary length, and muscular, with four slender 



