282 LOCH C RE RAN. 



his case there is no mistake. Quick as thought as he 

 progresses the tips of the little larch buds are nipped off, 

 now on the top, now on the side, and anon round on the 

 bottom. The movements as well as the occupation of the 

 creature are more that of a bird than of a quadruped, and 

 he clears branch after branch of larch with a dexterity 

 and persistence evidently born of long practice. Caught 

 in flagrante delicto, that is certain, my dear ! and, however 

 unwilling we are to declare your delinquency, we are sorry 

 to acknowledge that before you have filled your stomach 

 with such minute provender, and supplied the requisite 

 caloric to your active limbs, these keen days, you will 

 have retarded and weakened the growth of a considerable 

 number of trees to an appreciable extent. That you made 

 havoc of the fir-cones, and when hard-up ate a few young 

 fir sprouts, we were well aware, but that you made such 

 a wholesale onslaught on the coming vegetation of the 

 firs we were scarcely prepared to find. It is clear in a 

 winter when all fruit is extremely scarce, such a large 

 population of squirrels as now inhabit our woods must do 

 a serious amount of injury. 



We formerly discussed the question as to whence the 

 squirrels came, and how they reached our isolated locality, 

 now about five years ago. It seems they have long been 

 located strongly at Inverawe, amid the beautiful woods 

 near the mouth of the river Awe, at the other side of 

 Loch Etive ; and it is quite possible that many may have 

 crossed the loch when it was frozen over a few miles 

 above, during some of these severe winters. This seems 

 to us the most likely supposition, as the years they 

 appeared were severe enough to enable them to adopt 

 this mode of emigration, without resorting to the " piece 

 of bark with tail for sail " that is so frequently brought 



