712 S Q U I 



THE COMMON SQUIRREL (5. vulgaris}. There is 

 perhaps no animal which has stronger claims to being 

 a native of every country of Europe than this one ; 

 for, with the exception of the English " squirrel," and 

 the French ecureuil, which are both obviously derived 

 from theGreek, it has an original name in almost every 

 part of Europe, at least where any vestige of an original 

 language is retained, which is not a character that 

 can be given either to the English or the French. It 

 may not be amiss to mention one or two of these 

 names, because it will be perceived that, though they 

 differ considerably, there is something very expres- 

 sive of quickness of motion in the sound of each and 

 all of them. The Gaelic name is Fcoragh, which 

 means hurry or bustle; the Welch is Gwiwair ; the 

 Germans call it Eikhorn, and the Swedes I/corn, 

 which are obviously the same word ; the Slavonians 

 and Bohemians, and also the natives of the mountains 

 to the south of the Lower Danube, call it Wewerka, 

 which sounds something like the Welch ; but the 

 Hungarians call it Eart ; the tribes near the Ural 

 mountains call it Ur, the Finlanders Arorva, and the 

 Laplanders Arre ; the names given by the Asiatic 

 tribes are different from any of these, Kerma is the 

 Kalmuc name, Tijia the Kirghese, and Line the 

 Mongol. 



An animal which has so many original names, in 

 countries differing so much from each other as these, 

 and being abundant in them all, must of course have 

 no ordinary facility of adaptation to climate ; and 

 accordingly it varies much both in the colour and the 

 thickness of its fur. In France and the south of 

 Germany it has various shades of reddish on the 

 upper part, and white on the under ; but the pile of 

 the fur above is red at the points only, and annulated 

 with alternate white and brown in the remaining part. 

 Even there, there is a considerable difference in the 

 colour at different seasons ; but when we go farther 

 to the north the difference increases ; and in the most 

 northerly forests of Europe, and in those of Siberia, 

 the winter colour is slate grey, with small points of 

 black, the coat being very close and thick, and form- 

 ing no contemptible fur. The pile of the fur is then 

 annulated with a mouse-grey and light grey alter- 

 nately. In this state it is more abundant in Siberia 

 than in the north of Europe ; and the fur is thicker 

 and of superior quality. It is chiefly obtained in the 

 wild woods on the banks of the Obi and Jenessi ; 

 and it is called grey squirrel, or Siberian squirrel in 

 Britain, and Petit-gris, little grey, in" France ; the 

 Grison, of which it is the diminutive, being one of the 

 gluttons (Gulo], a carnivorous animal, and of course 

 quite different from the nimble and gentle squirrel. 

 There is another change which takes place in the 

 north part of Siberia ; in Europe the squirrel is very 

 nearly of the same size, in all its range, and all its 

 variations of colour ; but in Siberia it becomes con- 

 siderably larger. This, however, is no proof what- 

 ever of a different species, or of any thing more than 

 a mere climatal variety ; and that it is only this is 

 proved by the example of the foxes, vealens, and 

 other animals there, which are uniformly of larger 

 size, though the same identical species as those of the 

 north of Europe. According to Pallas, there are 

 squirrels nearly of a black colour in the mountain 

 forests of Daouria, and other places near the lake of 

 Baikal in the south of Siberia eastward ; but it is not 

 very clearly ascertained that they are the same 

 species, In Britain the squirrels are not so bright in 



It It EL. 



the red colour as they are in Prance and the south of 

 Germany. 



Squirrels are provident creatures, and lay up stores 

 of provisions against the winter, consisting of nuts, 

 acorns, beech-mast, the seeds of pines, peas, beans, 

 and all other large seeds which they can collect. 

 These are generally hoarded in some hollow of a 

 tree near the abode of the animal ; but there does 

 not appear to be much truth in the common saying, 

 that the squirrels are the great planters of the oak, 

 by the acorns which they bury in the ground, and 

 are afterwards unable to find out ; for, when an ani- 

 mal has the instinct of hiding any substance as a 

 supply of food, it has, as a matter of course, the in- 

 stinct of finding it again ; and that a squirrel should 

 range the forest burying acorn after acorn in places 

 where they would be apt to germinate, is very incre- 

 dible. The store is always in a dry place, where it 

 can be preserved from growing. 



There are few matters more tantalising than to 

 attempt watching the motions of a squirrel among the 

 thick branches of lofty trees. Both its eye and its 

 ear are so very sharp, that it generally sees the ob- 

 servers or the pursuers fully as soon as they see it ; 

 and then it is " once and away," for one can hardly 

 tell the direction which it takes, and it doubles so 

 nimbly, that while it is looked for in one direction, it 

 is very apt to be off in another. When pushed to 

 extremities it can take very astonishing leaps for so 

 small an animal, for in Europe it is not above seven, 

 or at most eight inches in length, and yet it can leap 

 twice as many feet with great apparent ease. The 

 tail appears to be of great use to it, both in balancing 

 the body while it runs, and in serving as a parachute 

 when it leaps, in doing which it also spreads out the 

 limbs, and so presents the greatest surface possible to 

 the air. Upon such occasions the tail is always curved, 

 reflected forward over the body, in which position the 

 furry side of it is against the fall. When occasion 

 requires, the squirrel can take to the water and swim 

 well, for which it is qualified by the lightness of its 

 body and the breadth of surface which it presents. 

 Some have alleged that it uses the tail as a paddle, 

 or, at all events, as a rudder in swimming ; but the 

 character of the organ renders this very unlikely, if 

 not impossible. The probability is that, whether it 

 answers the purpose of a sail or not, it is borne much 

 in the same situation as one, namely, over the back 

 of the animal. 



The sitting position of the squirrel is as graceful 

 as its motion is fleet. It rests on the hams with the 

 tail recurved, and in that situation it can bear itself 

 entirely on the hind quarters, so as to have the free 

 use of the fore paws ; but if any sight or sound arrest 

 its attention, the tail is lowered, and perhaps that 

 organ may assist it in springing into an active posi- 

 tion in case of the necessity,of a rapid escape from 

 danger. In the middle of the day squirrels are com- 

 monly at rest, but they are active among the branches 

 toward evening. The young are produced about the 

 middle of the summer ; and until they gain strength | 

 for enabling them to seek their wwn food, both parents j 

 are equally assiduous in bringing them a supply. * 

 The squirrels, by the time that their stores are ex-j 

 hausted, are busy little creatures until these are again 

 filled ; for, by the time that the young are so far 

 advanced as not to need any farther supply from their 

 parents, the collection for the following winter begins. 

 It is supposed that the young associate in pairs as 



