122 Habit and Instinct. 



coat, it was no easy matter for them to climb, even with 

 the good foothold that it afforded. It was evident that 

 they had never ventured so far as the outside of their nest ; 

 and up to that time they certainly could have had no 

 opportunity of making the acquaintance of the ground, 

 which lay far below them, and concealed from the nest by 

 a screen of thick branches. 



" When I had brought them home, starvation seemed 

 to threaten them, for they did not know how to eat solid 

 food, nor would they lap milk. To overcome this difficulty, 

 I improvised a nursing-bottle by putting a quill through a 

 hole in the cork of a small wide-mouthed bottle, which 

 I filled with a mixture of cream and hot water. This they 

 took to readily. After a few days they learned to drink 

 milk from a saucer, and gradually, through bread and 

 milk, they were introduced to more solid viands. 



"After they had lived some time on such food as bis- 

 cuits and bread-crusts, I gave them one day some hickory- 

 nuts, one of the staple articles of diet of an adult grey 

 squirrel, whose powerful teeth take but a few moments to 

 penetrate the thick, hard shells. They examined the nuts 

 attentively, evidently looking upon them as unusually 

 interesting novelties, and at last the more enterprising of 

 the two set to work on a nut, as if he wished to find out 

 what prize it might contain. With hitherto unexampled 

 patience he laboured over it, until at last, after more than 

 half an hour's diligent gnawing, he gained access to the 

 kernel. With a few days' practice they acquired skill and 

 speed in extracting these hard-shelled delicacies ; and after 

 that they lost all interest in such things as biscuits, and 

 hickory-nuts formed the principal item on their bill of fare. 



" These squirrels were often taken from their cage for 

 hours at a time, and given the freedom of a room. Here 

 they got abundant exercise, climbing and jumping over the 



