121 RODENTIA. 



allow us to do more than to give brief accounts of some of the 

 principal genera and species. 



T. Family Sciuridse, (Lat. Sciurus, a squirrel,) SQUIRRELS. 



This includes between sixty and seventy species. Audubon 

 says about twenty well determined species are found in North 

 America. They are arranged into two groups, viz. : I. Squir- 

 rels with free limbs; II. Squirrels with their limbs invested in 

 the skin at the sides. These are not only the most elegant and 

 sprightly, but the most numerous and widely scattered of the 

 Rodents. They are distinguished by their simple grinders, hav- 

 ing tuberculous summits, and the lower front teeth paired and 

 much compressed at the sides. The toes are long and accompa- 

 nied with sharp and hooked claws, and the rudiments of a thumb. 

 There are four claws on each fore foot and five on the hind. The 

 full development of the collar bones, (clavicles,) gives them 

 much facility in using their paws as hands. In eating, the squir- 

 rels usually sit upon their haunches, and holding the food be- 

 tween the rudimentary thumbs of both paws, nibble it away un- 

 til the whole is consumed. The head is proportionably rather 

 large ; the eyes full and prominent ; the tail long, with the fur 

 disposed on its sides like a feather ; the ears in many species 

 are tipped with a pencil of hairs. These animals are easily 

 tamed, and from their playful and graceful manners, often be- 

 come great pets. Most of the species resort to trees, but the 

 Ground Squirrel, ( Tamias or <S. striatus,} burrows in the ground. 

 The generic name, Sciurus, or Shadow-tail, is derived from Gr. 

 <rx)a, (skia,) a shade, and ovga, (oura.) a tail. Of this name the 

 English term squirrel is a corruption ; it refers to the fact that 

 when the animal is at rest, its long and bushy tail is turned over 

 the back and shades it. 



I. GROUP. 



S. vulgaris, COMMON RED SQUIRREL. This graceful and ac- 

 tive little animal is generally about fifteen inches long from the 

 nose to the tip of the tail, having the ears terminated by long 

 tufts of hair ; the color of the head, body, tail and legs of a 

 bright reddish brown ; the belly and the breast white ; the eyes 

 large, black and sparkling ; the fore feet strong, sharp and well 

 adapted to hold its food ; the legs short and muscular ; the toes 

 long and the nails sharp and strong ; the lip is cleft ; the fur 

 short and silky. It lives in pairs, constructing in the hollow of 

 a tree, or in the fork between two branches, a water-proof nest 

 of curiously interwoven moss, twigs and dry leaves. In May 



