INTRODUCTION 



for the sap to quench his thirst ; but instead 

 of angering the great land -owners by taking 

 his little tithe of what Nature has given for 

 the universal good, he ought to induce them 

 to provide the means of a normal subsist- 

 ence for him and his kind, and to put out 

 dishes of water to save their trees. It would 

 cost less than killing them off. Such evi- 

 dence from disinterested quarters as I have 

 been able to collect leads to the conclusion 

 that the damage done by the squirrel to the 

 forest is trivial, and probably does not repay 

 the forester for the expense of persecuting 

 him. The following statement by an intelli- 

 gent Scotch gamekeeper, Mr. James Mutch, 

 is sent me by one of my squirrel -loving col- 

 leagues, and to me it is very conclusive, as 

 it is not only the evidence of a woodsman, 

 but of a clever observer and constitutional 

 naturalist. 



" I received your letter regarding the squir- 

 rel. You are quite right in supposing it was 

 an exaggerated idea that they did a lot of 

 damage to trees. I have often been told 

 the same by foresters, and requested to 



