OF all our four-footed game, great and small, the 

 squirrel probably has furnished the most fun. He is 

 the boy's first important quarry, as he is the last re- 

 source of those still fond of their bit of sport, but too 

 old or too enfeebled for the rougher work of big game 

 hunting. And there are many, too, in the prime of 

 life, who do not hesitate to say that they prefer a 

 lively day's squirrel shooting to the trailing of any 

 member of the deer tribe. Certain it is that more 

 men hunt squirrels than ever seek the ranges of the 

 cervidae. 



The varieties of the squirrel family deemed 

 worthy of pursuit in this country number four, viz. 

 the gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, the black 

 squirrel, .5". niger, the fox squirrel, which I believe 

 scientists regard as a variety of the preceding, and 

 the red squirrel, 6 1 . hudsonicus. The last-named is a 

 nuisance, and, in order to abate a nuisance, he shall 

 be first considered. He is a very common and 

 remarkably officious little beast, a dangerous gossip, 

 and an intolerable scold. Still-hunters hate him as 



3'7 



