150 THE SQUIRREL. 



Pierre was requested to produce his leather -bound 

 volume and to read what information it contained con- 

 cerning the squirrels of America. This request was 

 readily complied with ; and while Gaultier threw more 

 pine logs on the fire, the young naturalist searched out 

 the proper place in his book. 



" There are," he began, " not less than twenty different 

 species of true squirrels in North America. If with 

 these we include the ' ground ' and the ' flying ' squirrels, 

 this number will be considerably increased. The 

 largest, and perhaps the most relished kind, is the c cat- 

 squirrel/ This, as no doubt you are aware, is the best 

 for the pot of all the tribe, and it consequently fetches 

 several times the price of the common gray squirrel. 



"The gray squirrel, however, is the best known 

 representative of the family, as there is scarcely a 

 patch of woodland throughout the country in which it 

 may not be found. Yet, in some localities where this 

 variety was plentiful some years ago, another kind, 

 the 'black squirrel/ is now found instead. It is 

 asserted that the latter drives off the former, as is 

 stated to be the case with rabbits and hares, and the 

 Norway rat and the old brown rat. The ' fox-squirrel ' 

 and the 'cat' have often been confounded with each 

 other, whereas they are quite distinct. The 'fox' is 

 larger than the c cat,' and is also more active, racing to 

 the top of a tall tree with extraordinary swiftness. 

 The latter, on the contrary, exhibits an unusual slow- 

 ness and caution in its movements among the branches, 



