NOTES ON SOME HABITS OF THE SQUIRREL. 29 



throughout the day ; and so the work goes on, more or less 

 actively, as long as any acorns remain. 



The squirrels are not the only acorn-hunters under the Turkey 

 oak, for the harvest is shared with pheasants, rooks, wood pigeons 

 of two species, and jays, representatives of all of which I have 

 often watched busily and amicably at work at the same time. 



I may here note a point which seems to be curious and worth 

 mentioning that is, that I have never seen the squirrels interring 

 acorns beneath the tree i.e., not within the distance of the spread 

 of its boughs. The acorns, as far as my observations go, are 

 always carried beyond the spread of the tree, and often for a 

 considerable distance, as far, in fact, as 30 yards, though the bulk 

 will be buried within that distance. This seems to me to be 

 probably the result of that kind of instinct acquired by hereditary 

 habit. An animal engaged along with others in search of objects 

 of food equally desirable to all would naturally, on securing one, 

 make off with it as fast as possible. If it were for immediate 

 consumption it would be consumed as soon as a safe distance is 

 reached. This may be observed any day by those who are in the 

 habit of feeding animals together. As soon as one gets hold of a 

 choice morsel it is made off with in order to be enjoyed in safety. 

 In the case of a squirrel this instinctive flight with the acorn stops 

 as soon as a little distance is reached, when, as the acorn is not 

 wanted for immediate use, it is secreted by burial in obedience to 

 another instinct. A curious collateral benefit is, however, derived 

 by the squirrels from the habit of carrying the acorns to a distance ; 

 that is the preservation of the buried stores from the search 

 persistently carried on during autumn and early winter (and, 

 indeed, often much later on) by the pheasants, rooks, pigeons, and 

 jays. These would find out every acorn if buried just beneath the 

 surface under the trees, where they are naturally looked for ; 

 whereas there is no inducement to such depredators to search for 

 the acorns away from the trees on which they grow. Thus the 

 operation of the instinct of flight with food not only serves the 

 squirrel directly against present competitors, but also serves it 



