THE SQUIRREL 237 



a mistake as was that of the little owl. The 

 grey squirrel shows a decided tendency to 

 increase, spread out, and supplant our native 

 squirrel. It needs careful watching lest it should 

 get out of hand. In the London parks it is all 

 right, but we do not want it to oust our red 

 squirrel from its native woods. 



Before closing this chapter I should like to 

 refer to the fondness of the squirrel for the 

 seeds of the Scotch pine and other firs. It will 

 strip the hard woody cones to get at the seeds 

 inside, and you will often find the ground in a 

 pine wood littered with the remains of the 

 squirrel's feasting. 



Perhaps there is no place where a squirrel looks 

 more lovely than when it is posed on the 

 branch of a Scotch fir, the red-gold of its coat 

 and plumelike tail showing up against the grey- 

 green of the pine needles. It is indeed to be 

 hoped that no misguided efforts to increase our 

 fauna with American importations will lead to 

 a reduction in the numbers of one of our most 

 lovely native creatures, which is not very plentiful 

 as it is, and which shows a tendency to decrease 

 from natural causes, and is in no state to with- 

 stand the competition of a rival like the grey 

 squirrel. 



(The common squirrel, which Linnceus named 

 Sciurus vulgaris, has by modern systematists been 

 divided into a number of races, no less than twelve 

 being recognized in Western Europe. As there is 



