82 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



species. It is really an American visitor, distinct in colour and 

 without tufts to the ears. Some years ago the caged specimens 

 in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, had become so 

 numerous that some of them were given their liberty. Their 

 numbers increased among the trees of the Gardens, and they 

 overflowed into the Park, where they became so familiar as to 

 accept food from the hands of the delighted children. Gradually, 

 some of them developed exploring tendencies and made their 

 way to the wooded grounds of suburban residences. British 

 naturalists of a not-distant future will probably have to 

 include two species of Squirrels in their lists. 



The pretty Chipmunk (Tamias striatus. Linn.), or Chipping. 

 Squirrel, one of the Ground Squirrels, is another American 

 species that has become acclimatised in the London area. It 

 lacks the long tufted ears of our Squirrel, the tail is shorter, and 

 there are pouches inside the cheeks. Its general appearance is 

 strikingly different from the Squirrel, for though its ground 

 colour is red-brown, the eye is set in a white band divided into 

 two stripes by a black line. A black stripe runs down the 

 middle of the back, and in addition there is a white stripe 

 bordered by black above and below along each side. 



It feeds on nuts, beech-mast, grain, roots, and insects ; migrat- 

 ing from place to place as local food-supplies become scanty. 

 It stores up food for the winter like the Squirrel, carrying it to 

 its caches by means of the cheek-pouches. Though capable of 

 climbing, and occasionally seen ascending lofty trees, it is much 

 more at home on the ground. It burrows a retreat in the 

 ground, if no suitable stump is available for excavation. When 

 startled it utters a cry of " chip-per-r-r." 



Dormouse (Muscardiniu avellanarius^ Linn.). 



The non-scientific observer of our native mammals satisfied 

 himself long ago that the pretty Dormouse was a miniature kind 



