ANIMAL LIFE. 157 



ecrated by the hand of man, wants animal life to set 

 it off to the greatest perfection, how much more do 

 our tame artificial grounds and waters require this 

 adjunct ? 



Few of our citizens can, when they choose, fly away 

 into the highlands, the lake district, or the wilds of 

 of Connemara, but have to be satisfied with the 

 artificial and formal beauties which our numerous 

 public and private pleasure-grounds afford; but 

 would not the enjoyment of those resorts be greatly 

 enhanced if more animal life was added to the pic- 

 ture ? In the city of Philadelphia a public park is 

 tenanted by great numbers of squirrels, of different 

 varieties, whose tameness, merry antics, and spright- 

 liness cause them to be the admiration of all visitors. 

 Could not squirrels be introduced here ? not our 

 common red variety, but the handsome black, gray, 

 or ground squirrel of the American continent. What 

 a suitable place would Kensington be for such inmates, 

 and what a fund of amusement they would afford to 

 the juveniles that in such numbers frequent it ! There 

 are also several beautiful varieties of water-fowl, 

 whose advent would, I am certain, be welcomed, such 

 as the wood-duck, sprig-tail duck, loon, sheldrake, 

 summer and black duck ; all of these species are ex- 



