vii A WOODLAND CODGER 195 



the special attraction that brings them to camps, 

 where the scraps of bacon-rind and table-crumbs 

 would be tidbits of the highest excellence in their 

 estimation. It appears to be extremely fond of 

 sweets, also, gnawing old sugar-barrels and maple- 

 sugar utensils, and being especially fond of maple 

 bark. A. Leith Adams, the author of " Field and 

 Forest Rambles" (in New Brunswick), informs 

 us that they eat the tips of the cast antlers of 

 deer, which are rarely found unharmed by their 

 incisors; and he also mentions the extraordinary 

 size of their ordure, which is often mistaken for 

 that of deer. 



The porcupine's natural food, however, is vege- 

 table, and mainly bark and browse, in search of 

 which it spends most of its time in trees, although 

 seemingly as awkwardly built and accoutred for 

 such a life as well could be; but the toes have 

 very long and strong claws, good for clinging. 

 It is true, however, that our Northern species pur- 

 sues an arboreal life much less exclusively than do 

 the tropical American species, being intermediate 

 in habits as well as structure between the Old 

 World terrestrial species and the South American 

 tree-porcupines. 



These tree-porcupines (genus Synetheres), of 

 which eight or ten species are spread from 

 Mexico to Paraguay, are far better fitted for 

 climbing, and are almost exclusively arboreal. 

 They are smaller and lighter than the Canada 



