648 



THE NATURE BOOK 



been translated into American as " full 

 of business " * — displays excellently the 

 long sinuous brush, the wonderfully 

 fasliioned feet, and the abundant vibrissa, 

 or " sense-hairs," which characterise the 

 group. His coloration varies much with 



A SQUIRREL IN SUMMER 

 The absence of ear-tufts and the coarseness of 



the time of year, tending to rufous in the 

 summer and to grey-brown in the winter. 

 The presence of long ear-tufts and of a 

 full brown-yellow tail in the latter season 

 adds considerably to his beauty, but he 

 never. I think, in this country displays 

 the extraordinarily rich orange tint which 

 characterises his continental cousins. 

 Indeed, compared with a stout Teuton 

 Squirrel, our British representative 

 appears somewhat patchy and washed 

 out, and in winter the grey on him is 

 not comparable in warmth of tone with 

 * IngersoU's " Life of Mammals," p. 442. 



the " miniver " of the North European 

 variety. 



So far as I have been able to determine 

 by inquiry, all true Squirrels are short- 

 tempered. It is fortunate that Nature 

 has limited their size, for, were the 



d imensions 

 of our British 

 Squirrel 

 twice as 

 great as they 

 are, this 

 c o u n t r y 

 could hardly 

 hold him 

 and man to- 

 gether. 



His size 

 being what 

 it is (length 

 all o \^ e r 

 about eigh- 

 teen inches), 

 and his fight- 

 ing weight 

 somethi n g 

 under a 

 pound, we 

 can afford to 

 view his out- 

 bursts with 

 equanimit}-. 

 and even de- 

 rive some en- 

 tertainment 

 from the 

 vehemence 

 with which 

 he rattles at 

 humanity. 

 His shoulders 

 on these 

 occasions twitch with temper. He stamps 

 with his fore feet, he stamps with his 

 hind feet. His insult is a spitsome cough, 

 his curse a chromatic howl. Both are 

 unprintable, yet Millais makes a spirited 

 effort at the latter. He calls it " Ski- 

 wow- wow-wow ! " " Kwitt. Kwitt " (in 

 German) is the nearest approach to the 

 former which I have read. The difficulty 

 of transcribing non-human sounds is due 

 to their deficiency in consonants. Yet 

 ornithologists rush in boldly enough. To 

 them "A - little - bit - of - bread - and - no - 

 cheese " suggests the Yellowhammer. 



PELAGE, 

 the fur should be noticed. 



