650 



THE NATURE BOOK 



alder, \\hose abundant exudation of sap 

 caused it to be a rendezvous for all kinds 

 of insects. Before reading Lons' ob- 

 servation I had certainly imagined that 

 this Squirrel was in quest of grubs and 

 pup;ie, of both of which he 

 is mightily fond. Occa- 

 sionally, as might be 

 expected, Squirrels do 

 considerable damage in 

 plantations of seedling 

 firs. So far as verte- 

 brates are concerned, it is 

 certain that the Squirrel 

 will occasionally eat birds' 

 eggs, and even nestling 

 birds. I am strongly of 

 opinion that this is a 

 perversion of appetite, 

 which occurs only in the 

 case of a female Squirrel 

 who is suckling her young. 

 That a Squirrel's breeding 

 season should correspond 

 with that of many early 

 nesting birds (young Squir- 

 rels have been frequently 

 found early in March), and 

 that the one time in the 

 year in which she is most 

 hardly pressed by hunger 

 should be the one time 

 when the supply of her 

 natural foodstuffs almost 

 entirely fails, is, of course, 

 unfortunate for the birds ; 

 but who with a spark of 

 humanity in him can blame 

 the Mother Squirrel, let 

 alone shoot her ? 



The best time for ob- 

 serving Squirrels at large 

 is not only early in the 

 morning, but early in the year. This is in 

 part due to the absence of foliage, and in 

 part to the fact that it is in quite the 



B 

 UNDER SURFACE OF (A) THE 

 SQUIRREL'S HAND AND (B) 

 THE SQUIRREL'S FOOT. 



To show the difference in the de- 

 velopment of the pads and the 

 hair-coating. 



temperament. The lady is fully as agile 

 as her suitors, and the fact that the latter 

 waste precious intervals in vainly buffeting 

 each other, ensures a gymnastic display 

 of a remarkable character. To begin 

 with, one is amazed at the 

 precision and dexterity 

 \\ith which each move- 

 ment of the pursued is 

 mimicked by the pursuer. 

 My Lady Shadow-tail 

 gallops up the beech tree, 

 loops twenty different 

 branches, all but misses her 

 footing, recovers somehow, 

 darts outward along a 

 tapering bough, ripples 

 from twig to twig of it, and, 

 when twigs fail her, leaps. 

 The larch has beckoned to 

 her. She lands upon an 

 outstretched feathery arm, 

 shoots off it like a rubber 

 ball, lands once again, 

 bounds upward to the 

 trunk, slithers the length of 

 this to earth, then flings 

 about, and scales its farther 

 side. So she speeds from 

 tree to tree until you lose 

 her. In hot pursuit comes 

 Squirrel Number One. He 

 runs the same bough out- 

 wards, stumbles at the 

 same spot, leaps to the 

 same landing, and even 

 passes her, he downwards 

 and she upwards, on the 

 same larch trunk. Should 

 fortune still befriend you, 

 you may see Squirrel 

 Number Two. Squirrel 

 Number One is quickly 

 aware of him ; he pauses a moment, half 

 turns and chatters ; so loses five yards 

 from My Tady ; then turns in earnest. 



early months that the Squirrel's fancy turns Squirrel Number Two stops dead ; both sit 

 (even more lightly, I fancy, than that of back on their haunches ; both shrug their 

 Tennyson's young man) in the proverbial shoulders jerkily ; both shake and stamp 



direction. The Squirrel's com-fship, more 

 especially if it is complicated by the 

 presence of one or more rivals, is worth 

 rising betimes to witness, whatever be 

 the season. It is the headlong, im- 

 petuous, utterly reckless affair which one 

 would look for in a creature of the Squirrel's 



with rage. Presently Squirrel Number 

 Two flings down his paws. Thud, thud/ 

 they strike the bough. Thud, thud! his 

 hind feet echo them, each thud a half-inch 

 progress. Squirrel Number One awaits 

 him. He is still bunched and chattering, 

 with his paws on guard. And now My 



