278 SCIURID^. 



spiraturus est ventus, cavernis, ex alia parte aperiunt 

 fores." * 



A pair of Squirrels, for they are monogamous, do not 

 readily change their place of abode, but remain attached 

 for a long period to the same tree, seeking their food in 

 the district immediately surrounding it. The nest is con- 

 structed in a very intricate and beautiful manner, of moss, 

 leaves, and fibres, curiously interlaced ; and is usually 

 placed either in a hole in the tree, or in the fork between 

 two branches, often where it can with difficulty be distin- 

 guished from the tree itself. The female brings forth 

 three or four young in the month of June, which receive 

 the most assiduous care from both parents, and remain 

 with them until the following spring, when they separate, 

 and choose their mates. 



This pretty animal appears to be common over the 

 greater part of Europe, but is not found, according to 

 Pallas, in the Crimea. It has been met with in China, on 

 the Amoor River. In our own country it is pretty evenly 

 distributed over England and Scotland ; in the north of 

 the latter country, in the province of Murray, as we have 

 learned by the kindness of the Rev. G. Gordon, it is 

 now common, whereas fifteen or twenty years ago it 

 was little known there. In Ireland, the Squirrel appears 

 to be rare. 



The Squirrel is liable to considerable variety in point of 

 colour, becoming grey in the northern regions. Linnaeus, 

 in his " Lachesis Lapponica," states that the inhabitants of 

 the Lapland Alps " contrive, by means of their wooden 

 bows, to procure in the course of the winter a consider- 

 able number of Squirrels {Scivrus vulgaris), in their grey 

 or winter clothing, for the sake of their skins. "f We 



* Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. VIII. c. xxxviii. 



t Lachesis Lapponica, translated by Smitb, II. p. 49. 



