THEIR HABITS AND MANNERS. 499 



tuberculous crowns, and a fifth in front of the upper jaw, which soon 

 falls out. The squirrel's fur, thick and soft, is of a bright reddish- 

 brown colour, more or less varied with gray; with a snow-white belly 

 and breast, and a tail brown, or almost black. The ears are 

 ornamented with long tufts of hair. The eyes, directed laterally, 

 are black and lively, shining with subdued mischief; the legs 

 are short and muscular; and when on the ground the animal 

 moves by a succession of leaps, the tail being undulating and ex- 

 tended. He lives constantly in the forest, selecting a particular tree, 

 where he builds his nest, either in a hollow of the trunk or among 

 the branches. In the latter case he builds himself a sort of cabin, 

 with twigs and stems, artfully concealed beneath a covering of moss 

 and fragments of bark. There he lives "by his ain fireside," in the 

 company of his mate and their young ones, collecting an abundant 

 magazine of nuts and acorns for their winter provision. In the spring 

 and summer he loves to gambol among the leafy boughs, climbing up 

 and down the forest trees, and uttering a short quick stuccato cry, 

 like the sound which we produce by clacking the tongue against the 

 palate. If you attempt to seize him, he bites sharply, and scratches 

 like a cat. He is nevertheless easily tamed, and his engaging man- 

 ners, his amusing gambols, and constant liveliness, make him a great 

 favourite among our " domestic pets." He soon grows accustomed to his 

 cage, and after a brief interval of liberty returns to it of his own accord. 



The Common Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is found all over Europe, 

 North America, and the Northern and Temperate regions of Asia. 

 He is about eight inches and a-half in length, without the tail, which 

 measures fully six inches long. In Lapland and Sweden his colour 

 changes to gray in the winter season ; in the snowy wastes of Siberia, 

 he is frequently seen of a pure white. 



The only other European species is the Alpine Squirrel (Sciurus 

 Alpinus), a native of the Alps and Pyrenees, of a deep brown colour, 

 speckled with yellowish-white. 



To North America belongs the Gray Squirrel (Sciurus Carolin- 

 ensis), where he enjoys his free and sportive life in the great forests of 



