The Red Squirrel 153 



past. This bird has caused the hunters to lose many 

 a good shot, not only at small game, but more par- 

 ticularly at members of the deer family. 



But to go back to the chickaree. He is an expert 

 on the subject of nuts, not only in selecting sound and 

 good ones, but also in the manner and certainty with 

 which he gets at the kernel. Concerning this accom- 

 plishment John Burroughs writes as follows: "There 

 is one thing that the red squirrel knows unerringly 

 that I do not (there are probably several things); 

 that is, on which side of the butternut the meat lies. 

 He always gnaws through the shell so as to strike the 

 kernel broadside, and thus easily extract it; while to 

 my eyes there is no external mark or indication, in 

 the form or appearance of the nut, as there is in the 

 hickory-nut, by which I can tell whether the edge or 

 the side of the meat is toward me. But examine any 

 number of nuts that the squirrels have rifled, and, as 

 a rule, you will find they always drill through the 

 shell at the one spot where the meat will be most ex- 

 posed. Occasionally one makes a mistake, but not 

 often. It stands them in hand to know, and they 

 do know. Doubtless, if butternuts were a main 

 source of my food, and I were compelled to gnaw into 

 them, I should learn, too, on which side my bread 

 was buttered." 



