74 RODENTS. 



beech-mast, bark, buds, and young shoots of trees ; but there is evidence that it is 

 also not averse to a diet of birds' eggs, and perhaps insects. In feeding, all squirrels 

 sit up on their hind-quarters, and hold their food to their mouths with the fore- 

 paws. The shells of nuts are pierced by the sharp front teeth, and every fragment 

 removed before the kernel is consumed. Stores of food are laid up by the common 

 squirrel for winter use, but instead of being deposited in a single place they are 

 hidden in several repositories. In England and the whole of its more northerly 

 habit, the squirrel partialh' hibernates during the winter, but it wakes up at 

 intervals to feed when the weather is mild, and again retires to slumber. Probably 

 in more southern regions it is active throughout the year, as are the species 

 inhabiting the warmer parts of the globe. Squirrels associate in pairs, apparently 

 for life, and generally frequent the same tree or clump of trees from year to year. 

 The nest, or " drey," in which the young are produced, is built either in the fork of 

 a branch, or in some hole of the stem of a tree, and is composed of leaves, moss, and 

 fibres, carefully intertwined. When placed in a fork, it so closely resembles the 

 boughs in colour that its detection from below is difficult. In England the 

 blind and naked young; are born in June, and are usuallv three or four in number. 

 They remain with their parents till the following spring; and if captured at a 

 sufficiently early age form docile and affectionate pets. The squirrel can swim 

 well ; and its flesh is said to be good eating. 



Squirrel-fur is extensively used for boas, linings, and trimmings. The 

 quantity formerly imported into England was very great, the total number of skins 

 in 1839 reaching 2,730,826 : but of late years the imports have declined, the chief 

 seat of the industry in this fur being now in Germany. The darker bluish grey 

 skins are the most valued, most of these being obtained from Okhotsk by the 

 Alaska Company ; the number imported by that company into London being, 

 according to Mr. Poland, 43,235 in 1891, but it is sometimes double as many. 

 North American In North America the place of the European species is taken by 



Squirrels. ^he red squirrel, ur chickari (S. hudsonianus), and the grey squirrel 

 (8. can 'Inn-it. sis) ; the former frequenting forests of all kinds, while the latter is 

 chiefly restricted to those composed of deciduous trees. Dr. Hart Merriam, 

 describing the habits of the red squirrel in the Adirondack Mountains, near New 

 York, says that this species exhibits but little fear of man, and is the least wary of 

 all its tribe. It is on the alert from dawn to sunset, and sometimes, especially 

 when there is a moon, continues its rambles throughout the night : while whenever 

 abroad it enlivens the solitudes of the forests with its continual chatterings. 

 " Though an expert climber, delighting in long leaps from bough to bough, which 

 he executes with grace and precision, he spends far more time on the ground than 

 the other arboreal squirrels, sometimes even making his home in holes in the earth. 

 Old logs, stumps, wood-piles, and brush-heaps, are favourite places of resort, and, 

 by excavating burrows beneath, he converts them into the securest of retreats . . . 

 As might be inferred from the boreal distribution of this animal, he is the hardiest 

 of our squirrels. Not only does he inhabit regions where the rigours of Arctic 

 winter are keenly felt, but refusing to hibernate, he remains active throughout the 

 continuance of excessive cold : when running upon the snow he often plunges 

 down out of sight, tunnels a little distance, and, reappearing, shakes the snow from 



