332 lewis' AMERICAN SPORTSMAN, 



VARIETIES OF SQUIRRELS. 



" There are no less than sixty or seventy varieties of this 

 genus described by Naturalists, of which twenty well-determined 

 species exist in North America." 



HABITS, LOCALITY, AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



The habits of the whole race of Squirrels are nearly akin ; 

 and their bodies are covered with long, soft, and beautiful fur, 

 and furnished with a long, wiry, and bushy tail, Avhich latter 

 appendage adds greatly to their graceful appearance, as they 

 are all alike remarkable for their beauty, sprightliness, and 

 agility. 



Squirrels are, at all times, even in a state of captivity, of a 

 restless, active disposition. In their native wilds they are ever 

 frolicsome and gay, jumping from tree to tree. They pass 

 their time in joyousness -and unrestrained freedom in the midst 

 of the rich abundance of our forests. AVhen movins; on the 

 ground, the Squirrel seldom runs, but advances by a series of 

 jumps. They are of a sly, mercurial temperament, seldom re- 

 maining still for a moment, except when alarmed; then they 

 will stretch themselves out at full length, on the topmost 

 branch of a high tree, on the side opposite to the seat of dan- 

 ger, and thus remain perfectly motionless, as if a part or parcel 

 of the tree itself, until the cause of the alarm has moved off. 



They generally build large nests formed of twigs, moss, and 

 leaves in the notches of the highest forest-trees, or take up 

 their abode in the hollow trunks, or burrow in the ground. 



The whole race of Squirrels are very prolific, and some spe- 

 cies increase so rapidly, and to such a surprising extent in 

 some sections of country, that they actually become a severe 

 scourge to the farmer, who, with the assistance of all his family, 

 are not able to protect his hard-earned crops from the depre- 

 dations of these lawless little fellows, that swarm in the corn- 

 field at such times by hundreds, and even thousands, con- 

 suming all within their reach, and destroying still more by 

 throwing it down on the ground. 



