CHAPTEE XII. 



SQUIRRELS AND RATS AS EGG EATERS. 



[EW people are aware that the beauti- 

 ful and elegant little squirrel (sciu- 

 rus) is an egg eater. In Bailey's 

 dictionary, I find it is given as "a 

 sort of wood weasel." I confess I cannot see 

 anything of a weasel in it. I have had many 

 squirrels as pets, various varieties ; they have 

 eaten of all sorts from my hand, and one thing 

 I have proved beyond doubt, that the squirrel 

 is remarkably fond of eggs. 



I have always imagined that their eating eggs 

 in confinement was perhaps because, however 

 well I fed them, they might not get all they 

 wished or were accustomed to in their natural 

 state, but this last spring I was convinced to 



