8 Anecdotal Natural History. 



larly perfect clavicles or collar-bones, which enable 

 them to use the fore-paws to a certain extent after the 

 manner of hands. This is especially the case in carry- 

 ing food to the mouth, when the paws are managed 

 with extraordinary dexterity. In eating a nut, for ex- 

 ample, a squirrel, by the aid of its fore-paws and teeth 

 alone, will break the shell and peel the kernel to the 

 full as successfully as a skilful human being furnished 

 with crackers and penknife. And it does so as 

 follows. Holding the nut close to the teeth, it gnaws 

 away at the point of the fruit until it fairly pierces the 

 outer shell. It then dexterously inserts the edge of 

 the upper teeth into the aperture, and splits away the 

 shell just as an idle boy does with his knife when 

 opening nuts in school hours. By means of its hand- 

 like paws, it then holds the kernel against its upper 

 teeth, and rapidly turning it round and round, strips 

 off the whole of the peel before beginning to devour 

 it. 



With the exception of the jaws and the adjacent 

 parts of the head, the skeleton is exceedingly light 

 and slender in order to suit it to the rapid movements 

 of the animal. 



To furnish the squirrels with the means of ascending 

 the trees in which they spend the greater portion of 

 their existence, the long toes are provided with sharp, 

 curved claws, which can be inserted into the smallest 

 crevices of the bark, and thus secure a firm foothold. 



The rapidity and ease of their aerial motions is 

 something astounding. A squirrel will gallop up a 

 perpendicular tree trunk fully as fast as a cat can run 

 on level ground, and will throw itself from branch to 

 branch with the most perfect recklessness. And even 

 if it misses its mark, it simply extends its limbs and 

 allows itself to fall to the ground from most alarming 

 heights, never seeming to be in the least damaged by its 



