ANECDOTAL NATURAL HISTORY. 



No. I. THE SQUIRREL TRIBE. 



ALMOST everybody is familiar with the common 

 squirrel (Sciitn/s Europeans), that reddish-brown 

 animal with the bushy tail which is so plentiful in nearly 

 all our woods and forests, where it sometimes works 

 considerable mischief. And even those people who 

 have never been fortunate enough to see it in its 

 native haunts, springing from tree to tree, and gam- 

 bolling merrily among the branches, must have noticed 

 the unfortunate specimens exhibited for sale by the 

 itinerant hawkers who pervade the streets of the 

 metropolis and other large towns. 



Besides the British species there are many other 

 squirrels found in different parts of the world, Aus- 

 tralia being the only continent where none are known 

 to exist. 



Particular attention is drawn to this point, because in 

 nearly all travellers' accounts of Australia we read of 

 the flying squirrel among the quadrupeds inhabiting 

 that land. In fact, however, the so-called squirrels 

 are not squirrels, nor even rodents, but are Mar- 

 supials, belonging to the great group of Phalangists. 



The mistake arises from the natural errors made 

 by travellers and colonists, who name every creature 

 they see after the inhabitants of their own country. 

 o 



