300 



Monograph of the Genus Sdurus. 



a little lighter beneath. In summer its color is less black than in winter. 

 The hairs of the back and sides of the body and tail are obscurely annu- 

 lated with yellow. There is here and there a white hair interspersed 

 among the fur of the body, but no tuft of white as in Sciurus niger. 



DIMENSIONS. 



" Length of head and body, 



Ditto of tail, {vertebrcB,) 



Ditto of the tip, 



Height of ear, 



Ditto to the end of fur. 



Palm to end of middle claw, 



Heel to end of middle nail, . 



Length of fur on the back, . 



Breadth of tail with hairs extended, 



" Geographical Distribution. — The northern limits of this species are not 

 determined ; it however exists as far as Hudson's Bay, was formerly very 

 common in the New England States, and in the less cultivated portions is 

 still frequently met with. It is abundant in New York, and in the moun- 

 tainous portions of Pennsylvania. I have observed it on the northern 

 mountains of Virginia. It probably extends still farther south ; in the 

 lower parts of North and South Carolina however it is replaced by a 

 smaller species. The black variety is more abundant in upper Canada, 

 in the western part of New York, and in the states of Ohio and Indiana. 

 It does not exist in Georgia, Florida, or Alabama; and among the speci- 

 mens sent from Louisiana, stated to be of all the species existing in that 

 state, I discovered that this squirrel was not of the number. 



" Habits. — This appears to be the most active and sprightly species ex- 

 isting in our Atlantic states. It rises with the sun, and continues indus- 

 triously engaged in search of food during four or five hours in the morn- 

 ing, scratching among leaves, running over fallen logs, ascending trees, 

 and playfully coursing from limb to limb — often making almost incredible 

 leaps from the higher branches of one tree to another. In the middle of 

 the day it retires for a few hours to its nest, resuming its active labors and 

 amusements in the afternoon, and continuing without intermission till the 

 setting of the sun. During the warm weather of spring and summer it 

 prepares itself a summer house on a tree, but not often at its summit. 

 In constructing this nest, it does not descend to the earth in search of 

 materials, but finds them ready at hand on the tree where it intends to 

 take up its temporary residence. It first breaks off dried sticks, if they 

 can be procured, to make a superstructure ; if however such materials 

 are not within reach, it commences gnawing off the green branches of 

 the size of a thumb, and lays them in the crutch of the tree, or of some 



