The Squirrel. 117 



construction, expeditiously and easily worked, and prevents the common evi 

 of sweeping the gravel off the walks along with the snow. 



The one under description was made from rude materials which happened 

 to be at hand, as follows. 

 Two pieces of board, about 

 2 ft. long, and 8 in. wide, 

 were nailed together, as if 

 to form the end and side of 

 a box ; a common road- 

 scraper, made ofiuood, was 

 then put in between the 

 boards in the form of a tri- 

 angle, or something like an 

 arrow head; elevating the 

 end of the handle so as to 

 enable the operator to walk i,. ,., „ „, , ^ ,,/ ,, j r , „ 



, ', , , rig. 12. Snow -Plough for Walks and Footpaths. 



erect ; then the boards were 



nailed to each end of the head of the scraper, and the implement was com- 

 plete. 



I need not mention that it is pushed before the person using it, at a walking 

 pace ; nor add that it works easier when used before the snow becomes en- 

 crusted at top. 



Markeaton Gardens, Derby, Jan, 1843. 



Art. VII. On the Squirrel. By J. Wighton. 



The squirrel is one of the liveliest little quadrupeds we have ; whether seen 

 leaping from branch to branch, or on the ground, he is always engaging. It 

 is said that this little fellow lays up store for winter. I doubt this ; though he 

 may hoard up a few nuts or acorns, that can hardly be called a provision for 

 winter, for, if he had nothing else to depend upon, he would soon fall short. By 

 instinct, however, he inhabits woods that afford him ample supply in winter. 

 The seed in the fir cones are his favourite food, and in summer the young 

 shoots of the same kind of trees, especially the spruce firs ; and frequently 

 much damage is done to the trees by losing their tops by those nimble fellows. 

 Mr. Munro has noticed this so clearly in the Vol. for 1841, p. 335., in reply 

 to a letter of Mr. Waterton's in the Vol. for 1842, p. 203., that I think that 

 gentleman cannot deny " the misdeeds of his favourite pets the squirrels." 

 As the summer advances the shoots of trees get too hard for the squirrels : 

 they then visit the orchard and garden in search of food. Their thefts in the 

 former may be looked over, except there are nut-bushes, but not in the 

 latter; for apricots that have escaped the frost, the grub, and decay at stoning- 

 time, are too valuable to be carried over the wall to be eaten on the top of an 

 adjoining tree : but the mischief does not end here, for the net that preserves 

 cherries from blackbirds and thrushes is of little consequence to the squirrel's 

 sharp teeth; and, if not protected in time by trap or gun, there will be nothing 

 left of a fruitful crop except stalks and cherry stones. In justice, however, 

 to the squirrel, I ought to mention that those misdeeds of his only happen 

 when he is driven by necessity from the woods ; and, except at nutting-tinie, 

 he seldom approaches the garden ; but " the damage he does then is incal- 

 culable." 



INIr. Waterton laughs at the idea of Mr. Coward's belief of the carnivorou 

 propensities of the squirrel; once I did so myself; but, after hearing of so 

 many instances of squirrels being seen with birds in their mouths, I began to 



