BLACK SQUIRREL. 263 



ter of an horn- in wiping their faces with their paws, the latter being also 

 occasionally dipped in the water. Their barking and other habits did 

 not seem to differ from those of the Northern gray squirrel. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



Many of our specimens of the Black Squirrel, were procured through 

 the kindness of friends, in the counties of Rensselaer and Queens, New 

 York. We have seen this species on the borders of Lake Champlain, 

 at Ogdensbui-g, and on the eastern shores of Lake Erie ; also near 

 Niagara, on the Canada side. The individual described by Dr. Rich- 

 ardson, and which may be clearly referred to this species, was obtain- 

 ed by Captain Bayfield, at Fort William on Lake Superior. Black 

 Squirrels exist thi'ough all our western forests, and to the northward of 

 our great lakes ; but whether they are of this species, or the black variety 

 of the gray squirrel, we have not had the means of deciding. It is a well 

 ascertained fact that the Black Squirrel disappears before the Northern 

 gray squirrel. Whether the colour renders it a more conspicuous mark 

 for the sportsman, or whether the two species are naturally hostile, we 

 are unable to decide. It is stated by close observers that in some neigh- 

 bourhoods where the Black Squirrel formerly abounded, the Northern 

 gray squirrel now exclusively occupies its place. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



We have admitted this as a true species, not so much in accordance 

 with our own positive convictions, as in deference to the opinions of 

 our naturalists, and from the consideration that if it be no more than 

 a variety, it has by time and succession been rendered a permanent race. 

 The only certain mode of deciding whether this is a true species or mere- 

 ly a variety, would be to ascertain whether male and female Black Squir- 

 rels and gray squirrels associate and breed together in a state of nature. 

 When a male and a female, however different in size and colour, unite 

 in a wild state and their progeny is prolific, we are warranted in pro- 

 nouncing them of the same species. When, on the contrary, there is no 

 such result, we are compelled to come to an opposite conclusion. 



We had great doubts for many years whether this species might not 

 eventually prove another of the many varieties of the Northern gray 

 squirrel, (S. migratorius.) Although these doubts have not been altoge- 

 ther removed by our recent investigations, they were considerably lessened 

 on ascertaining the uniformity in size, shape, colour, and habits of all the 



