SQUIRRELS. 97 



sections of the country. Grey and black squirrels are often found 

 associating together. They are in every respect alike, in the anat- 

 omy of their bodies, habits, and in every detail excepting the color, 

 and by niany sportsmen they are regarded as distinct species. 

 Naturalists, hov\rever, at present agree that the two are identical, 

 and that the black form is merely due to melanism, an anomaly 

 not uncommon among mamrnals. 



Squirrels feed in the early morning just after sunrise, and dis- 

 appear soon after eight or nine o'clock, retreating to their holes 

 or nests, there to remain during the midday hours. They appear 

 again in the late afternoon to feed, and may be heard and seen 

 playing and chattering together till twilight. They are very shy 

 and are not easily approached, but one may seat himself in full 

 view, and if he remains without motion, the squirrels will reappear, 

 and take little notice of the intruder ; at the slightest movement, 

 however, they are off. This fact is taken advantage of by the 

 sportsman, and be he at all familiar with the runways of the squirrels 

 at any particular locality, he may sit by the path and shoot a goodly 

 number. We have known of eighteen, both grey and black, hav- 

 ing been secured at the entrance to a cornfield by two individuals 

 in this way during the first hours of morning. Grey and black 

 squirrels generally breed- twice during the spring and summer. 

 They have several young at a litter. The young mature in Au- 

 gust and September, and the season for shooting is fall and winter, 

 although a great many are killed during August when young and 

 very tender. 



The migrations of Squirrels have never been satisfactorily ex- 

 plained. What instinct brings together such immense droves of 

 these animals from all parts of the country, and causes them to 

 move with solid phalanx to distant localities, overcoming all 

 opposing obstacles? A few years since, -there was witnessed a 

 wonderful sight by the inhabitants of Pike County, Pennsylvania. 

 An immense army of Grey Squirrels arrived at the banks of the 

 Delaware River late one night, and commenced its passage by 

 swimming the following morning. The whole population turned 

 out, and boys and men, equipped with large grain sacks and clubs, 

 killed them by thousands. They kept coming in a continuous 

 stream throughout the morning, and passed on to the woods 



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