vir A WOODLAND CODGER 195 
the special attraction that brings them to camps, 
where the scraps of bacon-rind and table-crumbs 
would be tidbits of the highest excellence in their 
estimation. It appears to be extremely fond of 
sweets, also, gnawing old sugar-barrels and maple- 
sugar utensils, and being especially fond of maple 
bark. A. Leith Adams, the author of “ Field and 
Forest Rambles” (in New Brunswick), informs 
us that they eat the tips of the cast antlers of 
deer, which are rarely found unharmed by their 
incisors; and he also mentions the extraordinary 
size of their ordure, which is often mistaken for 
that of deer. 
The porcupine’s natural food, however, is vege- 
table, and mainly bark and browse, in search of 
which it spends most of its time in trees, although 
seemingly as awkwardly built and accoutred for 
such a life as well could be; but the toes have 
very long and strong claws, good for clinging. 
It is true, however, that our Northern species pur- 
sues an arboreal life much less exclusively than do 
the tropical American species, being intermediate 
in habits as well as structure between the Old 
World terrestrial species and the South American 
tree-porcupines. 
These tree-porcupines (genus Synetheres), of 
which eight or ten species are spread from 
Mexico to Paraguay, are far better fitted for 
climbing, and are almost exclusively arboreal. 
They are smaller and lighter than the Canada 
