;308 



THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. 



variations of climate. In;summer the color of the 

 upper parts is brownish rfed, with an admixture of 

 .gray on the sides of the head; the under parts, be- 

 ginning with the chin, are white. In winter the 

 upper surface is brownish* red, mingled with grayish 

 white hair; the lower surface is white, or, in Siberia 

 and northern Europe, frequently whitish gray, while 

 the summer fur in those regions resembles that of 

 the German Squirrel. Black individuals are fre- 

 quently found in the German forests also; but they 

 by no means belong to a distinct species, for red 

 and black specimens are frequently found together 

 in one litter of young. On very rare occasions one 

 meets white or spotted Squirrels, or such as are pos- 

 sessed of a white or half white tail, and so on. The 

 tail is very bushy and the hair on it is arranged in 

 two lateral rows. The ear is adorned by a tuft of 

 long hair, the soles of the feet are bare. 



Home and The Common Squirrel is widely dis- 



Hauntsofthe tributed throughout all of Europe 



Squirrel. and across ' the Caucasus and Ural 



through southern Siberia to the Altai and eastern 



Asia. But it is not equally common everywhere, or 





COMMON SQUIRREL. This European animal is regarded as the typical species among the Tree 



Squirrels, and its character and that of the common species of American Squirrels are very ^similar. The attitudes 

 of the animals in the picture are familiar to all who have watched the antics of Squirrels in their arboreal home^. 

 {Sciurus vuigaris.) 



every year. Its favorite haunts are dry, sha!dy for- 

 . ests with high trees; and it is as much averse to 

 dampness as to sunshine. When friiit and nuts are 

 ripe it visits the gardens of villages, but only when 

 they are connected with the forest by small tracts 

 of trees or at least bushes. Where there are many 

 pine cones, it makes its permanent home, and builds 

 one or several habitations, usually in old Crows' 

 nests, which it improves quite ingeniously. If it 

 intends to make a shorter stay, it uses the forsaken 

 nests of Magpies, Crows, or of birds of prey, just 

 as it finds them, but the nests which it intends ro 

 serve as a permanent sleeping place, a shelter against 

 bad weather, or a nursery, are built new, though the 

 materials collected by birds are often utilized. It is 

 said that every Squirrel has at least four nests; but 

 nothing has been definitely proven on this score. 

 Hollows in trees, especially hollow trunks, are also 

 frequented by them and occasionally built in. The 

 open-air nests usually lie in a fork, close to the main 

 trunk of the tree; the bottom is built like one of the 



larger birds' nests, while above there is a flat con- 

 ical roof, after the manner of Magpies' nests, close 

 enough to be impermeable to the rain. The main 

 entrance is placed sideways, usually facing east; 

 a slightly smaller loop-hole for escape is found 

 close to the trunk. Tender moss forms a soft lining 

 inside. The outer part consists of twigs of various 

 thicknesses, intertwined. The Squirrel especially 

 likes to use the firm bottom of a forsaken Crow's 

 nest, filled with earth and clay, as a base upon which 

 to construct a nest of its own. 



The Lively This lively little creature is undoubt- 

 Waysofthe edly one of the principal ornaments 

 Squirrels. of a forest. In quiet, fine weather it 

 is incessantly active, keeping as much as possible to 

 the trees, which at all times afford it food and cover. 

 Occasionally it will deliberately descend a tree, run 

 to another tree and climb that; doing this often in 

 pure playfulness; for it need not touch the ground 

 at all, unless it wishes to do so. The Squirrel is the 

 Monkey of the woods of temperate climes, and is 

 possessed of many attributes which remind one of 

 those capricious inhabitants of the warmer zone. 



There are probably few 

 mammals which are pos- 

 sessed of such constant 

 briskness and remain for 

 so short a time in the same 

 place as the Squirrel does 

 in tolerably fair weather. 

 It is ever going front tree 

 to tree, from top. to top, 

 from branch to branch; 

 and even on the ground it 

 is anything but clumsy or 

 out of place. It never 

 walks or trots, but always 

 proceeds in longer or 

 shorter bounds, and so 

 quickly that a Dog can 

 hardly overtake it, and a 

 human being has to give 

 up the pursuit after a short 

 time. It glides up even 

 the smoothest trees with 

 wonderful ease and speed. 

 The long, sharp claws on 

 the toes stand it in good 

 stead, for it hooks them 

 into the bark, all four 

 feet at once. Then it takes a running start for 

 another leap and darts further upward; but one 

 bound succeeds another with such rapidity that the 

 ascent proceeds uninterruptedly, and looks as if the 

 creature glided up the tree. Usually it ascends to 

 the top of the tree without pausing, not infrequently 

 reaching the highest point; then it goes out on some 

 one of the horizontal branches and generally jumps 

 to the tip of a branch of another tree, covering in 

 these jumps distances of four or five yards, always 

 in a downward direction. How necessary the bushy 

 tail is for leaping has been demonstrated by cruel 

 experiments, which consisted in cutting off the tail 

 of some captive Squirrel. It was then seen that the 

 mutilated creature could not leap half so far as one 

 having a tail. The Squirrel is an excellent swimmer 

 though it does not go into the water willingly. 



Principal When a Squirrel believes itself to be 

 Foo&ofthe unobserved, it is on a constant look- 

 Squirrel. out for food on its roamings. Ac- 

 cording to the season it eats fruit or seeds, buds, 



