FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



and well known is the harm done by these 

 animals, that close to my own home orders have 

 been given for their destruction. The squirrel in 

 his proper place is a beautiful ornament of the 

 woodlands, but when he forsakes his rightful office 

 to get into mischief he becomes worthy of his local 

 name of " bushy - tailed varmint," and he finds 

 himself treated as such. 



One instance may be mentioned, out of numbers, 

 in which the squirrels have been punished for their 

 depredations. Between the years 1862 and 1870, 

 on one estate in Scotland, no fewer than 6572 

 squirrels were killed for tree - nibbling. In the 

 course of my ramblings in Surrey woods I have 

 pointed out their work to those who ought to have 

 known better, but who were ignorant of the real 

 reason that there was such a cruel waste of young 

 shoots at the butts of the fir-trees. My information 

 was not received with thanks ; but that is a detail. 



All who have studied wild creatures know that 

 they are well fitted for the purposes to which they 

 were created, and that, to a certain extent at any 

 rate, they bear in their general appearance signs 

 of the work they accomplish. The powerful form 



