LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



squirrel in intelligence, in spite of their crazy 

 manner and lack of self-control. Commonly the 

 tamest and most familiar animal in the woodsj if 

 much hunted they acquire in a very short time a 

 cautiousness only excelled by most creatures after 

 years of constant-persecution. Thus their general 

 abundance is hardly to be wondered at, especially 

 when one considers that they are probably about 

 the healthiest creatures in existence. I have 

 never known an instance of their having been 

 afflicted by any of the diseases common among 

 other rodents. 



That the red squirrel is an excellent swimmer 

 is beyond dispute, but for my own part I cannot 

 recall ever having seen him enter the water vol- 

 untarily. One autumn afternoon, however, I 

 was sitting high up on the wooded bank of a 

 little stream when one came racing along the 

 opposite shore, close down to the edge of the 

 water, making the dry leaves rustle with a loud- 

 ness out of all proportion to his size. The dead 



