The Rodents, or Gnawing Animals 



147 



in India and the tro[)ic3. 

 Everywhere they are favour- 

 ites ; and though tliey do 

 some mischief in highly 

 cultivated countries, they are 

 among the most harmless of 

 creatures. Most of them 

 live on wild nuts and the 

 kernels of fruit : they suck 

 eggs occasionally, and in 

 Canada will come to the 

 traps in extreme cold and 

 eat the meat with which they 

 are baited. 



The Eed Squirrel. 



This, the common 

 squirrel of England, is repre- 

 sentative of the whole order. 

 In old Scandinavian legends 

 the squirrel is represented 

 as the messenger of the gods, 

 who carried the news of what 

 was going on in the world 

 to the other animals. To- 

 gether with its close relations, 

 it is the most graceful of 

 all climbers of trees. With 

 its long tail waving behind 

 it, it races up or down the 

 trunks and across the forest 

 from branch to branch as 

 easily as a -horse gallops across 

 a plain. It will descend 

 the trimk head downwards 

 as fast as it runs up. 

 Squirrels pair for life, and 

 are most affectionate little 



creatures, always jilaying or doing gymnastics together. The squirrel builds a very good 

 house, in which he shows himself far more sensible than the monkeys and ajies ; it is made 

 of leaves, moss, and sticks. The sticks come first as a platform; then this is carpeted, and 

 a roof i^ut on. No one who has seen English squirrels at work house-building has ever 

 described exactly how they do it ; it is the best nest made by any mammal, thoroughly 

 well fitted together and waterproof. In this nest the young squirrels are l^orn in the 

 month of June ; that year they keejj with the parents, and do not " set up for themselves " 

 till the next spring. The red colour is very persistent in squirrels. One Cliinese variety, 

 black and red, has even bright red teeth. In cold countries the red squirrels make stores of 

 food, but spend much of the winter asleep. 



It is a great pity that in England no one tries to tame the squirrels as they do in 

 America; there they are the greatest ornament of the parks of cities, coming down to be 

 fed as tamely as our sparrows. The writer has known one instance in which a lady 



FLYING-SQUITIEEL. 



The ]:u-<j;e flying-squirrels are mainly nocturnal. They cin leap a distance of 40 feet with ttje aid 

 of the parachutes of skin stretching from the fore to the hind limbs. 



