306 RIVEEBY 



bad as that. Still it is unmistakably the voice of a 

 savage. None of the birds of prey have musical 

 voices. 



The shrike had probably come to town to try his 

 luck with English sparrows. I do not know that he 

 caught any, but in a neighboring city I heard of a 

 shrike that made great havoc with the sparrows. 



VI 



When Nature made the flying squirrel she seems 

 to have whispered a hint or promise of the same gift 

 to the red squirrel. At least there is a distinct sug- 

 gestion of the same power in the latter. When hard 

 pressed the red squirrel will trust himself to the air 

 with the same faith that the flying squirrel does, 

 but, it must be admitted, with only a fraction of the 

 success of the latter. He makes himself into a rude 

 sort of parachute, which breaks the force of his fall 

 very much. The other day my dog ran one up the 

 side of the house, through the woodbine, upon the 

 roof. As I opened fire upon him with handfuls of 

 gravel, to give him to understand he was not wel- 

 come there, he boldly launched out into the air and 

 came down upon the gravel walk, thirty feet below, 

 with surprising lightness and apparently without the 

 least shock or injury, and was ofi' in an instant be- 

 yond the reach of the dog. On another occasion I 

 saw one leap from the top of a hickory-tree and fall 

 through the air at least forty feet and alight without 

 injury. During their descent upon such occasions 

 their legs are widely extended, their bodies are 



