2l6 MAMMALIA. 



I have long' been aware that this animal was an occasional 

 depredator of the poultr\- )-ard. and imd, in a journal writtc'n tweKe 

 years aL(o, a note to the effect that a case had then come to my 

 knowledge where one was caught in tlu! act of killing- both chickens 

 and yoiini^' ducks. 



The Red S([uirrel is a j^ood swimmcM-. swimming- rapidl)' and 

 with much of the lu;ad. back, and tail out of water. On the t<Sth 

 of August. I.S74, I was paddling silently down a sluggish stream in 

 the heart of the Adirondacks when a slight noise on tlie shore 

 arrested m\- attention. A .Scpiirrel soon appeared at the water's 

 edg-e, but turned back upon perceix'ing the boat. The strc;am, 

 which was about twent\- feet ( approximate!)- 6 metres) in width, 

 here llowed through an extensive marsh, the nearest tree bein^ 

 more than a hundred \-ards (nearl)- loonietres) awa\'. .Surprised 

 at seeing a Scpiirrel in such a place, I stopped' the boat, holding 

 fast to a tew bushes on the opposite bank, and after remainino- 

 niotionless a few moments had tlie satisfaction of seeing him return, 

 climb out on a little bush, and swim across. Again, juiU! 2Sth, 

 1878, while rowing- on l)rantingham Lake, in Lewis Count)-, 1 saw 

 a Red .Squirrel swimming about midway between " thc^ Point " and 

 the main shore opposite. He was moving toward tlu; ]\)int, and, 

 as I reached him, climbed up on the oar, ran o\-er ni)- back and legs, 

 then along the gunwak', jumpiiig ahead from the bow in the direc- 

 tion toward wliich he was swimming when first seen. On ()\-c;rtakincr 

 him he again came aboard and jumped ahead as before. This was 



etc. (Hull. Essex Inst., X. 1878, p. 9.) Mr. John Burroughs says : "Nearly all the birds look 

 upon it as tlu-ir enemy and attack and annoy it wlien it appears near their breeding haunts, -fhus, 

 I have seen the pewee, the cuckoo, the roi)in, and the wood thrush pursuing it with angry voice 

 and gestures. If you wish the birds to breed and thrive in your orchards and groves, kill every 

 red squirrel that infests the place." (The Tragedies of the \ests, in The Century M.aga/.ine, \-ol. 

 .XXVI, No. 5, Sept., 1883, p. 686.) Prof. F. H. King tells us that at Ithaca, New York, his 

 attention was attracted by a p.iir of robin^ da^liiiig wildly about tlie l)ranches of an evergreen: 

 "On examining the tree the nest of the birds was discovered, and just below it sat a Chickaree 

 eating one of the Robin's eggs." (Geol. Wis., 1S83, p. 443.) In /umsf and Stream for November 

 17, and Djcember 29, i3Si, .Mr. H.xinbridre Bishop contributes much valuable testimony of a 

 similar nature. Examples might be multiplied almost indefinitely, but enough has already been said 

 to demonstrate ihat the Red Sipiirrel must be ranked among the worst enemies of our small i)ir(ls. 



