THE SQUIRREL. 



41 



shot a barn owl in the very act of hooting. 

 Probably, neither the baronet, nor any body 

 else, will ever perform a similar feat, for barn 

 owls do not hoot. 



I gather from Mr. Wighton's communication 

 that his squirrel was in captivity when it par- 

 took of a carnal repast. This single fact at 

 once precludes the possibility of the squirrel 

 family being raised to the rank of carnivo- 

 rous animals. The incarceration only of " a 

 few days " might have injured the prisoner 

 seriously, either in his nervous system, or in 

 his gastric powers, or in his olfactory sen- 

 sibilities. Now, a sudden derangement in all, 

 or even in any one, of these component parts 

 of a squirrel's frame, might have affected his 

 health sufficiently to have induced him to try a 

 change of larder ; and, should this have been 

 the case, I don't know a nicer morsel for the 

 alterative system than a tender and a well-fed 

 swallow. Under existing circumstances (loss of 

 liberty, to wit), I am not at all astonished that 

 Mr. Wighton's squirrel should dine on bird, raw 

 or roasted we are not informed ; even though 

 the said squirrel were well supplied, on the 

 same table, " with his favourite kind of food." 



