THE SQUIRREL. 



43 



language of his wife, and the wife of that of 

 her husband. 



How capricious, then, is the taste, not only 

 of Mr. Wighton's captive squirrels, but also of 

 geese, and eke of man himself! By only " a 

 few days'" loss of liberty, I have shown that 

 Mr. Wighton's pretty squirrel preferred the flesh 

 of birds to its own " favourite kind of food/' 



My tom-cat, apparently an excellent mouser, 

 will sometimes prefer dry biscuit to a mutton 

 chop. Sterne's ass seemed to relish macaroon. 

 Did all asses relish macaroon, we might doubt 

 the fitness of the Spanish proverb, " La miel no 

 es para la boca del asno : " Honey is not made 

 for the mouth of the ass. Parrots in cages will 

 pull off their own feathers, and eat them by 

 the dozen. Blackbirds, although on very short 

 allowance, caused by the frosty weather, would 

 not touch their favourite ivy berries, which were 

 thrown down in abundance for them in the 

 garden of my friend, Mr. Loudon of Bayswater. 

 I knew a healthy old owl who took her con- 

 finement so much to heart that she refused all 

 kind of food, and died at last for want of it. 

 And, when I was in the Mediterranean Sea, I 

 saw a brute in the shape of man, swallow pieces 



